Review by: Nisse Clark 3-23-01 Elie Wiesel, The Night Trilogy: Night, Dawn, and The Accident New York; Hill and Wang; 1960 “Never shall I forget that night, the first night in the 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 wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky. Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments 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.” (9)These are the words of the acclaimed writer Elie Wiesel. From this simple passage, the reader enters the author’s mind and begins their quest for an understanding of the holocaust; its horrors, secrets, and impacts. Wiesel presents these truths through his own anguish which he has metamorphosed into an art. Though classified as a novel, the series, is much a poetic testimony of Wiesel’s own personal experiences during the time of the Holocaust. For these reasons, Night is often perceived as a memoir despite the fact that Wiesel is not the protagonist of either books. Yet, a novel will usually concern itself with creating a convincing fictional story: it will make certain to explain the causes and effects of everything that occurs within its fictional world, tying up loose ends and fleshing out all of its characters. Night, however, is concerned solely with Wiesel’s personal experience. Whatever events lie outside the narrator’s direct observation vanish from the perspective of the memoir. Dawn, though a contiuation of Night, serves more as a commentary to it, and not a memoir. Both are written in the first person, yet in Night, “I” speaks, and in ...
