In the Holocaust memoir Night, Elie Wiesel communicates the horrors of his journey from Sighet as an innocent, passionate child to his time spent at the Auschwitz concentration camps facing a harsh reality. Through the use of diction and syntax, Wiesel emphasizes the deterioration of the Jewish prisoners’ emotional and physical conditions.
Within the first five chapters, Wiesel utilizes terminology to present the Jewish background of Sighet, as well as his own passion towards worship. For example, Wiesel has a strong determination to “…find in Sighet a master to teach [Wiesel] the Zohar, the Kabbalistic works, the secrets of Jewish mysticism.” (5) This terminology is used by Wiesel to show his strong dedication as a Cabbala student. Later on in the first five chapters, Wiesel employs despair-filled diction in a way that shows his growing mental exhaustion: “My head was spinning: You are too skinny… You are too weak… You are too skinny.” (72) Through this hopeless diction, we can infer that the camps are already taking a toll on both his physical and emotional health. However, during his 42-mile trek in chapters six through nine, Wiesel and the Jews are pushed to the breaking point: “The idea of dying, of ceasing to be, began to fascinate me.” (86) Wiesel’s choice of morbid diction regarding this experience exhibits the level of endurance the Jewish prisoners needed in order to survive the breaking down of their stamina and perseverance. Throughout his memoir, Wiesel’s transformation of diction from devout terminology to desperation portrays the gradual shift of the prisoners’ conditions from strong and content to weak and hopeless.
Wiesel also uses rhetorical questions and juxtaposition to illustrate the worsening of the prisoners’ emotional and physical conditions through rhetorical questions. While in Buna, Elie and the other prisoners are sent into blocks when the sirens go off one day. They can see two unguarded cauldrons of soup, but they fear being shot if they leave the barracks: “Two lambs without a shepherd, free for the taking. But who would dare? Fear was greater than hunger.” (59) Through this rhetorical question, Wiesel shows that the fear of being shot overshadowed the hunger of most prisoners, and few were desperate enough to risk their lives for soup. In contrast, many prisoners were actually tempted with death on the trek to Gleiwitz in chapters six through nine: “Get up? How could I? How could I leave this warm blanket? I was hearing my father’s words, but their meaning escaped me..” (88) Wiesel utilizes rhetorical questioning in these last chapters to emphasize that he was so exhausted the snow seemed like a warm blanket to him. His questioning represents the complete and hopeless exhaustion that all of the prisoners feltl. Though the Jews had once been fighting for their lives, death now seems a merciful option over their present suffering.
Another way Wiesel reveals changes in the prisoners regarding syntax is through juxtaposition. For example, when the Jews are being forced out of Sighet in chapters one through five, the guards are able to use the Jews’ kind hearts against them: “One person was placed in charge of every (cattle) car: If someone managed to escape, that person would be shot… They (the Gestapo officers)… were all smiles; all things considered, it had gone very smoothly.” (22) This use of juxtaposition places the threat of death beside peace and satisfaction in a way that portrays the Jews’ will to protect each other by not attempting escape. However, after Wiesel has been in concentration camps for a long time, he witnesses a man beating his own father for bread before being killed by other Jews for the same bread: “ There were two dead bodies next to me, a father and the son.” (102) Soon after this, Wiesel’s father saves him from being strangled. Wiesels’ use of juxtaposition here shows us that the Holocaust has changed many people to a desperate every-man-for himself mindset, although Wiesel and his father were able to resist this.
Through diction and syntax, Wiesel was able to emphasize the changes Jewish prisoners went through during the Holocaust. Many became physically worn out and emotionally drained. Eventually, their lives became about survival, and seemingly nothing more.