In Mr. Miller's 5th Hour English Class, we are reading the book Night. The book Night is about the adventurous and scary journey that the author experienced during the Holocaust. The author, Elie Wisel, shares his story with us very explicitly. Reading this book really put my perspective into place about what really happened during this tragic time.
Plot Line
Exposition: The exposition of the book Night would begin with the conflict that Hitler had with the Jews. Hitler, did not believe that the Jews deserved to live because he blamed everything on them. Therefore, he wanted them all to die, so he sent them to the concentration camps that he had built.
Rising Action: The Jews and Elie and his family were packed up and moved out of their homes and into ghettos that the Nazis had built. They then were on a crammed train for days to a concentration camp called Auschwitz. Once they arrived, the women and children were put into one line and men into another. From their on you were either selected to die or to continue on. Elie and his father, thankfully, were with each other for the remainder of their journey. After years of torture, Elie and his father arrive at Buchenwald, another concentration camp, where Elie's father dies. After Elie's father dies, he feels nothing because their is no one left for him. Months after his father's death, Elie and the remainder of the Jews in concentration camps are notified that they are going to be set free due to the fact that the Allies were coming to save them.
Climax: Elie and the rest of the Jews are set free by the Allies. They no longer had to worry about the Nazis or when they were going to have their next meal. They were now free people.
Falling Action: Elie is set free and goes home to eat. He eats and eats and eats until he gets food poisoning. Once he gets food poisoning, he is admitted into a hospital.
Resolution: Once he is in the hospital, Elie looks into a mirror, something he hasn't done since he lived in the ghetto because he hasn't had the chance too. He looks into the mirror and sees a corpse staring back at him, not a free man.
Rising Action: The Jews and Elie and his family were packed up and moved out of their homes and into ghettos that the Nazis had built. They then were on a crammed train for days to a concentration camp called Auschwitz. Once they arrived, the women and children were put into one line and men into another. From their on you were either selected to die or to continue on. Elie and his father, thankfully, were with each other for the remainder of their journey. After years of torture, Elie and his father arrive at Buchenwald, another concentration camp, where Elie's father dies. After Elie's father dies, he feels nothing because their is no one left for him. Months after his father's death, Elie and the remainder of the Jews in concentration camps are notified that they are going to be set free due to the fact that the Allies were coming to save them.
Climax: Elie and the rest of the Jews are set free by the Allies. They no longer had to worry about the Nazis or when they were going to have their next meal. They were now free people.
Falling Action: Elie is set free and goes home to eat. He eats and eats and eats until he gets food poisoning. Once he gets food poisoning, he is admitted into a hospital.
Resolution: Once he is in the hospital, Elie looks into a mirror, something he hasn't done since he lived in the ghetto because he hasn't had the chance too. He looks into the mirror and sees a corpse staring back at him, not a free man.
Characterization
Moche The Beadle: Although Moche is only around for the first chapter, he plays a huge part in Elie's life. He plays a huge part in Elie's life because he teaches him all he needs to know about the Jewish history. Moche is a poor man who his shipped off to a concentration camp when the Hungarian police arrive because he is very religious. He manages to escape the camp to come back and tell all the Jewish people about what happened to him, but no one believes him. Instead, they pass him off as insane.
Eliezer: Eliezer is the main character and author of the book. At the beginning of the book he is just a young boy who is curious about god and many other things. When he is 15, he and his family are shipped off to Auschwitz. He is separated from his mother and his sisters and never sees them again. This would be very tough for such a young boy, but thankfully he was able to stay with his father. Elie's number one goal while in the concentration camps is to stay with his father no matter what. They use each other as motivation to stay alive during tough times, where dying would seem like the easy thing to do. At the beginning of the book Elie was dedicated to god and trusted him with his whole heart, but as the book went on Elie's faith decreased day by day due to what he saw. Towards the end, Elie's father dies, but he sheds no tears because death no longer phases him. After what seems like an eternity, Elie and many other Jews are released by the Americans. Elie gets food poisoning from eating so much once he gets home, that he had to be admitted to a hospital. Once in the hospital, he looked in the mirror and saw a corpse staring back at him, not a free man.
Eliezer's Father: Elie's father was like the mayor of Sighet, the place where Elie and his family use to live. Everyone looked up to him, that was until Hitler came and destroyed everything that the Jews had come to know about life. Elie's father is a very brave man that showed courage and strength, even when should have been scared. He stayed with his son, up until the very end when he was dying. The roles reversed although, when Elie's father started dying. Elie needed to be the one that stepped up and took care of his poor father.
Madame Schachter: By losing everyone but her 10 year old son, Madame Schachter went insane. She would randomly scream, "Fire, Fire!", while Elie and his family were aboard the train to Auschwitz. No one understands her foreshadowing, until they all arrive at Auschwitz and see the chimneys and smell the burning of human flesh. At that point everyone turns to her, and she is silent.
Idek: A Kapo, a Jew that is put in control of all the other Jews by a guard. Idek was in charge of Elie and his fathers block. If you do the easy work that Idek assigns to you, then you will have no problems because he is a really chill leader. But it you make Idek mad, then you suffer consequences, such as beatings. Both Elie and his father take a beating because they make Idek very mad,
Motifs
Religion: I think that Religion is a motif, because the whole entire book revolves around Religion. If Hitler had no problem with the Jews being Jewish, then the Jews would not have been placed in concentration camps and tortured and killed.
Selection Process: The Selection Process is a motif, because it continuously happens every week. It happens every week because Dr. Mengele needs people to be used for experiments, and there is no reason to keep the sick and the injured and the weak around because they will not do anything but eat all of the food and leave none for those who are somewhat strong and healthy.
Chimneys/Fires: Chimneys and Fires are motifs, because that is how they kill people and dispose of their bodies.
Food: The bread and soup are considered motifs because the prisoners need to be fed everyday and that is what each prisoner looks forward too at the end of everyday, because they are not fed as much as they need too.
Themes
It is important to keep your faith in God at all times, even when it seems like he doesn't care about you.
Your life can be changed with the blink of an eye, so live life to its fullest while you can.
Tone
Sad: The tone is sad throughout the entire book, because it is told from the perspective of someone who has experienced these terrible tragedies. The author doesn't portray the torture, the death, or anything else in any other tone but sadness.
Mood
Serious: I think that the mood of Night is serious, because there was never a time when you saw Elie, his father, or any other prisoner goofing off or playing around. They were always serious, because they were fearful of what they though would happen to them if they didn't obey the guards.
Symbols
Moche The Beadle: I think that Moche The Beadle is a symbol because he warns all the Jews of what is going to happen to them in the future, but no one believes him.
Fire: I also think that Fire is a symbol because Madame Schachter screams, "Fire, Fire!", the whole way to Auschwitz. She was trying to tell everyone that they die by fire. Madame Schachter was definitely foreshadowing with Fire.