Night Notes

The story that can never be told

Denying His Own Truth

 “

Night

, then, is written in the knowledge of its own inevitable failure: the survivor must tell his story, but will never communicate the truth of his experience; what is kept silent is more true than what is said, words distort and betray, the Holocaust cannot be understood or described, the constraints of reality ensure that the story will always fall short of the truth.” – Colin Davis

When words fail

 Broken narrative – unfinished stories  Father’s anecdote  Words take on new meaning  sleep  “The yellow star? So what? It’s not lethal.”

Literary Devices

 Direct Comment    Wiesel interrupts his description of events “The ghetto was ruled by neither German nor Jew; it was ruled by delusion” (12).

Reader’s Knowledge of History 

Night

– written in terse, telegraphic style  Wiesel avoids commentary and relies on reader to fill in the gaps.

  Auschwitz – (27) “In the air, the smell of burning flesh” (28).

Lit Devices (cont’d)

 Warning and Premonition  Moishe    Mrs. Schachter Camp inmate (30) Elie’s direct comment  “our race towards death had begun”  Retrospective Viewpoint  Years later, many years later  Lets us know what Elie did NOT know

Lit Devices Cont’d

 Repetition of Themes  Father/Son Relationships  Bela Katz  Rabi Eliahou   Train incidnet Elie’s guilt/relief  Loss of faith/innocence  Preparation of Effects  Food brought to children