Night Characters Analysis

Eliezer - The protagonist of the novel details his experience of the Holocaust. He is thirteen years old when the Nazis come to his small town of Sighet. Eliezer is a deeply religious youth who reads the Talmud and the Kabbala. As his family is captured and transported to the concentration camps, he is forced to confront questions about God and humanity. He witnesses horrific conditions in the concentration camps and loses his father. Eliezer is rescued from the concentration camps by the advancing American army.

Shlomo Weisel - Eliezer’s father is an important community man in his town of Sighet, where he runs a shop with his wife. He is fifty years old when he is transported to the concentration camps, whose miserable conditions cause him to weaken significantly. He manages to survive several selections in the camps due to Eliezer’s assistance. He falls ill with Dysentery after a forced march and is beaten to death by an angry German officer.

Sarah Feig - Eliezer’s mother works alongside her husband as a shopkeeper in the town of Sighet. She is transported to Auschwitz along with her family, but she and her daughter are separated from Eliezer and his father upon their arrival. The author tells us that it was the last time he had seen his mother and little sister, who were probably too old and young to successfully pass the selection. 

Moishe the Beadle - A vagabond from Eliezer’s town who becomes his teacher as Eliezer attempts to study the Kabbala, the Jewish mystic texts.

Akiba the Drummer - A devoutly religious man that Eliezer meets during his time in Buna. Eliezer describes how the man’s faith continues to remain unblemished through some of the most difficult times in the concentration camps. However, his faith begins to wane as all hope of rescue and salvation dim. He gives up on surviving right before a selection and asks the other inmates to say the Kaddish for him after he has been sent off to be killed. Eliezer and the others forget to say the Kaddish for him.