Night represents the worst periods of suffering during Eliezer's experience of the Holocaust. In Sighet, the Jews learn of their deportation at night. Eliezer arrives at Birkenau at night. The death march to Gleiwitz happens at night. At Buchenwald, his father is taken away during the night. Night also symbolizes the hole—the absence—left in Eliezer's life as a religious person who comes to a personal realization that God does not exist.
Night Quotes in Night
The Night quotes below all refer to the symbol of Night. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 1
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Night. No one prayed, so that the night would pass quickly. The stars were only sparks of the fire which devoured us. Should that fire die out one day, there would be nothing left in the sky but dead stars, dead eyes.
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Chapter 3
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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. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky. Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever.
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Chapter 6
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Pitch darkness. Every now and then, an explosion in the night. They had orders to fire on any who could not keep up. Their fingers on the triggers, they did not deprive themselves of this pleasure. If one of us stopped for a second, a sharp shot finished off another filthy son of a bitch.
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Chapter 7
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We were given no food. We lived on snow; it took the place of bread. The days were like nights, and the nights left the dregs of their darkness in our souls.
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Get the entire Night LitChart as a printable PDF.
Night Symbol Timeline in Night
The timeline below shows where the symbol Night appears in Night. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
One night, Eliezer's father is hurriedly summoned to a meeting of the Jewish council. Neighbors gather at...
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All night the Jews in the ghetto prepare themselves for a journey to an unknown destination. In...
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That night, according to Eliezer, no one prays. The next day, people try to feel hopeful. They...
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Chapter 2
...mind. Her youngest son tries to comfort her as she cries hysterically. On the third night of the journey, she screams that she can see a fire and wakes everyone up.
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At night, the train moves into the camp. Madame Schächter again screams about flames, but this time...
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Chapter 3
...ordered back to the barracks. The narrator says he will never forget that first horrible night, "which has turned my life into one long night." He will never forget the faces...
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Lying on their beds at night during this period, the prisoners listen to a man named Akiba Drumer sing religious songs....
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Chapter 7
The train goes on through the night. When light comes, Eliezer is unable to tell who is alive and who is dead...
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...wonders why the Nazis don't just shoot them. The train arrives at Buchenwald late at night and the living disembark. Meir Katz stays with the dead on the train.
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