Night by Elie Weisel
Literary Devices
Anaphora
Definition: a repetition of a word or words at the beginning of two or more successive
verses, clauses, or sentences.
There are many examples of anaphora in Elie Wiesel’s book “Night.”
Examples
In chapter 2, Mrs. Schacter repeats the phrase, “Fire! I see a fire! Look at this fire!” quite
often. It made the people on the little railcar very irritated. Anaphora is important in this
book because it lets the reader know the importance of the quote.
Example: No one believes Mrs. Schacter about her seeing the “fire” until they finally arrive
at Auschwitz and smell burning flesh.
In chapter 3, Wiesel uses another example of anaphora. He repeats the words "Never shall I
forget...Never shall I forget...Never shall I forget..." Explaining his first night in Auschwitz.
In chapter 5, the prisoners in the camp are repeating, "Blessed be...Blessed be...Blessed
be..." over and over again because they want Him to help them get out of the whole mess.
Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is a hint of what is going to happen.
One prime example of foreshadowing occurs on page 9
which in parenthesis states, "(Poor Father! Of what
then did you die?)."
Thus, the use of foreshadowing helps Elie to build up
the suspense and the fanatical need for answers in the
reader.
"Fire! I see a fire! I see a fire!" pg.24
Suddently Batia Reich, a relative who lived with us,
entered the room: "Someone is knocking at the sealed
window, the one that faces outside!"- pg.14
Metaphor
Comparing two things without using like or as
Chapter 1:
"The stars were only sparks of fire which devoured us. Should that fire die out one
day, there would be nothing left in the sky but dead stars, dead eyes."
Chapter 3:
"An SS officer had come in and, with him, the smell of the Angel of Death."
Chapter 4:
“Two lambs with hundreds of wolves lying in waiting for them. To lambs without a
sheperd,free for the taking. But who would dare?"
"They pointed their fingers, the way one might choose cattle, or merchanidise.
Irony
The expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the
opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.
1. “but we had been marching for only a few moments when we saw the barbed
wire of another camp. An iron door with this inscription on it: ‘Work is liberty!’”
(page 40)
2. “Some of the prominent members of the community came…to ask him what
he thought of the situation. My father did not consider it so grim…’The yellow
star? Oh well, what of it? You don’t die of it…’ ” (page 11)
3. “On we went between the electric wires. At each step, a white placard with a
death’s head on it stared us in the face. A caption: ‘Warning, Danger of Death.’”
(page 40)
Similes
The similes in Night help develop the theme of instinctual, animal behavior. Many similes
are comparing the characters to animals, especially the prisoners to dogs. This develops
and helps the reader to understand the theme of civil human beings becoming animals in
their thoughts and actions. The Nazis in the book became predators, torturing and
sadistically terrifying their prey. The prisoners became dogs, rats, insects, the lowest
form of filth that could exist.
"They passed me by, one after the other, like beaten dogs" (Wiesel 17).
"We can't let them kill us like cattle in a slaughterhouse" (Wiesel 31).
Besides animals, Wiesel often compares people to trees using similes. Clearly nature is
important to him, since animals and trees are both things in nature. These are examples
of tree similes he uses:
"Standing in the middle of the car, in the faint light filtering through the windows, she
looked like a withered tree..." (Wiesel 25).
"He seemed to break in two like an old tree struck by lightning" (Wiesel 54).
It is important to note that Wiesel hardly ever uses to similes to show a positive side of
people, or strength, but rather weakness, dehumanization, and suffering.