Night Quotes Flashcards
Theme: Loss of Faith
Explanation: Elie is contemplating on what happened to Akiba Drumer, saying that he may have escaped death if he held on to his faith. He lost his faith, thus he perished.
“Poor Akiba, if only he could have kept his faith in God, if only he could have considered this suffering a divine test, he would not have been swept away by the selection.”
Theme: Loss of Faith
Explanation: Wiesel believes that God is responsible for everything. God is seen as caught up in the evil creation of the camps. God is the one to blame.
“Why, but why would I bless Him? Every fiber in me rebelled…Because in his great might, he had created Auschwitz, Birkenau, Buna, and so manyother factories of death? “
Theme: Loss of Faith
Explanation: God is personified, hanging depicts God as dead because such a viceral, horrific murder would not have happened if God were to be real. This an initial sign Elie has lost faith in God.
“For God’s sake, where is God?.,,where He is? This is where—hanging here from this gallows.”
Theme: Loss of Faith
Explanation: Elie is given a sense of power. He feels that he/man is superior to God because he is accusing God of all the bad things that have happened. God is at fault so he is inferior.
“Yes, man is stronger, greater than God…I felt very strong. I was the accuser, God the accused.”
Theme: Loss of Faith
Explanation: Here, Akiba is demonstrating nihilism, the denial of all faith and that life is meanigless. Elie and the other inmates attempt to redeem his faith, but there is no point.
“I can’t go on … It’s over … “- Akiba
“We tried to raise his spirits, but he wouldn’t listen to anything we said. He just kept repeating that it was all over for him, that he could no longer fight, he had no more strength, no more faith.” - Elie
Theme: Human Connection/Compassion
Explanation: Elie’s fellow young inmates are demonstrating human connection, reaching out and relying on each other to cope with the journey.
“Freed of normal constraints, some of the young let go of their inhibitions and, under cover of darkness, caressed one another, without any thought of others, alone in the world.”
Theme: Human Connection/Compassion
Explanation: This quote is said by the head of one of the concentration camp blocks. He shows compassion and relieves the inmates of distress and hopelessness. He also encourages compassion amongst the inmates.
“Comrades, you are now in the concentration camp…muster your strength and keep your faith…have faith in life…hell does not last forever”
“Help each other. That is the only way to survive.”
Theme: Human Connection/Compassion
Explanation: At the first selectio, Elie’s mother demonstrates compassion and human connection by consoling Tzipora with her hand.
“Mother was stroking my sister’s blond hair, as if to
protect her.”
Theme: Human Connection/Compassion
Explanation: When entering Birkenau, holding hands is the only they can grip reality. Elie’s father is seeking the only form of comfort, which is companionship.
“Hand in hand we followed the throng…I kept walking, my father holding my hand.”
Theme: Human Connection/Compassion
Explanation: Elie’s Doctor reassures him that he shouldn’t fear his foot operation. The Doctor shows compassion and alleviates his concern and worry. His words also encourage Elie to trust him.
“Don’t be afraid…everything will be all right.”
“It will hurt a little…but it will pass…be brave.”
“That reassured me…the inflection of his voice soothed me.”
Theme: Fathers and Sons
Explanation: The bond Elie and his father hold is so strong that Elie priroritises being beside his father than being alive.
“As for me, I was thinking not about death but about not wanting to be separated from my father. We had already suffered so much, endured so much together. This was not the moment to separated”
Theme: Fathers and Sons
Explanation: During the selection, Elie is determined not to lose his father like he loses his mother. He is scared to be abandoned.
“My hand tightened its grip on my father. All I could think of
was not to lose him. Not to remain alone.”
Theme: Fathers and Sons
Explanation: This is the opposite of a strong bond between a father and a son. The Rabbi’s son is greedy for survival and abandons his father for his own benefit. The sons have no dignity, no tears left to cry.
“He had felt his father growing weaker and,
believing that the end was near, had thought by this separation to free himself of a burden that could diminish his own chance for survival.”
“Sons abandoned the remains of their fathers without a tear.”
Theme: Fathers and Sons
Explanation: Meir’s son prioritises tending to his hunger than his father being alive. Therefore, he kills his own father to get the crust of bread. The son is very cruel.
“Meir, my little Meir! Don’t you recognize me … You’re killing
your father… I have bread…for you too … for you too… “
“His son searched him, took the crust of bread, and began to devour it.
Theme: Fathers and Sons
Explanation: During the death march, Elie’s father keeps him going. Elie believes that his father’s survival depends on him so he tries to stay alive. Their relationship allows him to make better decisions.
“Death enveloped me, it suffocated me…[the idea of letting] myself slide to the side of the road… My father’s presence was the only thing that stopped me.”
“I had no right to let myself die. What would he do without me? I was his sole support.”
