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Figurative Language In Night Elie Wiesel

Good Essays

Night contains a significant amount of figurative language. Select 3 examples from the text to analyze. In analyzing each example, be sure to explain how the specific example impacts the text. (How does it affect the reader? How does it affect the reading experience? Why did Wiesel make that specific choice?) Please use a different type of figurative language for each example.

A great example of figurative language was on page 37, “We were withered trees in the heart of the desert”. This is one of the many metaphors the author uses throughout the text to give the reader a visual representation. He compared the Jews to withered trees to show how exhausted and drained they were. Instead of saying, “they were exhausted”, which is just a broad …show more content…

Use specific evidence from the text to support the answer
With this book, Wiesel has helped to ensure that the holocaust is never forgotten. The events that he and the other Jews endured and put in this book are memorable to any reader. Jews whose job were to help in the crematories, sometimes even help with putting others to death is pretty memorable. One man had to put his own father into the furnace (35). This is very memorable because they had to watch others just like them being burned to death, and one day others might have to do the same to them. They had to work in a place full of the dead, until they themselves were put to death. Another memorable event was when the dead bodies were thrown off the wagon (94) as if they were useless weight. That was memorable because those people had a previous life, with families that loved them, and their dead body meant absolutely nothing to the SS. It is moments like these must be remembered, in honor of the diseased. As Wiesel said, “For the survivors who chooses to testify, it is clear: his duty is to bear witness for the dead and the living...to forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time” (XV). Using good imagery and drilling the suffering of those who lived in these camps into the reader's mind, he has helped assure that …show more content…

In the speech, Elie lectured on the effects of indifference. He talked about how indiferente is dangerous because it blurs the line between good and bad. The reason the speech was not as powerful is because it has no storyline. As a reader we gain certain qualities from hearing the testimonys of others. The speech has facts from different points in history but there is no series of events. On the other hand, the book was full of hardship and resilience. Through the memoir, the reader can connect with a Elie's emotions of hopelessness, loss of faith and anger but also can be strengthened and learn to be tolerant thought his survival. Elie was angry at the God, for not being present and not having compassion on his people, “ Blessed be God's name? Why, but why would I blessed him? Every fiber in me rebelled” (67). Everyone has experienced anger because of something that goes wrong in their life and can relate to Elie when he was angry. The reader can also learn to be tolerant to things we dislike, instead of seeking vengeance as Elie was towards the SS men, “And even when we were no longer hungry, not one of us thought of revenge” (115). Elie had been through so much yet he didn't seek vengeance. Although he hadn't forgiven the SS men, he didn't wish harm to them, and that takes a lot of strength. We can learn from this because we need to just let things go

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