Night Figurative Language

"My foot was on fire." Page 83

Hyperbole: Due to the fact that Elie's feet were not literally on fire, this large exaggeration serves to emphasize the pain he endured and acts as a hyperbole.

"My heart was about to burst. There. I was face-to-face with the Angel of Death..." Page 34

Hyperbole: Elie's heart was surely not going to actually burst, however, this hyperbole greatly aids in emphasizing the distress Elie was facing.

"Ten thousand caps were back on our heads, at lightning speed." Page 61

Hyperbole: This excerpt is a hyperbole because it exaggerates the amount of time needed to put the caps back on. While it may have taken the weak and deprived Jews seconds to replace their caps, it depicts the time to be that of lightning!

"I nodded, once, ten times, endlessly. As if my head had decided to say yes for all eternity." Page 58

Hyperbole: This excerpt is a hyperbole because it exaggerates the length of Elie's nods by saying he nodded endlessly, which was surely not the case.

"The race seemed endless; I felt as though I had been running for years.." Page 72

Hyperbole: This is a hyperbole because it exaggerates the length of the race in saying that it was endless.

"I wanted to run away, but my feet were nailed to the floor. Idek grabbed me by the throat." Page 57

Hyperbole: This is an example of a hyperbole within a metaphorical phrase because Elie's feet were not actually nailed to the floor, although such an exaggeration emphasizes his inability to move.

"This conversation lasted no more than a few seconds. It seemed like an eternity." Page 32

Hyperbole: When Elie implies that the conversation felt like an eternity, he doesn't literally mean a whole eternity; no one can relate to such a length of time. He uses such an exaggeration to convey the unrealistic feeling of length the conversation, but surely doesn't truly mean an eternity, making this a hyperbole.

"The road was endless." Page 87

Hyperbole: exaggerating that the road never ends.

"The night was growing longer, never ending." Page 98

Hyperbole: it will eventually end.

"On the road, it snowed and snowed, it snowed endlessly." Page 92

Hyperbole: snow will eventually end.

"Beasts of prey unleashed, animal hate in their eyes. An extraordinary vitality possessed them, sharpening their teeth and nails." Page 101

Imagery: described to the fullest extent. Could also be a metaphor.

"He was skin and bones, his eyes were dead." Page 78

Imagery: describing the person's deterioriation

"Every time he came, tears rolled down his icy cheeks." Page 44

Imagery: describing the tears and cheeks provide emotion.

"Everyday, my father was getting weaker. His eyes were watery, his face the color of dead leaves." Page 107

Imagery: face colour.

"That SS officer in the muddy barack must have been lying: Auschwitz was, after all, a convalescent home..." Page 42

Irony: At this point, Elie actually convinces himself that Auschwitz is not so bad. In all irony, Auschwitz was a place of horrid and cruel deaths for millions.

"We were to leave the train here. There was a labor camp on site. The conditions were good. Families would not be separated." (Irony) Page 27

Irony: This is a hugely ironic excerpt from the text because, upon arriving to the labor camp, the Jewish believed they would live in fair conditions, however, their beliefs were extremely wrong and everything inhumanely possible occurred.

"'Burna is a very good camp. One can hold one's own here. The most important thing is not to be assigned to the construction Kommando..."' Page 48

Irony: This is quite the ironic phrase because not only is was no camp pleasant of good within the Holocaust, but no job was good because they were all forced labor with little reward.

"At every step, white signs with black skull looked down on us. The inscription: WARNING! DANGER OF DEATH. What irony. Was there here a single place where one was not in danger of death?" Page 40

Irony: This one is a give-away. Elie clearly notes as the author the ironic sense of the sign displayed because, literally, everywhere at the camp was dangerous! The camp was filled with famine, cruelty, death, and brutality.

"Run as if you had the devil at your heels! And most important, don't be afraid." Page 71

Irony: This quote is ironic because it emphasizes that the most important thing in surviving a test that determines one's life is to not be afraid, which can be considered merely impossible!

"After the war, I learned the fate of those who had remained at the infirmary. They were, quite simply, liberated by the Russians, two days after the evacuation." Page 82

Irony: This quote is very ironic in a depressing way because it was unexpected that those who remained at the infirmary would be liberated, and Elie ultimately chose more cruelty and suffering by deciding to follow the others.

"The man interrogating me was an inmate. I could not see his face, but his voice was weary and warm." Page 30

Metaphor: A voice cannot literally be warm, so using such a metaphor to describe the man's voice shows his appeal to emotions and sensitivity.

