In Night, Elie Wiesel's memoir of his time in Nazi concentration camps during the Holocaust, the use of metonymy serves to convey the dehumanization and loss of identity experienced by the prisoners.
Metonymy is a figure of speech in which a term is used to refer to something else with which it is closely associated, such as using "crown" to refer to a monarch or "wheels" to refer to a car. In Night, Wiesel uses metonymy to refer to the prisoners not by their names, but by their prisoner numbers. This serves to emphasize the loss of individuality and personal identity that the prisoners experienced under the brutal conditions of the camps.
For example, Wiesel writes, "I became A-7713. From then on, I had no other name" (Wiesel, 2006, p. 32). This metonymy highlights the fact that the prisoners were reduced to nothing more than a number in the eyes of their captors, stripped of their humanity and dignity.
Additionally, Wiesel uses metonymy to refer to the prisoners as a collective entity, rather than as individuals. This further reinforces the idea that the prisoners had lost their individual identities and were simply part of a faceless mass. For example, Wiesel writes, "We were the living dead" (Wiesel, 2006, p. 34). In this instance, the metonymy "we" refers not to specific individuals, but to the prisoners as a whole, further emphasizing their loss of individuality.
Overall, the use of metonymy in Night serves to convey the devastating loss of identity and dehumanization experienced by the prisoners in the concentration camps. Through the use of this literary device, Wiesel effectively illustrates the horrors of the Holocaust and the devastating effects it had on the lives of those who survived it.
"Night" by Elies Wiesel Literature Analysis
No use protesting; the blows multiplied and, in the end, one still had to hand them over. Thus, the author described his own emotional experience concerning disappointment as well as dissatisfaction with religion. Early in the camps, Eliezer makes it a point to stay with his father and not lose him, saying, "My hand tightened its grip on my father. That's what Elie's family and neighbors had to do. Here is an example of one man who broke the silence that the Nazis had perpetrated upon him. I had new shoes myself.
65 Meaningful Night Book Quotes With Page Numbers
To fast could mean a more certain, more rapid death. Wiesel declares that "Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed. However, for now, Wiesel simply denies that God could possibly care about the Jews, His chosen people. The main idea of the novel involves Eliezer pondering God's existence and nature in the face of the untold brutality of the Holocaust. This actually provides an allusion to the earlier point of silence being connected with nighttime. Animals Similes and Metaphors Weisel repeatedly compares prisoners to animals as their humanity is consistently robbed of them.
In Night, how is the motif of night used to explain his experiences in the camp?
And yet, if a bomb had fallen on the blocks, it alone would have claimed hundreds of victims on the spot. There was a little of everything: suitcases, briefcases, bags, knives, dishes, banknotes, papers, faded portraits. Throughout this experience, Elie Wiesel is exposed to life he previously thought unimaginable and they consequently change his life. Wiesel is not necessarily better off than he was before. It can come and go like a feather in the wind.
Silence in Ellie Wiesel's Novel "Night": [Essay Example], 2892 words GradesFixer
But as they were covered with a thick coat of mud, they had not been noticed. He becomes To begin with, Elie Wiesel learns that beings aware and mindful are more than just important. This foreshadows Eliezer's silence during his father's death later on, as well as the heartbreak and horror he experiences at how much has been taken from him, including the basic love and care of his father. Lesson Summary Night is a Holocaust semi-autobiographical novel by Elie Wiesel. Within the context of Eliezer's faith, God created light at the beginning of all things and dispelled the darkness. No longer a wide-open place filled with possibilities, Elie's 'world had become a hermetically sealed cattle car. Eliezer is unable to cry or mourn.
