ON THE SOUND OF SILENCE: An Analysis on the

Prevalence of Silence as a Theme in Elie Wiesel's Night Commented [1]:

Bridget Huang This is the specific topic of the paper. Notice how the
analysis zooms in on a specific feature rather than
enumerate the general themes of the narrative. This
lends to greater criticality and comprehensiveness in
Silence is complicated and dynamic. It is the absence of noise, the lack of sound, and the the discussion later on (i.e. so you don’t end up
sounding like a SparkNotes literary reading guide).
omission of mention. Silence manifests itself inconspicuously yet remains a constant and powerful
force. It presents itself in different situations for different purposes. And we can extract how Commented [2]:
Silence revealed its many faces in Elie Wiesel's Night from a quote in the preface of the new Provide a background of the analysis, like this, instead
of a long-winded introduction that mulls about universal
translation by Wiesel: abstractions (i.e. “what is violence? ... ” in the tradition
of beginning an essay by “asking a compelling
"Those who kept silent today will remain silent tomorrow." (xiii) question” which we were taught in high school). A
background to the analysis is also preferable to a
lengthy summary. REMEMBER: I have read the texts I
From the quote, there is the suggestion that silence perpetuates, and that its first role is that have assigned to you. There is absolutely no need for a
of an oppressor to victims of the Holocaust. In Night, Silence became symbolic of the Jews' summary beyond two sentences.
acceptance of their fate. Throughout the story, there was very little mention of mutiny, and in those Commented [3]:
times the idea was brought up, it quickly died down after. Victims, instead, chose to keep silent, Note how the author goes straight into the analysis,
without dealing with lengthy story summaries. The
accepting that there is little or nothing they could do to escape, except to die. On the train ride to brevity of your paper demands this kind of directness.
Auschwitz, Wiesel recalls the account of an insane woman, Mrs. Schächter who had fallen silent
after long days of screaming about seeing a terrible fire. By the time the other Jews saw this terrible
fire, she had shut herself off from the world. It is in silence that she losses her will to live and
accepts her inevitable death and fate. He recounts, "...Mute again, indifferent, absent, she had
returned to her corner." In this case, Silence does not only take Mrs. Schatchter’s voice away from Commented [4]:
her but also removes her presence from the world. She loses herself and all interest in joining the The point raised is defended by evidence from the text.
Again, lengthy summaries are not necessary. You need
motions of living through her silence. In another instance, towards the end of the story, Eliezer only cite details that are relevant to your point.
speaks of the silence and fear that overcomes him on his father's last moments. He was neither
able to move nor answer his father while the Gestapo was beating the latter to death. This passivity
and fear was what made the Holocaust thrive. Few chose to speak up, conversations were held in
whispers, thoughts kept to the individual. In another instance, the execution of a young boy in
Buma suggests that it is the silence of God that oppresses them. "Where is God?" someone asks,
and total silence is the reply from both inmates and God. It is implied in the story that this form
silence is the perceived absence of God in the lives of the faithful. God's silence oppressed the
Jews' faith in humanity, in divinity, and in their own future. In the beginning of the Holocaust,
many would still utter words of praise and prayer to God in times of need. However, His absence
in their lives eventually took away this last means of rebellion and source of strength. The silence
of God in the midst of the horrors haunts them long after the event has passed and has shaken the
faith of many, Wiesel included.

Silence also acts as an oppressor to Wiesel and can be seen even as one reads his book. The Commented [5]:
tone throughout was that of frustration. Frustration from the lack of words or the nonexistence of Look at how the essay is very neatly organized point by
point, paragraph by paragraph, evidence by evidence.
words that would help carry the image across to readers. In the preface, he mentions his struggle Vie for the same unity, coherence, and organization.
to write the story and give it justice.
 "... [Words] all meant something else... I would pause at every sentence,
and start over and over again. I would conjure up other verbs, other images,
other silent cries. It was still not enough."

