Mr. Pearson, Mr. Thomas Stuppy & Ms. Mary Brock
English 9 (Period 3)
Thursday Apr 21, 2022
Night: Literacy Circle Assignment #1
Symbol Finder
There was an important symbolism in chapter two of Night by Elie Wiesel. In
chapter two, during the Holocoust, after the Hungarians expel all foreign Jews, including
Moishe the Beadle, the Nazis controlled and forced every family in town to give up their
valuable possession, such as gold, jewlery, watches, etc. and afterward they were forced to
flee and be sentenced to labor camp in Birkenau. Beginning of the chapter, they were in
train cars with 80 other people including an army soldier keeping an eye on them. During
the ride to Birkenau, a woman that Elie knows, Madame Schächter, was having a vision of
fire. She kept screaming “Fire! Fire! I see fire!” But there was no fire. To other people, she
thinks that she is crazy or is thirsty because of the hallucination of fire. The fire vision is a
symbol, because in most cases and acknowledgement, fire represents destruction. And
since this event is taking during the holocausts, then there will be mass of destruction in
environment and humanity. And the fire is not only a sign of symbolism, but might have
been foreshadowing a crucial event soon coming up in the book.