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Summary of Chapter 1

           Moche the Beadle is a poor foreigner that 

becomes Eliezer Wiesel's jewish teacher in 1942.  

Moche is transported from Sighet to a camp along 

with other foreigners and then escapes.   He comes 

back to Sighet and starts to warn all the jews 

about what he has seen and been through but 

everybody just ignores him.   Then later on the 

jews are transported from Sighet to ghetto areas 

where they are under German rule.

Chapter 1: I Tried To Warn You

Literary Device

Foreshadowing

The literary device I picked for chapter one is 

foreshadowing.   Moche is a huge example of this when 

he goes to a camp, escapes, and comes back to warn 

the other jews.   He goes on and on and doesn't stop 

warning the people about the danger that lied ahead.  

This is why I picked foreshadowing as my literary 

device.

Quote

"Optimism soon revived" page 19

Early this year I was very optimistic when my dad 

was in the hospital for a long time.   It was a scary 

time because out of nowhere he became sick and 

there wasn't a lot of things I could do to help.  

Pretty much the only thing I could do was sit 

around and hope for the best.

The symbol of a "blind eye" stands for denial.   This 

concept shows up in chapter one when Moche tried to 

warn the jewish community and is ignored. A lot of 

people brush Moche's stories and his experiences off 

thinking that can never happen to them. Even after 

many attempts he found no luck in reaching out to 

people for their own safety. This is why "denial" is an 

appropriate concept to tie in this chapter.

Symbolism

Summary of Chapter 2

          The jews are packed tightly into cattle wagons 

and are lied to about the conditions being good.   The 

conditions are actually very harsh as they travel for 

many days.   One night a woman named Madame 

Schachter screams out in horror that she sees a 

massive fire.   Everyone else doesn't see the fire and 

assumes that the woman has gone mad.   After hearing 

her scream for so long, young men beat her and 

restrain her just so she can't cry out anymore.   Upon 

arrival, the doors open and then all the jews finally see 

big fires and smell the scent of burning flesh.

Chapter 2: Dead On Arrival

Literary Device

Irony

The literary device I picked for chapter two is irony, for 

it plays a big role in this chapter.   Madame Schachter is 

considered crazy and annoying by the passengers on 

the train.   She screams about the fire and about 

everyone being burned up, and the other passengers 

silence her, thinking that she is insane. However, in her 

fear, she is the most honest and accurate about what is 

going to happen, and everyone realizes when they get 

to the camp.   This is why I picked irony as my literary 

device.

Quote 

"The doors were nailed up; the way back was finally cut 

off. The world was a cattle wagon hermetically sealed." 

page 22

There have been many times in my life where I had 

little freedom and wasn't able to do much.   Once I was 

grounded and I could only be in my room with no 

phone, computer, or anything electronic.   It sucked 

because I really could not do much but read or sleep.

The symbol of two arms being chained together stands 

for confinement.   This concept shows up in chapter two 

when the jews are packed into the cattle wagons and 

can't escape or they will be killed.   They couldn't even 

sit down because they were all shoulder to shoulder. 

This is why "confinement" is an appropriate concept to 

tie in this chapter.

Symbolism

Summary of Chapter 3

As soon as they get off the train, the men and women 

are separated.   As the new arrivals enter the camp, a 

veteran prisoner advises Elie and his father to lie about 

their ages so they could be together. Another prisoner 

points to the chimney of the crematory and warns them 

that it is the place of their graves.   In the middle of the 

square an SS officer with a conductor's baton in his 

hand separates the men according to who can work and 

who cannot. Elie and his father remain together. Elie 

thinks about jumping to his death into the ditch with 

flames.   He chooses to live and after they get clothes 

and an identity number, they continue to live at the 

camp for three weeks before being moved to another 

camp.

Chapter 3: Separation

Literary Device

Imagery

The literary device used in chapter three is imagery.  

Imagery was used greatly in this chapter describing the 

horrible events in camp Auschwitz.   The things Elie 

describes such as the babies being thrown into the 

flaming ditch emphasize how cruel the camp was and 

add a great emotional effect on the reader.   A lot of 

detail was being used and put into this chapter. This is 

why I chose imagery to be the main literary device used 

in chapter three.

Quote

"I did not deny God's existence, but I doubted His 

absolute justice." page 42

I have sometimes questioned my own beliefs.   Some 

reasons were because I also had bad things happen to 

me and I also wondered if such bad things could 

happen under God.   Other reasons were just because of 

the people around me not believing and trying to get me 

to be a non-believer.   I still stuck to my faith even after 

all these things happening.

The symbol of "flames" stand for death.   This shows up 

when a prisoner tells Elie and his father that the 

chimneys spewing smoke are their graves.   It also 

shows up when Elie thinks about killing himself in the 

electric fence instead of burning in the flames. 

Everytime fire and flames is brought up in the story, 

death is always near so thats why I chose flames to be 

the symbol for chapter three.  

