"Night" by Elie Wiesel / Fancy Book Club - Harris Ahmad

Setting:
● The story happens during World War II, mainly in Auschwitz and Buchenwald, which are
concentration camps.
● This setting is super important because it shows the horror of what happened during the
Holocaust. If the story happened somewhere else, it wouldn't have the same impact
because it's all about what Jewish people went through during this time.

Perspective:
● "Night" is told from the "I" point of view, meaning we see everything through Eliezer's
eyes. 1st person POV.
● It stays like this the whole time, which makes us feel really close to what he's feeling and
thinking.
● This way of telling the story is really good for making us feel what Eliezer feels, but it
also means we only get his side of things.
● It's important because it makes the story feel real and personal, showing how one
person was affected by the Holocaust.

Symbolism:
● Night: It's like a symbol for all the bad stuff, sadness, and losing faith.
● Fire: It shows destruction and the Nazis' terrible power.
● Silence: It's about how the world didn't do enough to stop what was happening.

Motifs:
● Losing Innocence: We see Eliezer change from a young, hopeful boy to someone who's
seen too much.
● Death: It's everywhere, showing just how bad things were.
● Faith and Doubt: Eliezer struggles with belief in his faith while all this is happening.

Allusions:
● There are references to stories from the Bible, like Job (pbuh) and the sacrifice of Isaac
(pbuh), which add more depth to the story.

Characters' Names:
● Eliezer: His name is close to the author's, which makes the story feel more personal. It
also has a religious meaning, adding irony since Eliezer questions his faith.

The Protagonist:
● Who: Eliezer, a Jewish teenager.
● Background: Starts as a religious kid from Transylvania.
● Change: He goes from innocent and faithful to someone who's lost a lot of hope and is
pretty numb to everything.
 ● Self-View: How he sees himself and his beliefs changes a lot because of all the terrible
stuff he sees and goes through.

The Journey:
● Start: He's forced into the camps.
● Goal: At first, just to survive and stay with his dad.
● Problems: Horrible treatment, hunger, seeing death and cruelty.
● Realization: He learns about how cruel people can be and how important it is to
remember history.
● Overall Meaning: The story shows how strong people can be, how bad people can get,
and why we need to remember these events.

Title:
● "Night" is about the darkness of Eliezer's experiences, losing hope, and faith. A key line
that shows this is when Eliezer talks about the night feeling never-ending.

Big Ideas:
● Sense of Self: Eliezer's whole identity changes.
● Ideals and Inspiration: The story makes you question where hope and inspiration come
from when everything is so dark.
● Joy and Inspiration: They're pretty much gone, replaced by just trying to survive.
● Doubt and Fear: These are big themes, especially around faith.
● Universal Issues: It's about the terrible things humans can do.
● Power and Goodness: The story shows how power can be abused.
● Social Criticism: It's a strong call out on how people didn't do enough to help.
● Addressing the Issues: It makes us aware and reminds us of the Holocaust.

I find a connection with the main character, Eliezer. Here's how and why;
Loss of Innocence:
● Eliezer's journey from a naive and a young boy to someone who has witnessed the cruel
humanity is a harsh example of losing innocence. While most of us people here don't
experience anything as drastic as Eliezer, many today in the Holy Land can relate to the
idea of learning hard truths about the world. Especially Today, witnessing the
indiscriminate Genocide taking place against the Palestinians, from the same people
who’s forefathers were victim to the Holocost.
● I relate to losing innocence, especially in the past couple months. More than 30,000
recorded innocent people have been brutally, and indiscriminately killed in the current
Genocide taking place in Palestine, Bombings that are even worse than the bombings in
Japan (Hiroshima and Nagasaki) during World War II. There are Terrorist War Criminals
also known as the Israeli Defense Force invading lands, and they're not even sparing
innocent women and kids walking on the streets (west bank). The whole world is finally
losing its innocence, not just me. My Brothers and Sisters in Palestine have been going
through this illegal occupation by a Terrorist State run by Terrorists, also known as “The
State of Israel aka “Israhell””, for more than 75 years!