Question

What are some examples of foreshadowing in chapter 4 of the book Night by Elie Wiesel?

Accepted Answer

In the fourth chapter of the book Night by Elie Wiesel, readers can find examples of foreshadowing. When Eliezer and his father first arrive at Buna and are waiting to find out which unit/camp they will be assigned to, an aide to their tent leader approaches Eliezer. He wants his shoes in exchange for help getting "into a good Kommando" and being able to stay with his father (Wiesel, 48). Eliezer does not want to give up his shoes, however. The aide offers to also give Eliezer an extra ration of bread with margarine, but still he refuses. Later, Eliezer is forced to give up his shoes to someone else and given nothing in return. This foreshadows what happens later in the chapter when Franek wants Eliezer's gold tooth. Eliezer is hoping to keep his tooth so that he can trade it if necessary for extra food or to save his and his father's lives. In the end, Franek tortures Eliezer's father until he agrees to give the tooth. This time, Eliezer even has to give up some of his food on top of losing the tooth.
Another example of foreshadowing occurs when Eliezer's father is being tortured by Franek. Wiesel writes, "Unfortunately, Franek knew how to handle this; he knew my weak spot" (55). His weakness was his father and would continue to be his father throughout the events of the story. Just before the camp is liberated, Eliezer's father becomes deathly ill and eventually dies. When his father, his weakness, is finally gone, Eliezer feels a sense of freedom. Wiesel writes, "...if I could have searched the recesses of my feeble conscience, I might have found something like: free at last!" to explain his reaction to his father's death (112).
A third example of foreshadowing can be found when Eliezer describes his encounter with the young Frenchwoman he works beside in the factory. She comforts him after a brutal beating by Idek, revealing she speaks German, where before Eliezer assumed they could not communicate. She says to him, "Bite your lips, little brother...Don't cry. Keep your anger, your hate, for another day, for later. The day will come, but not now...Wait. Clench your teeth and wait" (53). This foreshadows that liberation will come and that Eliezer will survive.

Answer

There are many examples of foreshadowing in chapter 4 of Night. One example is at the beginning of chapter 4. Elie stated, "I was nothing but a body. Perhaps even less: a famished stomach. The stomach alone was measuring time." After the dentist is taken away, Elie stated that he was pleased that the dentist had been thrown in prison and was going to be hanged, because then, Elie could keep his gold crown. Elie, like the other prisoners, was beginning to lose his humanity. His only care was the bread and soup. As his experiences continued, Elie continued to lose his humanity a little bit at a time. Another example of Elie losing his humanity is after the first three prisoners were hanged, Elie thought that the soup never tasted better. The deaths did not affect him negatively. In chapter 7, he simply made a note when a son killed his father over a crust of bread.
Another example of foreshadowing is when Idek was beating Elie's father. He stated, "What's more, if I felt anger at the moment, it was not directed at the Kapo, but at my father. Why couldn't he have avoided Idek's wrath. That is what life in a concentration camp had made of me..." This is important foreshadowing about Elie's changing feelings regarding his father. In chapter 3, when the Kapo hit his father, Elie became angry and wanted to avenge his father. At this time, he was angry with his father for getting hurt. By chapter 8, Elie began to resent his father, as his father had become a huge burden to him.
Toward the end of the chapter, Elie talked about a young Pipel who was beating his father for not making the bed properly. The father was crying, and the son yelled, "If you don't stop crying instantly, I will no longer bring you bread. Understood?" This foreshadows the breakdown of the father-son relationships that happen in the story. In addition to the breakdown of Elie's relationship with his father, there were two other father-son relationships Elie spoke about. In chapter 6, Elie discussed how the Rabbi was looking for his son. After Elie told the Rabbi he had not seen the son, Elie remembered that he had seen the son running ahead of his father because the Rabbi was falling behind. This is after the Rabbi and his son had stuck by each other for the last three years. In chapter 7, Elie witnessed a son killing his father for a piece of bread. In chapter 8, Elie began to resent his father and was secretly relieved when his father died.
At the end of chapter 4, a Pipel with the face of an angel, who was well loved, was hanged. Someone in line asked,

"Where is Merciful God, where is He?" Later, someone asked, "For God's sake, where is God?" And from within me, I heard a voice answer: "Where He is? This is where—hanging here from this gallows..."

This is foreshadowing of the continued theme of loss of faith. In chapter 5, Elie questioned why he should bless God's name. He blamed God for the concentration camps, the crematoriums, and the torture. In chapter 6, Elie prayed to a God he no longer believed in. By chapter 7, God no longer existed. In addition to Elie's loss of faith, Akiba Drumer, the most devout of all the Jews, lost his faith. The symbolic death of God in the form of the Pipel foreshadows the death of God in Elie.
The fact that the soup tasted like corpses after the death of the Pipel is another example of foreshadowing. The corpse is the death of the Pipel and the death of faith in God. The fact that the soup tastes like corpses foreshadows the corpses that litter the trail on the run to Gliewitz, the corpses that are piled up in the barracks at Gliewitz, the corpse thrown off the train, and most importantly, Elie. At the end of chapter 9, Elie looked in the mirror and saw a corpse looking back at him.

Night by Elie Wiesel

What are some examples of foreshadowing in chapter 4 of the book Night by Elie Wiesel?

Expert Answers info

Unlock This Answer Now

Related Questions

Ask a Question

Popular Questions

Additional Links