Reviewing Chapter One of Eli Wiesel's novel,
Night, the sun and darkness are used very differently than one
might expect.
Strangely, it is at dusk and after dark when
Eli speaks with Moshe the Beadle in his desire to study the cabbala. Eli has many
questions and looks forward to the times that he and Moshe discuss their
faith.
While the sun is shining, the people of the town
have little time for being concerned about the war, and the threat, that moves ever
closer to them. When foreigners are deported, the people gather and rationalize it.
Somehow, news that the deportees have arrived at a new destination and are happy begins
to circulate.
Months later, Moshe the Beadle, one of the
foreigners, returns to report what really happened. In the light of
day, the people still cannot fathom what he is saying: that everyone on the transport
was executed, and Moshe only survived because it was thought that he was dead. People
won't listen to him and accuse him of wanting pity or attention. The joy has left Moshe:
he only wants the villagers to listen to him.
At night,
common sense seems to take over. People meet quietly and discuss what is happening.
Moshe and Eli study, as Eli tries to find meaning within. In this case, Moshe directs
Eli's thoughts:
'I pray to the God within me that He will give
me the strength to ask Him the right questions.'...We talked like this nearly every
evening.
Soon, the German
army arrives, rules are made, people are moved into ghettos, possessions are taken, and
citizens are warned under "threat of death."
However, when
the sun comes up, there seems to be a sense, again, of optimism that comes over the
people. They rationalize still further. They find hope in every thing that happens,
forgetting the seriousness of their circumstances.
It was neither German or Jew who ruled the
ghetto—it was illusion...On the Saturday before Pentecost, in the spring sunshine,
people strolled carefree and unheeding, though the swarming streets. They chatted
happily...
And...
Then, at last, at one o'clock in the afternoon,
came the signal to leave...There was joy—yes, joy. Perhaps they thought that God could
have devised no torment in hell rose than that of sitting there among the
bundles...
In the daylight,
when ever possible, the people will not believe what is unpleasant to consider, and they
live their lives with great expectation and optimism. In the evening, things are more
serious. This is when Eli searches for a meaning to his life; this is when people meet
to discuss the seriousness of their circumstances. Usually, light symbolizes knowledge
or enlightenment, and darkness symbolizes fear, a lack of wisdom ("being in the dark"),
but just the opposite is the case in Night.
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