Identity in Night by Elie Wiesel Essay Sample
In Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night, there are several circumstances in which Elie’s identity changes through trauma and choices. This memoir is written based on the dark experiences that Elie face during the Holocaust. Night serves as a motif for the stripping of identity, the evolution of the situation, as well as death. On the contrary, the day serves as a motif for confidence and rebuilding.
The dark atrocities that Wiesel faces are what impacts the decisions that he makes. During the Holocaust, Elie’s way of thinking makes a significant shift. “Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself” (34). It is the silence of the night that takes the desire to live away from Elie. Elie does not believe that he will make it out of the Holocaust alive. He is giving up any hope of living and therefore, now lacks the desire to live. Before these atrocities occur, he has plenty of desire to live due to the belief in the existence of God. However, during World War II, many people change their opinion of God. Originally, it is believed by many that God created all humans to be inherently good. After witnessing the unfortunate events of World War II, many of those opinions are changed into believing that there is no God and that all humans are inherently evil. This includes Elie, who believes that the night kills his belief in God. This is not something that he ever faces as a child, but he is now exposed to these situations in which he must commit what he previously considers as moral sins. The severity of these events is magnified since he states that he will never forget that night. The night represents the evil that is shifting his identity.
The way night is viewed changes as the Holocaust develops and the situation worsens. The growing night is a symbol of the situation getting worse. “Suddenly, the gate opened, and Stern, a former shopkeeper who now was a policeman, entered and took my father aside. Despite the growing darkness, I could see my father turn pale” (12). A police officer takes Elie’s father aside as the situation becomes more extreme during the night. This is the first sign of trouble, as it is now evident that the Germans are going to attack. In addition, the meaning of night and day to the Jews greatly shift. At the start of the Holocaust, the Jews do not want the night to pass quickly. “No one was praying for the night to pass quickly. The stars were but sparks of the immense conflagration that was consuming us” (21). They do not want the night to end because they are afraid that the Nazis will attack during the day. Before the Holocaust, the night is a time to sleep and relax. The day is a time in which the people must work and potentially experience pain. However, the Holocaust greatly changes the social norm. “Here or elsewhere, what did it matter? Die today or tomorrow, or later? The night was growing longer, neverending” (98). Those in concentration camps do not have any hope and believe that they will die soon. The night seems like it never ends due to the violence and the potential end of their life at night. Darkness shifts from being a relaxing period to a time of horror.
These deaths during the Holocaust are shown through the motif of night. Darkness leads to the sadness of the death that all of the people at the concentration camps feel. “I hear that particular piece by Beethoven, my eyes close and out of the darkness emerges the pale and melancholy face of my Polish comrade bidding farewell to an audience of dying men” (95). This quote represents darkness because the music Beethoven writes is full of sadness and darkness. This is a fitting piece to be played at a time in which it is known that everyone is most likely going to die. He is using music to pour out his soul and his life. The memory of this is so strong that whenever Elie hears this piece, this is the horror that he remembers. The motif of the night also relates to Elie more personally through his father’s death. “He had called out to me and I had not answered” (112). Elie falls asleep at night, and that is when his father dies. His father calls out to him while he is asleep, but he is never able to respond. His father, who is the last family member that is still with him and therefore who is most important to him at that point. This is yet another occurrence of death at night. Due to the Nazi genocide, there are a countless amount of deaths caused by the evil of night.
The darkness of night contrasts to the day, in which the situation is not as dark. “Confidence soared. Suddenly we felt free of the previous night’s terror” (27). This shows that once it is daytime, the prisoners have an increase in confidence. This is since they no longer have to face the brutal situations that they face at night. The nights seem much longer compared to the days for the prisoners as evidenced by the fact that Elie spends the majority of this memoir describing life during the night and not the day. During the day, the prisoners are only forced to do mindless labor. This is when they have a chance to think about all of the horrendous memories from the previous night. While having some degree of freedom, the experiences that they face during the day is not positive by any means. However, it seems like a fine situation due to the astronomical improvement over the constant fear and slaughtering at night.
Overall, the motif of night and day is what symbolizes the darkness that Elie must encounter during the Holocaust. These encounters are what shapes and reshape his identity. This identity affects the choices that he makes. The meaning of night dramatically shifts due to the new experiences they are facing. These dark experiences lead to many perishing. This is far different from the day, as the situation is far different.