"He was a stocky man with big shoulders, the neck of a bull, thick lips, and curly hair. He gave an impression of kindness. From time to time, a smile would linger in his gray-blue eyes." Page 47

Metaphor: Describes his neck like a bull.

"The blows continued to rain on us." Page 35

Metaphor: Elie getting hit is so freuquent like raindrops falling on him.

"...he was judged too humane. The new one was ferocious and his aides were veritable monsters. The good days were over." Page 44

Metaphor: The aides were not literally veritable monsters, but this statement is metaphorical and applicable figuratively to describe the cruel nature the aides possessed.

"The old men stayed in their corner, silent, motionless, hunted-down creatures." Page 70

Metaphor: The men are directly corresponded to hunted-down creatures when they aren't literally such, making this a metaphor.

"Suddenly, the silence became more oppressive. An SS officer had come in and, with him, the smell of the Angel of Death. We stared at his fleshy lips." Page 38

Metaphor: The silence was not literally oppressive, but in figurative nature this metaphor serves to describe how the silence caused instability and anxiety.

"The word chimney here was not an abstraction: it floated in the air, mingled with the smoke. It was, perhaps, the only word that had real meaning in this place." Page 39

Metaphor: The word "chimney" did not literally float within the air, but instead this is a metaphor with figurative connotation. We understand from this literary device that the word chimney had a powerful impact to the Jews and was its meaning was often noted.

"Another inmate appeared, unleashing a stream of invectives.." Page 30

Metaphor: There was no literal "stream" of incentives, but this device is used to depict the quantity of such incentives and serves as a metaphor due to its figurative appliance.

"It was as though she was possessed by some evil spirit." Page 25

Metaphor: This excerpt is a metaphor because the woman was not literally possessed, but in a figurative sense she acted in a metaphorical comparison to such.

"All of a sudden, this pleasant and intelligent young man had changed. His eyes were shining with greed." Page 55

Metaphor: This excerpt is a metaphor because, although the man's eyes are personified with the ability to have greed, the quote as a whole metaphorically depicts the alteration of the man's personality from innocent to greedy.

"Two cauldrons of soup! Smack in the middle of the road, two cauldrons of soup with no one to guard them! A royal feast going to waste! Supreme temptation! Hundreds of eyes were looking at them, shining with desire. Two lambs with hundreds of wolves lying in wait for them. Two lambs without a shepherd, free for the taking. But who would dare?" Page 59

Metaphor: This is an example of a metaphor because it directly links the nature of the Jews regarding the stew to that of free sheep without a Shepard being examined by wolves,

"He was tall and strong, a giant compared to me." Page 61

Metaphor: This is an example of a metaphor because it directly refers to the man taller than Elie as a giant without using "like", "as", etc.

"His voice was calm and reached me as through a thick wall." Page 58

Metaphor: This quote is a metaphor because it figuratively relates the calm voice's affect on Elie to the passing of thick wall.

"I fought my way to the coffee cauldron like a wild beast." Page 106

Metaphor: comparing him to a beast.

"I will never forget the gratitude that shone in his eyes when he swallowed this beverage. The gratitude of a wounded animal." Page 106

Metaphor: comparing him to an animal

"The wind of revolt died down." Page 31

Metaphor: revolution is spreading like wind.

"In no time, the camp had the look of an abandoned ship. No living soul in the alleys." Page 59

Metaphor: the camp compared to an abandoned ship.

"She was smiling her mournful smile as she slipped me a crust of bread. She looked straight into my eyes. I knew she wanted to talk to me but that she was paralyzed with fear." Page 53

Oxymoron: This is an example of an oxymoron because smiles are associated with joy and pleasant feelings, although the woman's is linked to fear and anxiety.

"Confidence soared." Page 27

Personification: Confidence is given the quality of flying.

"My father's voice tore me from my daydreams..." Page 32

Personification: This is an example of personification because a voice cannot physically tear a person from their daydreams, but can only wake one up.

"Jealousy devoured us, consumed us." Page 59

Personification: This is an example of personification because the emotion of jealousy is given the living ability to consume and devour. It also serves to metaphorically describe how jealousy destroyed the Jewish people.

"The women silently greeted the musicians with their eyes." Page 50

Personification: This is an example of personification because the eyes of the women are given living function traits in the sense of greeting the men, which eyes can not literally do.

'But it was all in vain. Our terror could no longer be contained. Our nerves reached a breaking point. Our very skin was aching. It was as though madness had infected us all." Page 26

Personification: This quote is an example of personification because madness is being described to have living traits its ability to infect people, such as a virus.

"All around me, what appeared to be a dance of death." Page 89

Personification: death is described as dancing.