This struggle against the silence "that envelopes and transcends words" is an undercurrent
throughout the story. Wiesel's use of a large number of adjectives and lengthy sentences to describe
scenes seemed to reinforce the idea that his words were not enough to get the message of horror
across. For instance, on his first night in camp:

"Never shall I forget that night, the first in camp, that turned my life into
one long night seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never
shall I forget the small faces of the children... Never shall I forget those
things, even were I condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never" (34) Commented [6]:
Quote properly from your sources! Cite relevant pages
and authors (see a more academic approach in the
Many words, or rather not enough words, were used to describe a night of transformation engrained second sample below).
forever in memory. Through the staccato rhythm displayed by the fragmented construction of
images, we see the emotional struggle Wiesel goes through in overcoming his silence and his
mortality. His repetition of the phrase, “Never shall I forget,” is not a manifestation of his
determination to impress these images into his memory, but an affirmation to himself and to an
extent, to the readers that his writings touch only the surface of the events of the Holocaust and
that he lacks the capacity to overpower silence. It suggests that in some way, silence speaks louder
than words. Silence is able to impress itself onto readers in a much a larger magnitude than words
can. One scene, in particular, reinforces this idea. In the latter half of the story, Wiesel describes
the death of a violinist, Juliek. In Juliek's last moments, he plays the violin and, according to
Wiesel, plays "his life". It is in Juliek's playing that Wiesel is able to understand Juliek's pain, his
lost dreams, and the future that has come to an abrupt halt. It seems at that moment, the absence
of words, that is, silence (though not necessarily the absence of sound), was more powerful and
encapsulating of the violinist's last thoughts, than any words could be. And perhaps words will
never be enough to fully explain the events that occurred in Night.

Perhaps the more obvious interpretation of the quote is that silence is a way of coping with
pain, and is a means to survival. In the selection process, Eliezer and his dad choose not to act
strong and noticeable, which ended up being the right choice for them. Those who were noticed or
showed signs of strength were assigned to the Sonderkommandos, tasked to dispose corpses of
their own people and were eventually gassed because of their knowledge on the mass murder
process of the Nazi Army. Silence meant to detach oneself from his body in order to survive. And
this is exactly how Eliezer Wiesel survived the Death March to Buchenwald -- by separating mind
and body.

"I was putting one foot in front of the other, like a machine. I was dragging
this emaciated body that was still such a weight... I continued to run, not
feeling my numb foot, not even realizing that I was running, that I still
owned a body..." (85-87)
 On one hand, Silence has de-powered and desensitized Wiesel. He has lost great control of
his senses and has become numb. Numbness and silence, however, has also created a heavy peace
for him. He is aware of Silence’s burden on him, but that it has numbed him from the physical and
emotional pain that would have destroyed him. Surviving was a day-by-day process and numbness
helped Eliezer cope with the daily suffering, and survivor's guilt (after his father's death). He
continued his stay in the camp being idle and wanting only to satisfy the most basic desire: to eat.
With this, silence doesn't become just a means to cope, but a means to survive. Similar to Mrs.
Schächner's situation, silence has created distance between Eliezer and the rest of the prisoners,
which in this case means his survival, but it is distance nevertheless.

This second form of silence remained prevalent in the life of Wiesel even after his liberation
from camp and end of the war. Wiesel took a vow of silence, promising not to speak of his
experience until prompted to by a friend. This vow of silence lasted for 10 years. And he is not
alone in this pursuit. We take a look back at the quote and see that a small part of its whole
interpretation says that, in this context, the people with the ability to speak up choose to hold their
silence. These people choose to forget the painful memories, because perhaps speaking of the
Holocaust, as implied by Wiesel, could make them (himself included) go mad.

Yet, as we tackle the theme of silence in the Holocaust account, the question, "Why choose
to break that vow?" comes to mind. The events that occurred in Night scratch only the surface of
what happened during the Holocaust, but in doing so, Wiesel creates a voice for the oppressed. He
mentions that, "...when their voices are stifled, we shall lend them ours." (120). Through writing,
he creates a path to which the silence that perpetuates to the future generations is broken. We see
the author attempting to reclaim power from silence by writing the book. This simple action goes
beyond commemorating the death of his memories and the death of the victims of the Holocaust.
It gives them back a voice through which the world was and is able to learn of the truth once hidden
in silence. There is the choice to remember, and not to forget and deny a past that has shaped the
future. In keeping silent, we let death and the oppressor win. In keeping silent, we make ourselves
guilty accomplices of the crime to deny.

