Rhetorical Devices
Section 1:
“Moshe the Beadle would draw me with him into eternity.”
- Metaphor
Moshe the Beadles teachings helped Elie learn about the deeper meaning in her own faith of God.
“Where a few half-burned candles still gave a flickering light.”
- Metaphor
This quote is the comparison between the faith of the Jewish people and specifically Elie Wiesel. The fear that the Jews faced made people question their faith and the will of God.
“He wandered in the synagogue or in the streets, with his eyes down, his back bent, avoiding peoples’ eyes.” –
- Imagery
This quote shows how broken down Moshe the Beadle has become; it is a sign of someone who has given up.
“There are a thousand and one gates leading into the orchard of mystical truth.”
- Hyperbole
This is an exaggeration of the ways that people were discovering faith and enlightenment. There are many different ways to find enlightenment.
“The race towards death had begun”
- Personification
This personification is meant to indicate how quickly death befell the Jews of Sighet.
“He closed his eyes, as though to escape time.”
- Simile
As he closed his eyes to relax and take control of time and try to escape the bad and when he opens his eyes, all things will be good again.
“Babies were thrown into the air and the machine gunners used them as targets.”
- Imagery
The imagery of this quote serves the purpose of the author descbinig how the Nazi’s treated the Jewish people. It is used to get the emotion of the reader out.
“The yellow star? Oh well, what of it? You don’t die of it…’
- Foreshadowing
This quote foreshadows the death of Elie’s father.
“A prolonged whistle split the air.”
- Personification
When the human is able to “split” something using a whistle, it shows how the harshness of the trains and describes how dreadful the Jews were treated on these trains.
“Tears, like drops of wax, flowed from his eyes.”
- Simile
Comparing the teardrops of wax was a sign of someone giving up hope.
Section 2:
“That night the soup tasted of corpses.”
- Metaphor
This is meant to show the pain and disturbance that Elie felt when witnessing the execution of the young prisoner.
“More running. Another barracks, the store. Very long tables. Mountains of prison clothes. On we ran. As we passed, trousers, tunic, shirt and socks were thrown to us.”
- Description
The quick description in this passage allows the reader to understand how the circumstance might have felt during this time. The fast passed confusing, never being in one place long enough to accurately describe it.
“…whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky.”
- Imagery
This imagery is used to show the terror that was used in the gas chambers and crematories.
“He leapt on me, like a wild animal, hitting me in the chest.”
- Simile
This simile shows how the SS officers acted in the concentration camps towards the Jews. They inflicted pain on anyone that wasn’t a Nazi.
“…from those who no longer wished to taste the bitterness of terror.”
- Personification
This was used to give a more human meaning to the situation of the deportees. Used to describe terror as something noticeable.
“Ten thousand caps went back onto their skulls, as quick as lightning.” –
- Simile
This comparison shows how the prisoners did what they were told, in a heartbeat.
“Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live Never shall I forget those moment which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never.”
- Repetition
The word “never” is repeated throughout this passage. It shows how scared the prisoners were.
“It was a beautiful April day. The fragrance of spring in the air. The sun was setting in the west.” –
- Description
The description is in complete contrast to the rest of the descriptions. It shows the happier side of the novel instead of the dark side. It shows how something like a nice day would be a great gift for the prisoners of Auschwitz.
“Never shall I forget those flames which consumes my faith forever.”
- Personification
This showed how the sight of crematory in the cocenration camp took away Elie’s faith in god.
“The stomach alone was aware of the passage of time.” –
- Personification
This quote helps the reader understand the feeling of being overtaken and becoming brain dead.
Section 3:
“The whole day, I wandered about as if sleepwalking.” –
- Simile
This demonstrates the mental incapability that fell on Eliezer, where he thought that his father had died.
“The day was disappearing in a monochrome of grey.”
-Foreshadowing
It foreshadows the terrors that are yet to come and the sensitive state with which the prisoners would acknowledge them.
“The whole camp was electric with the tension which was in all our hearts.”
- Metaphor
The metaphor is used to describe the feeling and atmosphere throughout the camp.
“When you were deceived by Adam and Eve, You drove them out of Paradise.”
- Allusion
This quote is focused towards the story of Adam and Eve and how the people who weren’t religious, it shows God’s resentment and unforgiving nature that is told in the perspective of Elie.
“My foot felt as though it was burning.”
- Simile
This is a way that Elie used to show the pain that she was suffering.
“The icy cold wind cut us like a whip.”
- Simile
This is the comparison between how the cold and the winds, which are natural elements, are like a whip where it is used to punish the prisoners.
