Analysis of Rhetorical Strategies and Stylistic Devices in Night by Elie Wiesel

Night Essay Outline

Introduction to Elie Wiesel's Memoir "Night"

• Brief overview of the memoir and its themes

Use of Figures of Speech (Similes and Metaphors)

• How similes and metaphors are used to vividly describe the horrors of the Holocaust
• Examples of similes and metaphors in Wiesel's narrative

Irony as a Rhetorical Device

• The role of irony in highlighting the contradiction between expectations and reality in the concentration camps
• Examples of ironic statements made by Wiesel

Symbolism in "Night"

• How symbolism, particularly the title "Night," contributes to the overall message
• Significance of nighttime in the narrative and its representation of violence and tragedy

Elie Wiesel's Message and Purpose

• The central theme of ending human violence and the Holocaust
• How rhetorical strategies are used to emphasize the need to prevent such horrors from happening again

Night Essay Example

A world with corruption and violence is what Elie Wiesel painfully dealt with as mentioned in the written memoir, Night. This novel describes of the horror and terror Wiesel went through in his childhood in the midst of the Holocaust. His family was taken from their home and went to the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944 and later to the Buchenwald concentration camp. As days passed by in these concentration camps, Wiesel showed a strengthening of despair as he dealt with losing his innocence and even his family. Although some people may believe that Night is merely just a memoir and has no direct moral, Wiesel is conveying how humanly horror, like the one he experienced, should never be allowed to happen again which is evident through his use of similes and metaphors, ironic attitude, and symbolism, which will be analyzed in this essay.

The first rhetorical strategy used in Night by Elie Wiesel to better establish his purpose of ending human violence were figures of speech such as similes and metaphors. The use of these figures of speech helps readers to better associate Wiesel’s accounts to understandable language. Additionally, Wiesel dynamically conveys the horrific experiences that he went through using similes and metaphors. For instance, Wiesel used simile to strongly emphasize the type of treatment he received from the Buchenwald Concentration Camp. He delineated his experience by writing, “He threw himself on me like a wild beast, beating me in the chest, on my head, throwing me to the ground and picking me up again, crushing me with ever more violent blows, until I was covered in blood. As I bit my lips in order not to howl with pain, he must have mistaken my silence for defiance and so he continued to hit me harder and harder”. This quote demonstrates Wiesel’s use of similes and how his abuse was from one similar to that of a beast. This supports the theme and purpose Wiesel had when writing his memoir because it emphasizes that harsh treatment men had on one another during the Holocaust. He wrote this to show how treatment was unbearable and highlighted that this should end. Another instance Wiesel used figures of speech was when he wrote, “Next to the kitchen, two cauldrons of hot, steaming soup had been left untended. Two cauldrons of soup! Smack in the middle of the road, two cauldrons of soup with no one to guard them! A royal feast going to waste! Supreme temptation! Hundreds of eyes were looking at them, shining with desire. Two lambs with hundreds of wolves lying in wait for them. Two lambs without a shepherd, free for the taking. But who would dare?”. Wiesel uses a metaphor in this case to compare how the Jews are like lost sheep with wolves waiting for them. He used a very descriptive way to tell of the treatment of the Jews and how their every action was monitored by the officers. This excerpt also bring out an emanation of fear being greater than hunger. The Jewish people are helpless because of the treatment of man violence and Wiesel uses metaphors like these to show that human behavior like this must be stopped.

Additionally, Wiesel writes with an ironic attitude to allow the reader to think and see the emphasis on the central point. In Night by Elie Wiesel, the purpose of irony is to highlight the horrors of the concentration camps and violence that was forced to dominate the German Nazis. An example of irony that Wiesel had when writing his narrative was when he stated, “There was a labor camp on the site. The conditions were good”. This quote shows explicit irony because the account that Wiesel writes about the concentration camps do not match this description. The Jewish people believed that the conditions of concentration camps would be ideal although it is later expressed that it is in complete divergence. Using irony in this case helps solidify the purpose and theme that Wiesel expresses because he believes that it is expected for human behavior to be ethically amicable. A more straightforward example of irony is seen when Wiesel describes his experience while en route to Auschwitz. He wrote, “We continued to march between the barbed wire… The inscription: Warning! Danger of Death. What irony. Was there here a single place where one was not in danger of death?”. Wiesel made it known to the reader that this inscription was ironic and that it should’ve been evident that every place was an origin of violence and danger. It’s also seen in this excerpt a support of the purpose and theme in which Wiesel desperately wants a place with no implications of death.

Finally, to prove his point of ending human violence, Wiesel uses symbolism when writing his book. He wrote Night symbolically, and the title means a lot to the plot of the novel. Wiesel makes it evident in his novel how all the tragedies events happen at nighttime. A big example was the death of Wiesel’s father which took place over the evening. It was written, “I woke up at dawn on January 29. On my father’s cot there lay another sick person. They must have taken him away before daybreak and taken him to the crematorium”. In this account, Wiesel painfully described the instance in which he realized that his father died overnight and couldn’t be there for him. Here, symbolism leads readers to think about the implications and purpose and it can be evident and supportive to say that Wiesel hated violence. It can be seen that he wrote this to grab the reader’s attention with the symbolism of nighttime in order to convey that violence is wrong and horror like this must never be allowed to happen again.

Elie Wiesel has suffered through the many tragic experiences and horror that was evident throughout his presence during the Holocaust in 1944. Wiesel wrote of his experiences in this tragic and heartbreaking novel, Night, and used many rhetorical strategies to convey that human violence should never be allowed to happen again. Similes and metaphors, irony, and symbolism, are the few aspects of many stylistic devices that Wiesel uses in order to significantly help his message be conveyed. The language used showed emphasis and highlighted that the evil of man was truly solid and that world corruption and humanly torture should never be seen again.