Yesenia Campos

8th period

Night Silence
The motif of silence is shown throughout Night, for instance when Moshie
experienced his territory getting taken over and almost getting killed, he told his
companions and the people of the community what he experienced and they refused to
listen and believe him. Even with the rumors around of this occurring they chose to keep
silent. Another example of the motif silence being used in Night was at the beginning of
the book when the Germans were staying in the homes of the people and surrounding
their town with no explanation , instead of doing the reasonable thing and ditching their
town or being more protective of their town, they chose to be silent and pretend
everything was normal. The motif silence was also shown when Elies father was being
beaten in front of him, Elies father had a colic attack and asked if he could be pointed to
the area where the restroom was then the Gypsey in charge swung at him and Elie
didnt do anything, he didnt react and help him because he was to scared of getting hurt
by the SS workers.
The motif silence is also shown with Elies peers around him. A man Akiba
Drummer decided to lose faith in God and all reasons for living so he is sent to the
crematorium. Before he is sent he asked the prisoners and Elie if they could do a
prayer for him in the next three days and the prisoners and Elie forgot. Not purposely
but this is a moment where there is silence because there was no prayer said. Another
part of the book where the motif silence stood out was when they were stuffed into cars,
bodies touching and highly uncomfortable they couldnt say anything. This is another
part of the book where there was silence shown.

Silence isnt just shown in the book Night its also shown in movies and on tv.
For example you see silence in the movie Cinderella. Cinderella was always treated
like the maid by her stepmother and stepsisters and never spoke up. She kept silent
because she was either scared shed get kicked out or scared to speak up, thats what
most of the people in Night did.
A theme in night I chose is, When you're scared its okay to keep silent.
because I feel thats the sum up of Night. I also see this theme in a book similar
to Night, Between Shades of Grey. The main characters family was forced out
of their homes and they didn't say anything because they were scared and
confused why they were being forced out.
My theme was shown throughout the book but these were the quotes that
stood out me the most. What had just happened to me? My father had just been
struck, in front of me, and I had not even blinked. I had watched and kept silent
(Wiesel 39). Theres the quote Lying down was not an option, nor could we all
sit down. There was little air. The lucky ones found themselves near a window;
they could watch the blooming countryside flit by (Wiesel 23). The last one that
stood out to me was, The synagogues were no longer open. People gathered in
private homes: no need to provoke the Germans (Wiesel 11).
Elie Wiesel also employs literary devices in Night. For example he uses
alliteration. In the quote Long Live Liberty! shouted the two men. But the boy
was silent. The effect alliteration had on the quote was it gives readers a
greater understanding that the men felt they were going to a place where there
was actual freedom. Other literary devices that Night had was characterization

and conflict. There was both in the following quote. Why should I sanctify His
name? The Almighty, the eternal and terrible Master of the universe, chose to be
silent. What was there to thank Him for? (Wiesel 33). The effect
characterization had was it shows that Ellie doesnt have faith anymore. The
effect conflict had was it expressed how Ellie is angry with the master of the
universe. The literary device conflict is also shown in these two quotes. What
had happened to me? My father had just been struck, in front of me, and I had
not even blinked. I had watched and kept silent. The effect conflict had on my
quote was it showed how Elie felt guilty and misunderstood of what his actions
were. The other quote that showed the literary device conflict was Lying down
was not an option, nor could we all sit down. There was little air. The lucky ones
found themselves near a window; they could watch the blooming countryside flit
by. The effect this literary device had on my quote was it showed that they felt
uncomfortable and couldn't do anything about it.
Elie Wiesel did a great job conveying the theme, When you're scared its
okay to keep silent. He perfected this theme by expressing how he felt guilt
when his father was hurt. He also perfected it when he showed the multiple
situations where someone was getting struck by the SS workers or controlled
and the people didnt respond as they would now because of the fear of the SS
workers.