Trauma, Memory and Timelessness in Elie Wiesel’s Night (1958)

Abstract

This dissertation is entitled Trauma and Memory in Elie Wiesel’s Night (1958). It tackles the issue of timelessness as an outcome of both trauma and memory. It considers the way the characters in the novel endure timeless moments of trauma, failure and paralysis but also of awakening and self-revelation outside the boundaries of the chronological time. We have analyzed the theme of trauma with direct reference to Cathy Caruth’s trauma theory. We have examined the traumatic experiences witnessed by the characters in the novel. Our appropriation of the trauma theory enabled us to demonstrate how the state of experiencing trauma keeps its survivors prisoners of their past and to explain the characters’ failure to understand and forget their trauma. Finally, we have elucidated both the importance and the danger of the integration of a traumatic memory into a narrative story. In addition, our study of memory focused on the way it is used as a medium for the creative act and how Wiesel uses it as a way to link between the internal suffering of the characters and the external chaos of the Second World War era in Germany. By referring to Henri Bergson’s theories of Duration and Memory, we endeavored to demonstrate how Wiesel’s narration of the past is conducted through images, remembrance and memory. Bergson’s concept of Duration permitted us to discuss and justify the issue of timelessness. Our analysis of the novel’s moments of duration elucidated on their fundamental role in shaping and redefining the real self of the narrator.