Wiesel, Elie: 1928 - 2016
Night, 1960 - Language/Style
- English Language Level: Intermediate
- Vocabulary – Most sentences use fairly simple words, but there are occasional uncommon or historically specific terms (like “ghetto,” “hasidic,” “kapo”).
Sentence Structure – Wiesel mostly uses short to medium sentences, but some carry complex ideas or emotional weight that require careful reading.
Themes and Abstraction – The book deals with heavy, abstract concepts (human suffering, faith, morality). Understanding these fully often requires more than basic English comprehension.
Figurative Language & Context – There are moments of symbolism and metaphor, and understanding them often depends on inference rather than just literal meaning (e.g. Night itself = darkness, death, fear, and the loss of faith; the repeated references to “night” aren’t just literal darkness—they symbolize the spiritual and moral darkness of the Holocaust and the suffering Wiesel witnesses).
- Vocabulary – Most sentences use fairly simple words, but there are occasional uncommon or historically specific terms (like “ghetto,” “hasidic,” “kapo”).
- The novel uses mostly simple language but includes challenging historical terms, heavy themes, and symbolic meaning that require thoughtful reading. See Background.