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Mikel Side-Anene
Mrs. Parker
English I Honors
15 November 2023
The Cost of Silence
In the book Night by Elie Wiesel he tells us about his experience in the
[Link] hatred of a society of people led to the suffering of those people, and in
turn the said people lost their humanity and faith in the religion they once cherished. He
uses this book or retelling of his story as a way to warn the reader about what will happen
again if this world continues to keep a culture of turning a blind eye to atrocities
happening in the world. Wiesel uses the literary devices of Details, Imagery and Diction
to further his idea of stopping indifference.
At first, Wiesel uses detail to send a message to the audience about the
conditions of the holocaust. Wiesel isn't truly aware as to what is happening right now but
he foreshadows what is to come through his use of [Link] they ride the cattle cars to
the camp Wiesel is alarmed at the supposed crazy woman [Link] repeats the
same words multiple times “Jews I see fire I see flames huge flames” (Weisel 25).The
author used these details to foreshadow not only what the camp would be like but what
was in store for all of them. Furthermore the details showed how oblivious the jews really
were. They were scared but had no clue what was going [Link] he arrived at the camp
Auschwitz also made use of the literary device by using it to convey [Link] he
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said “Eight words quite, quietly , indifferent without emotion”(29).This was important to
the memoir to show how unfeeling the Nazis were even when those people had just
arrived he showed no amount of pity. The author used this detail to give us some insight
on how poorly the jews would be treated starting with splitting up [Link] conclusion,
the author wanted us to see the Jewish people before and during the camp using details
showing how the experience really influenced them mentally physically and emotionally.
The Author uses diction to question his faith trying to make sense of the madness
he saw [Link] way he chooses words during his struggle in faith could be read in
two ways an angry or a desperate [Link] quote showed his use of diction “ The
almighty terrible eternal ruler of the universe…what was their to be thankful for?”(
33).This quote showed the first signs of him losing his faith using diction. It made it not
seem like he had thrown god to the wind, but he was now just starting to question the
religion he had followed to the tee his entire [Link] Weisel and his father walked into the
crowded barracks he thought to himself about the crematoriums. He was struggling to
believe that god would allow this to happen to his people. He “Never shall forget those
moments that murdered my god”(34).His wording of what he said can tell us he is
confused and in disbelief also telling us this will be a part of his memories [Link]
was saw his god as a benevolent entity all knowing all powerful but the brutality he had
witnessed was making him lose faith. This leads the reader to believe that the author was
struggling with his faith through diction we understood
Towards the end of the story, Wiesel utilizes imagery to make an impact on the
[Link] the final camp Buchenwald Wiesel's father had become extremely ill, Weisel’s
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use of Imagery is used to show the inability to help his father survive any longer as their
time in imprisonment drew to a close. The author used this device to emphasize the
helplessness he felt as they beat his father. He says “ I was afraid my body was afraid of
another blow this time to my head”(111).He wanted to help his father but he knew in his
heart that there was nothing else he could do and why get hurt for somebody who won't
live through the week. Him not helping his father could be seen as him acting cowardly
or it could be seen as him preserving [Link] that Elie was moved to the children's
block he had noticed his father was gone, he felt no real [Link] he says here “I
spent my days in total idleness with only one desire: to eat”(113).Elies use of imagery
shows how nonchalant he had become his only concern was food nothing else not even
his own [Link] was were the events of the holocaust left him all alone without any
purpose awaiting death. In the end he used Imagery to emphasize this turning point in the
end of the story which helped us understand why he didn't help or feel that he should do
anything any longer he had close to no will to live.
The cost of silence is a grave one, Elie's main reasoning for writing this was so
people wouldn't be silent any longer. He used literary devices like Imagery Diction and
Details to help us further understand the consequences, not to mention his own
experiences and suffering caused [Link] book is a testament to his experiences and to the
consequences of the world turning their backs on his suffering.
Works cited
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Wiesel, Elie, and Marion Wiesel. Night. Penguin Classics 2004.
