Nighttime In Elie Wiesel's Night

In the novel, nighttime is used to symbolize a period of both physical and spiritual darkness, death, and Elie’s loss of faith in god. This is the first mention during the first few chapters when Elie compares his life to an endless night: “Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed.”

In the book, many of the terrible events Elie witnessed or suffered happened during the night, or invoke the feeling of nighttime because of darkness or silence. For instance, the death march, the arrival to Auschwitz, and the cattle cars are taking place (or feel like they are) during the night. In the novel, Elie even states that "The days were like nights,