“Every glance he gave me held a message of hope.” –
- Personification
This described the way that the doctor looked at Elie. It gave him hope.
“The camp had become a hive.”
- Metaphor
The comparison being shown here is the hive and the how the Nazi’s would control everything and every other person was to do all of the jobs.
“They put me into a bed with white sheets. I had forgotten that people slept in sheets.”
- Description
This section describes the conditions of the consecration camps and it reminds us of how the Jews were treated and the conditions they lived in.
“They came back shattered.” –
- Metaphor
This described how the Jewish people came back form the concentration camps in “pieces” and they were broken mentally and physically.
Section 4:
“I can’t forget the light of thankfulness in his eyes while he gulped it down- an animal gratitude.”
- Metaphor
Elie describes his father as a animal where he must survive in the wilderness, in this case it would be the concentration camps.
“The days were like nights.”
- Simile
It is comparing the how the day is nighttime and there is an never ending darkness.
“He had become like a child, weak, timid, vulnerable.”
- Simile
Elie is speaking about his father and he is describing how since be became ill, he has started to act like a child and has had to rely on Elies to take care of him.
“The wheel of history had turned.”
- Foreshadowing
Elie learned to accept the change within him with the fate that he believed in.
“Water was the worst poison he could have.”
- Metaphor
Water could not saved Elie’s fathers life and water is the most essential thing to survive, and that wouldn’t even keep his father alive.
“I no longer thought of my father or of my mother. From time to time I would dream of a drop of soup.”
- Metaphor
This is the comparison of finding something that is needed more than loved at the moment. Elie would rather have food instead of having her parents and loving them.
“The brain a whirlpool of decaying memories.”
- Metaphor
This is describing the mental and emotional fairness that was necessary for the survival for the prisoners.
“Engraving into myself the picture of his blood-stained face, his shattered skull.”
- Description
The description of the young 15-year-old boy, who already had a lot on his plate with taking care of his father, had also been violently beaten. This lead him to having uncomfortable memory.
“The look in his eyes, as they stared into mine, has never left me.”
- Imagery
Elie will never be able to un-see his father’s death and never be able to forget the things that he has seen and been through in the concentration camps.
“From the depths of the mirror.”
- Personification
What Elie is looking at in the mirror is herself and trying to find the deeper meaning within her own self.
“Moshe the Beadle would draw me with him into eternity.”
- Metaphor
Moshe the Beadles teachings helped Elie learn about the deeper meaning in her own faith of God.
“Where a few half-burned candles still gave a flickering light.”
- Metaphor
This quote is the comparison between the faith of the Jewish people and specifically Elie Wiesel. The fear that the Jews faced made people question their faith and the will of God.
“He wandered in the synagogue or in the streets, with his eyes down, his back bent, avoiding peoples’ eyes.” –
- Imagery
This quote shows how broken down Moshe the Beadle has become; it is a sign of someone who has given up.
“There are a thousand and one gates leading into the orchard of mystical truth.”
- Hyperbole
This is an exaggeration of the ways that people were discovering faith and enlightenment. There are many different ways to find enlightenment.
“The race towards death had begun”
- Personification
This personification is meant to indicate how quickly death befell the Jews of Sighet.
“He closed his eyes, as though to escape time.”
- Simile
As he closed his eyes to relax and take control of time and try to escape the bad and when he opens his eyes, all things will be good again.
“Babies were thrown into the air and the machine gunners used them as targets.”
- Imagery
The imagery of this quote serves the purpose of the author descbinig how the Nazi’s treated the Jewish people. It is used to get the emotion of the reader out.
“The yellow star? Oh well, what of it? You don’t die of it…’
- Foreshadowing
This quote foreshadows the death of Elie’s father.
“A prolonged whistle split the air.”
- Personification
When the human is able to “split” something using a whistle, it shows how the harshness of the trains and describes how dreadful the Jews were treated on these trains.
“Tears, like drops of wax, flowed from his eyes.”
- Simile
Comparing the teardrops of wax was a sign of someone giving up hope.
Section 2:
“That night the soup tasted of corpses.”
- Metaphor
This is meant to show the pain and disturbance that Elie felt when witnessing the execution of the young prisoner.
“More running. Another barracks, the store. Very long tables. Mountains of prison clothes. On we ran. As we passed, trousers, tunic, shirt and socks were thrown to us.”
- Description
The quick description in this passage allows the reader to understand how the circumstance might have felt during this time. The fast passed confusing, never being in one place long enough to accurately describe it.
“…whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky.”