Symbolism

Summary of Chapter 4

                Elie and his father arrive at Buna. After a medical 

examination and a new pair of clothes, him and his dad end up 

being placed in an orchestra block.   They befriend some musicians 

and get put to some easy work.   While there, Elie goes to the 

dentist where he avoids getting his gold crown removed.   One 

day a Kapo named Idek beats Elie and a french girl who passes as 

an Aryan comforts Elie in German. Another day Elie's dad is 

beaten with an iron bar for working slowly. Elie ends up giving his 

gold crown to Franek so that his father wouldn't get hurt 

anymore. Another day Elie gets whipped for walking in on Idek 

doing things with a girl.   About a week later the SS officers start 

setting up gallows and also started hanging people.   Elie 

witnessed many executions in his stay at Buna in chapter four.

Chapter 4: Raining Death

Literary Device

Hyperbole

I chose hyperbole as the literary device for this chapter 

because there is an exaggeration when two huge bowls 

of soup are left out in front of everyone and Elie 

describes it as "A feast for kings!" Even though it was a 

super huge amount of food, he describes it as a feast 

for kings because of the extreme hunger him and 

everyone else feels daily. This is why I chose hyperbole 

as a literary device for chapter 4.

Quote

“Jealousy consumed us, burned us up like straw.” page 

67

There has been MANY times I have been jealous but the 

big one is me being jealous of my cousin. The older one, 

smarter one, funnier one, etc. I would copy everything 

he did in hoping to be just like him. Now I don't care 

anymore and have become my own self, but he 

impacted my life hugely because I was jealous.

Symbolism

I chose soup to symbolize greed and temptation. In the 

chapter two bowls were left out and EVERYBODY 

wanted to gobble it down. Elie and a lot of people kept 

their will not to jump right in but one man did give in.  

The man stuck his head right in and ate some but kills 

himself in the process as everyone else watches. This is 

why I chose soup to symbolize temptation for this 

chapter.

Chapter 5: New Years, New Challenges

Summary of Chapter 5

                   Rosh Hashanah comes and all the Jews assemble in a place 

wondering if the last day of the year might actually be their last day living.  

Elie continues to deny God's greatness, especially when all the other men 

bless his name when Elie wonders why they can bless a God that allows 

crematories to exist.   Elie finds his father and while everyone else is saying 

"Happy New Year", Elie and his dad do not say anything to each other.   Elie 

gets put in a different block from his father and is put to work.   "Selection 

Day" comes and Elie passes and so does his father.   His father actually 

passes two tests but one of the guys selected doesn't and is killed.   Winter 

comes and Elie gets his foot operated on so it doesn't have to get 

amputated.   Elie and his father leaves the hospital in fear that they will be 

killed along with other patients in the hospital.   Elie goes back to the 

barracks and prepares for evacuation.   Before they leave the head of the 

barracks orders for some guys to clean up the block a little bit. After that all 

the prisoners start to march in blocks to their next destination, even though 

it is snowing extremely hard.

Literary Device

Internal Conflict

I chose internal conflict as the literary device for this 

chapter. Elie struggles to keep his faith in God, 

especially on Rosh Hashanah. When everybody is 

praising God's name Elie constantly questions why he 

should praise God. He eventually keeps his faith but he 

no longer thinks that God is a good being.   This is why I 

chose Internal Conflict as the literary device for this 

chapter.

Quote

"The race seemed interminable. I thought I had been 

running for years..." page 79

For soccer tryouts at the school we had a running test. 

If you passed you had a great shot at being on varsity 

and if you failed you couldn't be on varsity at all.   I 

failed the first time but he let me redo it because he 

wanted me on the team and the second time I ran it it 

felt like an eternity. One lap after the other, slowly 

counting until the end. I passed it but god was it 

painstakingly long.

Symbolism

I chose numbers for symbolism because they 

symbolized motivation. During the selection tests the 

Jews had to run for their test and anyone who got their 

number written down failed. To fail the test was to be 

killed as you were not suited good enough to work 

anymore. Elie ran for literally his life because he was 

super afraid of being written down and failing to 

survive to help his dad. This is why I chose numbers as 

my symbolism for this chapter.

Chapter 6: Pushing Limits

Chapter 6 Summary

                   The SS officers start making the prisoners run through 

the snow and then promise to shoot anyone that falls behind.  

Elie is physically tired but his mind pushes him on and he keeps 

running to stay alive and so he can help his father. After running 

for what seems forever they all stop to rest.   Elie and his father 

realize that people are dying in the snow around them so they 

decide to take shifts sleeping so they don't die as well.   After they 

rest they continue to march on until they arrive at Gleiwitz. All the 

prisoners are stuffed into barracks and Elie has to fight his way 

out so he doesn't die of suffocation.   They then stay there for 

three days without any food or drink and another selection 

happens.   He sneaks him and his dad into the unselected section 

and then the remaining men left are loaded into cattle cars 

where they head to another camp.

Literary Device

Personification

I chose personification as the literary device and an 

example of it in chapter six is when Elie and the others 

are running through the snow. "Death wrapped itself 

around me till I was stifled." Elie thought this and it 

gives human qualities to death because it doesn't 

actually wrap Elie physically. It instead describes 

greatly how much Elie was near dying due to his 

infection, the cold, exhaustion, and starvation. This is 

why I chose personification as the literary device for 

this chapter.

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