Setting In Elie Wiesel's Night

In Night, the setting gives a variety of moods, from hopeless to happy, which often foreshadows the events to come soon after. Elie Wiesel writes, in many occasions, about the setting being at night when setting a mood of suspense or depressing matters. As the father is away receiving the new orders for their district, “Night fell. Some twenty people wait in the courtyard” (12). The large amount of people sets the mood as a suspenseful one. The people wait eagerly, hoping the news is not as they fear. However, in this novel, night is never cheerful. As the father finally approaches and reveals the news, night had already given the hint that it’s not good. Wiesel mentions the growing darkness as things go from bad, to worse and gives a hopeless setting.
Although, not all of the book is dark and depressing or foreshadows the future. Just before the jews are drug away from their home to the camps, we get a glimpse of how the people felt. Wiesel says, “A sunny spring day, people strolled seemingly carefree through the crowded streets. They exchanged cheerful greetings. Children played games, rolling hazelnuts on the sidewalks” (12) As the readers, a sunny spring day gives a pleasant and happy feeling, especially with children playing on the sidewalks. This is extremely misleading, as we know of the horrible place that awaits them soon after this sunny spring day. Perhaps this was meant to show how the people have hope, even if very little, only to have all of there hope whisked away in a blink of an eye by German forces. Wiesel uses dark and depressing settings, more often than not, to symbolize the overwhelming fear or helplessness the people felt during those evil