- Imagery
This imagery is used to show the terror that was used in the gas chambers and crematories.
“He leapt on me, like a wild animal, hitting me in the chest.”
- Simile
This simile shows how the SS officers acted in the concentration camps towards the Jews. They inflicted pain on anyone that wasn’t a Nazi.
“…from those who no longer wished to taste the bitterness of terror.”
- Personification
This was used to give a more human meaning to the situation of the deportees. Used to describe terror as something noticeable.
“Ten thousand caps went back onto their skulls, as quick as lightning.” –
- Simile
This comparison shows how the prisoners did what they were told, in a heartbeat.
“Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live Never shall I forget those moment which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never.”
- Repetition
The word “never” is repeated throughout this passage. It shows how scared the prisoners were.
“It was a beautiful April day. The fragrance of spring in the air. The sun was setting in the west.” –
- Description
The description is in complete contrast to the rest of the descriptions. It shows the happier side of the novel instead of the dark side. It shows how something like a nice day would be a great gift for the prisoners of Auschwitz.
“Never shall I forget those flames which consumes my faith forever.”
- Personification
This showed how the sight of crematory in the cocenration camp took away Elie’s faith in god.
“The stomach alone was aware of the passage of time.” –
- Personification
This quote helps the reader understand the feeling of being overtaken and becoming brain dead.
Section 3:
“The whole day, I wandered about as if sleepwalking.” –
- Simile
This demonstrates the mental incapability that fell on Eliezer, where he thought that his father had died.
“The day was disappearing in a monochrome of grey.”
-Foreshadowing
It foreshadows the terrors that are yet to come and the sensitive state with which the prisoners would acknowledge them.
“The whole camp was electric with the tension which was in all our hearts.”
- Metaphor
The metaphor is used to describe the feeling and atmosphere throughout the camp.
“When you were deceived by Adam and Eve, You drove them out of Paradise.”
- Allusion
This quote is focused towards the story of Adam and Eve and how the people who weren’t religious, it shows God’s resentment and unforgiving nature that is told in the perspective of Elie.
“My foot felt as though it was burning.”
- Simile
This is a way that Elie used to show the pain that she was suffering.
“The icy cold wind cut us like a whip.”
- Simile
This is the comparison between how the cold and the winds, which are natural elements, are like a whip where it is used to punish the prisoners.
“Every glance he gave me held a message of hope.” –
- Personification
This described the way that the doctor looked at Elie. It gave him hope.
“The camp had become a hive.”
- Metaphor
The comparison being shown here is the hive and the how the Nazi’s would control everything and every other person was to do all of the jobs.
“They put me into a bed with white sheets. I had forgotten that people slept in sheets.”
- Description
This section describes the conditions of the consecration camps and it reminds us of how the Jews were treated and the conditions they lived in.
“They came back shattered.” –
- Metaphor
This described how the Jewish people came back form the concentration camps in “pieces” and they were broken mentally and physically.
Section 4:
“I can’t forget the light of thankfulness in his eyes while he gulped it down- an animal gratitude.”
- Metaphor
Elie describes his father as a animal where he must survive in the wilderness, in this case it would be the concentration camps.
“The days were like nights.”
- Simile
It is comparing the how the day is nighttime and there is an never ending darkness.
“He had become like a child, weak, timid, vulnerable.”
- Simile
Elie is speaking about his father and he is describing how since be became ill, he has started to act like a child and has had to rely on Elies to take care of him.
“The wheel of history had turned.”
- Foreshadowing
Elie learned to accept the change within him with the fate that he believed in.
“Water was the worst poison he could have.”
- Metaphor
Water could not saved Elie’s fathers life and water is the most essential thing to survive, and that wouldn’t even keep his father alive.
“I no longer thought of my father or of my mother. From time to time I would dream of a drop of soup.”
- Metaphor
This is the comparison of finding something that is needed more than loved at the moment. Elie would rather have food instead of having her parents and loving them.
“The brain a whirlpool of decaying memories.”
- Metaphor
This is describing the mental and emotional fairness that was necessary for the survival for the prisoners.
“Engraving into myself the picture of his blood-stained face, his shattered skull.”
- Description
The description of the young 15-year-old boy, who already had a lot on his plate with taking care of his father, had also been violently beaten. This lead him to having uncomfortable memory.
“The look in his eyes, as they stared into mine, has never left me.”
- Imagery
Elie will never be able to un-see his father’s death and never be able to forget the things that he has seen and been through in the concentration camps.
“From the depths of the mirror.”
- Personification
What Elie is looking at in the mirror is herself and trying to find the deeper meaning within her own self.