"Death, which was settling in all around me, silently, gently. It would seize upon a sleeping person, steal into him and devour him bit by bit." Page 89

Personification: death is described as eating Elie like an animal.

"Suddenly, the sirens began to scream." Page 114

Personification: sirens screaming.

"The icy wind whipped my face." Page 89

Personification: whipping Elie's face.

"And he himself was so thin, so withered, so weak..." Page 45

Repetition: This is an example of repetition because of the repeated use of "so" to emphasize the strength of feeling and state of being Elie's dad experiences.

"Now, it no longer mattered that the work was hard. All that mattered was to be far from the block, far from the crucible of death, from the center of hell." Page 74

Repetition: far from is repeated to highlight that distance is what can make one survive.

"These human waves were rolling forward and would have crushed me like an ant." Page 87

Simile: Comparing Elie to a small ant.

"I felt I had lost my foot. It had become detached from me like a wheel fallen off a car." Page 92

Simile: Comparing Elie's foot to a wheel that had fallen.

"He paid as much attention to us as would a shopkeeper receiving a delivery of old rags." Page 50

Simile: In this excerpt, the use of simile is noted due to the use of "as" when comparing the nature of the attention given to that of a shopkeeper receiving old rags.

"The snow seemed to me like a very soft, very warm carpet." Page 88

Simile: Snow like a carpet.

"The camp looked as though it had been through an epidemic: empty and dead." Page 47

Simile: The comparison of the camp to an epidemic using "as though" makes such a simile due to its direct stated relation and avoidance of a making such appear literal.

"An assassin's face, fleshy lips, hands resembling a wolf's paws. The camp's food had agreed with him; he could hardly move, he was so fat." Page 48

Simile: The man with an assassin's face (metaphorically speaking) was stated to have hands resembling those of a wolf using "resembles", making the comparison noted as non-literal and a simile.

"... a glacial wind lashed us like a whip." Page 77

Simile: The relation of the winds lashes to that of a whip uses "like", making this excerpt a simile.

"Physically, he was as awkward as a clown. His waiflike shyness made people smile." Page 3

Simile: This example of figurative language compares Moishe's awkward traits to that of a clown. Due to its direct comparative nature using "as", it is classified as a simile.

"And he began beating him with an iron bar. At first, my father simply doubled over under the blows, but then he seemed to break in two like an old tree struck by lightning." Page 54

Simile: This excerpt is a simile because it describes Mr. Wiesel's bodily reaction to the officer's blows to that of a tree struck by lighting using "like".

"He threw himself on my like a wild beast, beating me in the chest, on the head, throwing me to the ground and picking me up again, crushing me with ever more violent blows, until I was covered in blood." Page 53

Simile: This excerpt is an example of a simile because it connects the actions of the man beating Elie to that of a wild beast using "like".

"Like a sword, the order cut through the air." Page 52

Simile: This is a simile because it associates the orders to a sword in their nature of being precise using "like".

"Thousands of lips repeated the benediction, bent over like trees in a storm." Page 67

Simile: This is an example of a simile because it relates the men repeating the benediction to trees bent in a storm using "like".

"I was putting one foot in front of the other, like a machine. I was dragging this emancipated body that was still such a weight." Page 85

Simile: This quote is a simile because it correlates Elie's movement to that of a machine, using "like".

"The dentist, a Jew from Czechoslovakia, had a face not unlike a death mask. When he opened his mouth, one had a ghastly vision of yellow, rotten teeth." Page 51

Simile: This quote is a simile because it directly links the face of the to a death mask using "not unlike a".

"I felt sick at heart. How kindly they treated me. Like an orphan." Page 75

Simile: This quote is a simile because it relates the treatment of Elie from his peers to that which an orphan would receive.

"It was like an injection of morphine." Page 80

Simile: This quote is a simile because it relates whatever "it" was in context, to that of an injection of morphine.

"By eight o'clock in the morning, weariness had settled into our veins, our limbs, our brains, like molten lead." Page 16

Simile: This quote is an example of a simile because it corresponds the weariness that had enveloped Elie's body to that of molten lead holding him down.

"Then, two 'gravediggers' grabbed him by the head and feet and threw him from the wagon like a sack of flour." Page 99

Simile: comparing body to a sack of flour

"On my return from the bread distribution, I found my father crying like a child." Page 109

Simile: comparing father to a child

"Death enveloped me, it suffocated me. It stuck to me like glue." Page 86

Simile: death will not leave Elie alone like glue sticking to something.

"By now, I moved like a sleepwalker. I sometimes closed my eyes and it was like running while asleep." Page 87

Similie: Elie is compared to a sleepwalker