Dawn: Aspects of the Self

Elie Wiesel is a Holocaust survivor best known for the account of his experiences in Nazi German concentration camps, Night. However, he also wrote Dawn and Day, comprising a trilogy of stories about Wiesel's thoughts on the Holocaust. Dawn and Day differ from Night is that the later parts of the trilogy are fictional accounts, as contrasted to the autobiographical Night.

Recently, I picked up a copy of Dawn from the "classics" sections of my local library. Remembering Night, I knew that it wouldn't be very light summer reading, but interesting nonetheless. Essentially, it is the ruminations of a Jewish Holocaust survivor turned para-militarist as he copes with having to execute a prisoner of the group. Early chapter cover the background, such as what lead the group to form, and what lead Elisha, the main character, to be there. However, it moves into an interesting section as he thinks about his task.

That interesting section is introduced, in what seems to be the fifth section, by the presence of "visitors." Specifically, these figures, unseen to all but himself, reflect aspects of his life that created him as a person. Reflecting their abstract nature, none of them have proper names: all are addressed by common nouns or simple titles. Starting with his inner circle, he sees "My father ... of course, and my mother, and the beggar. And the grizzled master." Further out socially, but no less important, are "The English soldiers of the convoy we had ambushed at Gedera... And around them friends and brothers and comrades..." many from different times in Elisha's life (Dawn 55). Later, we hear of a child with the father. First mentioned are key individuals in his past: the child, mother and father represent his earliest past, and earliest character formations. Later friends represent actions and choices held before and during the Holocaust. Finally, the English soldiers remind him of his recent past as a Jewish freedom fighter.

The key element of Dawn is the exploration of the formation of self. What creates you as a person? In Elisha's case, what leads you to commit the highest human crime, after almost being a victim of it himself?

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Work Cited:

Wiesel, Elie. Dawn. Toronto: Bantam Books, 1982. Print.