Night flash cards

Dehumanisation – Life in the concentration camp where hunger controls everything

“I was nothing but a body… a famished stomach. The stomach alone was measuring time.”
→ Shows prisoners are reduced to basic physical needs. Identity is stripped away, and survival becomes their only focus.

Dehumanisation – Transport to Auschwitz in cramped train conditions

“Crammed into cattle cars”
→ Alliteration emphasises how prisoners are treated like animals, highlighting loss of dignity and humanity.

Dehumanisation – Selection process upon arrival at camp

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“They pointed their fingers the way one might choose cattle, or merchandise”
→ Simile compares humans to livestock or goods, reinforcing that prisoners are objectified and devalued.

Loss of Faith – Prisoners praying but Eliezer feels disconnected

“In the midst of these men assembled for prayer, I felt like a stranger, an observer”
→ Imagery shows his isolation and loss of connection to religion and community.

Loss of Faith – Witnessing burning pits at Auschwitz

“Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever”
→ Repetition emphasises lasting trauma and the complete destruction of his belief in God.

Loss of Faith – Religious moment where others praise God

“I was the accuser, God the accused”
→ Irony reverses roles, showing Eliezer blaming God and experiencing a deep crisis of faith.

Brutality – Collapsing during the death march from exhaustion

“Just a few more minutes… a shot… death enveloped me.”
→ Internal monologue shows how prisoners become indifferent to death and almost accept it.

Brutality – After repeated exposure to cruelty in the camps

“One more stab to the heart… one less reason to live.”
→ Repetition highlights emotional exhaustion and the buildup of trauma.

Brutality – Reflecting on constant deaths in the camp

“The thousands of people who died daily… no longer troubled me”
→ Understatement shows emotional numbness caused by extreme suffering.

Survival – During the march when a boy dies beside him

“I soon forgot him, I began to think of myself again”
→ First-person confession shows how survival instincts override empathy and relationships.

Family – Marching with his father in the camps

“My hand tightened its grip on my father… not to lose him”
→ Symbolism shows his father as his motivation to survive.

Hope (Irony) – Man speaking in the hospital before selection

“I have more faith in Hitler than anyone…”
→ Irony shows loss of trust in humanity and religion, highlighting despair.

Faith – Polish capo encouraging prisoners

“Have faith in life, a thousand times faith…”
→ Repetition shows how hope and belief help prisoners mentally survive.

Kindness – Prisoners receiving encouraging words

“Those were the first human words”
→ Symbolism highlights how rare kindness is and how it restores humanity.

Hope – Eliezer lying to Stein about his family

“The only thing that keeps me alive… is to know the little ones are still alive”
→ Emotional appeal shows how family gives purpose and motivation to survive.

Kindness – Jewish doctor treating Eliezer’s foot

“Every one of his words was healing…”
→ Metaphor shows how compassion provides emotional relief in a cruel environment.

Family – Considering giving up during the death march

“My father’s presence was the only thing that stopped me”
→ Symbolism shows love and responsibility as key survival motivators.

dehumanisation getting transported by train animalisation

“Wild beasts of prey, with animal hatred in their eyes.” Weisel repeatedly compares prisoners to animals as their humanity is consistently robbed of them. by treating them like animals it alludes them into their increasing decent into becoming animals following their fasters with blind hatred and yet respect out of survival.

• Survival instincts overwhelming ordinary human relationships

brutality eating dinner on the day the sad eyed angle dies

“the soup tasted like corpses.” This comparison alludes to the fact that Weisel seems to consume death itself, and that the darkness of his existence has permeated all of his senses, including taste. The comparison also draws attention to the fact that acquiring food can involve death when reflecting how the son killed his father for food it gives the illusion that in oder to something must be sacrificed.

Wiesel after he wishes that his father would die so he doesn’t have to carry the burden

“never shall I forgive myself” Elie’s realisation that the camp turned him into something he thought he would never be.

family- Elie briefly thinks this when searching for his father during the death march. He immediately feels ashamed,

“If only I didn't find him! If only I were relieved of this responsibility...” quote reveals how extreme suffering makes him view his father as a burden.

family - after his father dies, Elie admits to feeling a sense of relief because he no longer has the responsibility of caring for him.

“His death had set me free.” This is one of the most powerful examples of family being portrayed as a burden under the dehumanising conditions of the camps.

A prisoner tells Elie that caring for his father is hurting his own chances of survival

Here, every man has to fight for himself and not think of anyone else. Even of his father.” This shows how the camps pressure people to see family as an obstacle.

on the winter train when they have been staved for food and the little boy is fighting his father for bread

“Don't you recognize me? I'm your father ... you're killing your father! I've got some bread ... for you too ..." The father dies clutching the bread. The son takes it, but moments later other starving prisoners kill him for the same piece of bread. Elie ends the scene by noting that the father and son lay dead side by side. shows how extreme starvation and dehumanization destroyed even the strongest family bonds. It contrasts sharply with Eliezer's own struggle to stay loyal to his father despite moments of exhaustion and guilt.