How is the symbolism of night extended in chapter 3 of Night by Elie Wiesel?

Chapter 3 of Night sees Elie and his family arrive at Auschwitz. Elie and his father are permanently separated from his mother and sister before being chosen for life or instant death by the camp authorities. Meanwhile, Elie sees Jewish prisoners beaten and Jewish children thrown alive into pits of fire. The violence and inhumanity haunt him into the night.

During the night before his first day in Auschwitz, Elie the narrator steps away from the events of the past to comment on how he felt during this time, extending the metaphor of night into his own dark night of the soul. The night becomes more than physical: it also relates to the loss of hope Elie feels in regards to his previous faith in a loving God. He also mentions the "nocturnal silence" which made him lose the will to live: this nocturnal silence is both describing the literal quiet of the night as well as the silence of God in the face of human evil. This even harkens back to the moment where Elie gets angry as his father recites a prayer praising God's name: "The Almighty, the eternal and terrible Master of the universe, chose to be silent. What was there to thank Him for?"

Ultimately, night becomes a metaphor for Elie's loss of faith and his terrible circumstances within the camp.

What novelistic uses of imagery, symbol, foreshadowing, and narrative style can be identified in Night by Elie Wiesel?

Night by Elie Wiesel is organized much like a novel. Wiesel uses imagery throughout as he describes his town of Sighet in the beginning and the horrors of the concentration camps later. A good example is found as the Jews are waiting to be deported to the camps:

"There was joy--yes, joy. Perhaps they thought that God could have devised no torment in hell worse than that of sitting there among the bundles, in the middle of the road, beneath a blazing sun, that anything would be preferable to that. They began their journey without a backward glance at the abandoned streets, the dead, empty houses, the gardens, the tombstones..." (Wiesel 14)

Symbolism is also prevalent in Wiesel's book. The title itself is symbolic of the Holocaust being like one long dark night, and the word "night" is used throughout the book to reinforce that idea.  Fire is another symbol which not only burns Jewish bodies, but it also burns up Elie's faith. 

The best example of foreshadowing is in the section about Mme. Schacter on the train. She screams about seeing fire, but since nobody else can see it, they take her for mad. Yet, when they arrive at Auschwitz, the fire is blazing right in front of them. 

Finally, Elie Wiesel tells about the events as though he is telling a story, giving it a narrative feel. He tells it in such a way that we feel we are right there with him, participating in his experiences, witnessing the Holocaust with our own eyes. 

How does Elie Wiesel use symbolism to contribute to the meaning of Night?

In his book Night, Elie Wiesel uses symbolism throughout to enhance the text. First of all, the title itself is symbolic. The word "night" is repeated several times in different contexts. Night is death. Night is when one cannot see what is coming. It is a frightening time, especially for the Jews in concentration camps. They never know what is going to happen next. Some examples:

"Night fell." (Wiesel 10)

"An endless night." (Wiesel 24)

"As soon as night fell, she began to scream." (Wiesel 24)

"Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed." (Wiesel 32)

Another symbol in Night is fire. Early on, Madame Schacter sees fires burning in a vision she experiences as the Jews are transported on the train. The other Jews think she has lost her mind, but when they arrive at Auschwitz, there it is. The fire that burns people alive is right in front of them. Fire also symbolizes Wiesel's feelings about God.  God is gone--burned up like a fire and no longer present as far as Wiesel is concerned. And most significantly, fire is symbolic of the living Hell in which the Jews barely exist.

These are just two of the many symbols found in Night; each has an important meaning and gives Wiesel's story power.

In Night, how does Elie Wiesel use symbols to hint at the novel’s themes?

Wiesel weaves the physical object of bread symbolically through the entire memoir. At the end of chapter 1, when the Jews are loaded into the train cars for deportation, Elie recalls, "They handed us some bread, a few pails of water." Many times after this first "feeding," bread is mentioned both as a ration given to the Jews and as a bargaining tool for survival. For most of the memoir, bread is represented as a somewhat positive thing, bringing life and a sense of autonomy. However, as the memoir progresses and the stakes for survival become progressively higher, bread begins to take on a darker meaning.

This new version of survival requires a lack of empathy for others and demands total dedication to personal survival. In chapter 7, Elie recounts,

A worker took a piece of bread out of his bag and threw it into a wagon. There was a stampede. Dozens of starving men fought desperately over a few crumbs.

In this scene, many people die, but perhaps one of the most startling events is a son killing his own father who took a piece of bread initially for himself and his son to share. However, blinded by hunger and his need to survive, the son cannot understand his father's pleas. Wiesel continues with his views on the loss of humanity that the survivors have experienced in chapter 9. He claims,

Our first act as free men was to throw ourselves onto the provisions ... That's all we thought about. No thought of revenge, or of parents. Only of bread.

The horrors that those remaining have endured have created something devoid of emotion and unable to see anything beyond personal survival.

How does Elie Wiesel use "night" as a symbol for the Jewish people's experiences?

There are several ways that Elie Wiesel used the concept of "the night" in his book.  First, night has often been seen as a symbol of death in literature.  One thinks of Dylan Thomas's "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night."  Thus, night can be a symbol of death, an appropriate symbol for a book that featured multiple (and often graphic) deaths.

For children, night can also be seen as a time when shadows appear and when monsters are lurking.  Again, the symbolism is appropriate with regard to what is happening in the book.  Elie, a child himself, is facing the monsters of Dr. Mengele, the SS officers, etc.  Thus, like a long and fearful night for a child, Elie is left to deal with monsters all his own.

Finally, the night can seem a long stretch, particularly for those unable to sleep.  The concept of night as a long stretch is seen directly in Night, as when Wiesel writes in Chapter 3, "Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night ..." Thus, the night comes to symbolize several aspects of the story.