Into the Dark: Night Review

Into the Dark: Night Review Feraco English 9 23 May 2011

Terms • Beadle – a caretaker or “man of all work” in a synagogue • Moche! • Cabbala – Jewish mysticism • Followers believe that every aspect of the Torah has hidden meanings that link the spiritual world to everyday life. The teachings of the cabbala can be found in the Zohar, which was compiled in the 1400s • This is what Moche teaches Eliezer

Terms • Job – a biblical figure who questioned why the just must suffer while the wicked flourish • How does he compare to Eliezer? • Kaddish – a prayer Jews recite in memory of a loved one • The prayer praises and reaffirms a belief in one God • The Jews promise to recite one for Akiba Drumer – and never do

Terms • Nazis – “National Socialist Party” • Fascist and right-wing, it warped its ideology as it continued amassing power in Germany • Promoted extreme racial and cultural intolerance • Preyed upon the fears and insecurities of postwar Germany • Committed numerous atrocities, including the attempted extermination of the Jewish people

Terms • SS – “Shield Squadron” • A major force for Hitler • Gestapo – Secret police • Fell under the SS’s administration but was its own unit • Kapo – A prisoner in a concentration camp, usually a criminal, who helped control other prisoners as a sort of overseer or warden

Terms • Yellow Star – A mark in the shape of the Star of David • Jews were forced to wear this in order to set them apart from others • One consequence: the mark made it easier to target them via hate crimes • Sighet – The Transylvanian town where Eliezer and his family live at the beginning of Night • The Weisel clan is taken to different concentration camps after being forced out of Sighet: Birkenau/Auschwitz, then Buna, and finally Buchenwald

Characters • Moché the Beadle – Like Cassandra (blessed with the power of foresight, but cursed by the inability to convince anyone she saw the truth), he tries to warn the Jews of impending danger only to be brushed aside and dismissed • Eliezer – Slightly fictionalized version of Wiesel (not Wiesel himself) • A-7713 – The number branded on Wiesel’s arm in the concentration camp – his official designation • Chlomo – Eliezer’s father, the character who takes the largest supporting role in the text

Characters • Mother – Eliezer’s mother disappears fairly early in the narrative • Hilda – Eliezer’s eldest sister, she is of marrying age when the Jews are ghettoized and moved • Béa – Eliezer’s older sister, younger than Hilda • Tzipora – The “baby” of the family, Eliezer – and Elie – lose her to the concentration camp • Stein (of Antwerp) – A relative of Eliezer’s; Eliezer and Chlomo lie to him about his family’s safety, and he’s crushed when he discovers the truth

Characters • Madame Schäcter – A passenger on the car Eliezer rides in • Prophetic cries earn her the same sort of “Cassandra” treatment that Moché received • Dr. Mengele – A physician in the SS who conducted vicious experiments on prisoners • Eliezer encounters him during selections, when he’s determining who will die, who will live, and who will become part of his experiments

Characters • Yeheil – A fellow prisoner who weeps as Eliezer tries to comfort him – highlights one aspect of the “human breakdown” as the prisoners are pushed to the edge of death • Akiba Drumer – A fellow prisoner who loses his will to carry on after his faith in God is broken – another aspect of the “human breakdown”

Characters • Juliek – A fellow prisoner • Unlike Akiba, he preserves his will to survive, continuing to play his violin – sadly, mournfully – even as he’s threatened • Both he and the violin are destroyed, and his sad final song in Buchenwald haunts Eliezer’s memories • Franek – A musician and foremen who Eliezer meets at the same time as Juliek • Turns out to be far crueler than at first blush, forcing Eliezer to have his golden crown (which holds his broken tooth together) removed with a spoon

Characters • Idek – One of the kapos in Buna, and an arbitrarily vicious man • Lashes Eliezer 25 times after the boy discovers his affair with a prisoner • Yossi and Tibi – Two boys Eliezer befriends in Buna • The “French” Girl – A “friend” Eliezer makes while staying at Buna • She hid signs that she was Jewish in order to survive

Characters • The Oberkapo – A huge kapo who treated his prisoners relatively well, and is transferred (assumed killed) after weeks of torture when he’s suspected of sabotage • The Pipel – A young, innocent boy who works for the Oberkapo • Eliezer thinks he looks beautiful, a “sad-eyed angel” • He is killed around the time the Oberkapo disappears • It takes him half an hour to die, and the sight proves to be one of the final blows to Eliezer’s faith

Characters • The Faceless Patient – Someone who stays in the hospital with Eliezer, and convinces him to flee before the patients are exterminated • Had Eliezer stayed, he would have been rescued instead • Rabbi Eliahou – A well-respected religious figure in the camps, his son abandons him during the long march to Buchenwald – foreshadowing the dilemma Eliezer will face with his own dying father • Mier Katz – A strong prisoner who saves Eliezer from someone trying to strangle him, he finally loses his faith on the final train ride

Terms • Rosh Hashana – The ten-day period that represents the beginning of the Jewish New Year, ending with Yom Kippur • Yom Kippur – “The day of atonement,” a day of fasting and prayer

Symbols • Bells – The loss of control the Jews face while living in the camps (ringing = obey) • Bread/Soup – Sustenance, life and existence – basic needs of human beings • Fire and Smoke – The end of all things – fire destroys bodies, smoke reminiscent of soul/hope destruction

Symbols • Shoes/Gold Crown – Remnants of a past life the Jews can never return to – this is why they’re lost in the camps • Swastika – The rise of evil and death in the guise of something else (originally a peace symbol in other languages) • Violin – A little fragment of peace and humanity in a sea of inhumanity and chaos

Themes and Motifs • Darkness • Denial / Ignorance / Mistakes • Family • Good and Evil (Human Nature) • Faith and Belief • Innocence

Themes and Motifs • Memory • Need • Loss • Tradition and Heritage • Fear and Hatred • Justice and Responsibility

Into the Dark: Night Review