Life and Death in ‘Night’: Elie Wiesel’s Use of Imagery and Symbolism

Introduction to Mortality in “Night”

“The line between life and death is not thicker than an eyelid.” (Yoshikawa) The difference between life and death is such a thin line we do not realize just how frail our lives are. This theme is constantly talked about in Elie Wiesel’s book about his time as a holocaust prisoner. Wiesel had experienced many terrible situations while in the concentration camps that showed him the various sides of humanity. In his memoir Night, Elie Wiesel discusses the theme of mortality.

Through the use of irony, imagery, and allegory, Weisel is saying to the reader that humans can be fragile in the grand scheme of things and that life can change dramatically just as if it were nothing. Elie Wiesel uses irony various times throughout Night, but a moment that seems to touch upon mortality using this literary tool is in the early moments of the book. When the Jewish people arrived at the camp, they were led to believe that “There was a labor camp on site. The conditions were good. Families would not be separated.” This is incredibly ironic because the literal opposite conditions were true.

Chilling Imagery: Portraying the Holocaust’s Darkness

Families were separated, and livable conditions for the workers were barely a concern for the Nazi guards. The Jewish people assumed the best out of the situation because they had never experienced such horrors before. They never realized just how endangered their lives were before it was too late. Imagery is used in Night to convey to the reader just how dark and chilling the holocaust was. Wiesel’s use of imagery is important because when describing these events, his writing is very soft. His word choice is more matter-of-fact rather than extremely detailed. An example of Wiesel’s writing being this way is when the prisoners are going through a very harsh winter. His description of it was, “Winter had arrived. The days became short, and the nights almost unbearable.

From the first hours of dawn, a glacial wind lashed us like a whip. The stones were so cold that touching them, we felt that our hands would remain stuck. But we got used to that too.” As previously stated, he is rather matter-of-fact when writing about this situation. This is important regarding how it influences the theme of mortality in the book because it shows just how tired Wiesel had become. By then, in the book, terrible conditions such as this were normal for the prisoners. They had no way to fight back, for if they tried to work against the system, they were killed. This leads to the acceptance of their fate. The prisoners, by then, believed that no matter what, they would likely die inside of those camps.

These poor people were on the brink of life and death, and the best that they could do was accept it and push on with what little life they had left at the last allegory. Its use is very important when discussing mortality. At the very end of the book, Ellie says, “I wanted to see myself in the mirror hanging on the opposite wall. I had not seen myself since the ghetto. From the depths of the mirror, a corpse gazed back at me. The look in his eyes, as they stared back into mine, has never left me.”

Conclusion: The Pervasive Nature of Mortality

The thematic meaning behind this statement is that despite being free from the concentration camps, the prisoners will always have tragic memories of their experiences in the camps. These people will always be shackled to the past because of the physical and mental scars that the Nazis put on them. Throughout the book Night, Elie Wiesel masterfully uses the literary tools of irony, imagery, and allegory to get his point about mortality across. So many people don’t realize that what we have right now can very easily be taken away. By the time our lives are stripped away, including our loved ones and possessions, we just don’t know what to do anymore. The best we can do is accept the situation and pull through it. This kind of action leaves a very big mental scar on our beings. Mortality is such a big constant in all of our lives that we don’t even realize it is there. Life is something that can be changed just like that, no matter whether you want it to or not.

References

• Wiesel, E. (1960). Night. New York: Hill and Wang.

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