"For the survivor who chooses to testify, it is clear: his duty is to bear
witness for the dead and for the living. He has no right to deprive future
generations of a past that belongs to our collective memory. To forget
would not only be dangerous but offensive; to forget the dead would be
akin to killing them a second time." (xv)

Through his memoir, Wiesel emphasizes that it is his duty not to succumb to the cheap,
numbing comfort that Silence once gave him. Through his work, we can see Wiesel has accepted
the dynamism of Silence, and yet in the process of acceptance, refused to give in to Silence's
power, having understood the necessary responsibility of response, especially by those who have
the ability to do so.
 ASSEMBLING ISLAMIC FEMINISM: Commented [7]:
Characterizing Female Identities in Orhan Pamuk’s Snow This was written for a Comparative Literature course
rather than a GE course; hence, the analysis may be a
Louise Jashil Sonido bit more complex. However, I’m putting this here to
show you that you may also use other perspectives in
One of the most severe criticisms against Islam by Western feminism is the fiercely analyzing texts. In the same way that we used
concepts in Marx to understand Brecht, this paper uses
patriarchal system that it enforces and the subsequent tolerance of the silencing and abuse of a particular notion of feminism to understand the two
women in Islamic societies. Many Western feminists point to the conditions of Muslim women texts under examination.
and enjoin their liberation from the oppression of Islamic culture. They highlight the
“victimization” of Muslim women and foreground the Muslim women’s absorption into the
patriarchal discourse such that they themselves “take over the idiom of their oppressors” (Janssen,
cited in Cooke 2000, 93) and enact the oppression. However, a pertinent question to ask is whether Commented [8]:
or not Muslim women even recognize themselves as victims, or even whether or not they would Please cite properly. This is cited in the Chicago
Manual of Style Author-Date format.
prefer “liberation” from the Islamic culture by separation from it. Is it not possible at all for Muslim
women to have agency within the patriarchal world of Islam?

At this point, it is relevant to examine female identities in Muslim society as they are
illustrated in the novels, Snow. Commented [9]:
Again, notice that the introduction is not a “compelling
question” or a lengthy summary but a background of
the analysis and a statement of the problem(atique).
In Orhan Pamuk’s Snow, we examine: 1) the women’s responses to the headscarf debate
that legally mandates women to remove their headscarves, 2) the women who are part of the
suicide epidemic which seizes the small town of Kars, and 3) the political and sexual agency of
three particular female characters in the novel, Ipek and Kadife. Commented [10]:
Same as with Huang’s paper, mind your paper’s
organization and detail only the parts of the text
While the veil for women in Muslim societies is often interpreted as symbolic of their relevant to your specific angle of analysis.
oppression in dominant Western feminist discourses, it is interesting to observe that the law-
enforced removal of the veil in the novel, Snow, does not equate to their liberation. In fact, we
find many of the Muslim women characters choosing to suffer legal persecution just so they could
continue to wear headscarves. As Kadife explains,

“When a girl has accepted the headscarf as the Word of God and the
symbol of faith, it’s very difficult for her to take it off…” (123)

Thus, it is important to understand that wearing the veil is not necessarily a symbol of humiliation,
subordination, or oppression by a patriarchal religion or community. The state prohibition of such
voluntary practices of the religion undermines its own liberationist objectives, for banning the
headscarf simply imposes one set of standards at the expense of individual freedom, seemingly in
the name of gender equality (Marshall 2008, 650).

While much can be said in a political discussion of this debate, for this examination of
Islamic women’s identities, what is most crucial is the value that Muslim women hold for their
spiritual practice. Indeed, it may be argued that the “headscarf girls,” as they are referred to in the
novel are exercising agency by defying constitutional laws in order to maintain their sense of
religion and sense of self. While it may be difficult for liberal theorists to grasp the voluntary
subjection of one’s self to the restrictive effects of a headscarf or veil, it remains an important
insight in feminist scholarship that women across different cultures may choose to empower
themselves differently in different ways, without necessarily being “victims” of the culture that
produced them. In fact, the exercise of choice espoused by the headscarf girls’ persistence in
wearing the veil subscribes to the ideology of personal freedom and points to their internal strength
of will and political agency.

Another interesting point of discussion in Snow is the occurrence of the suicide epidemic
as girls across Kars suddenly start killing themselves at random and unexpected times. While
investigations may strive to link these incidents with the headscarf ban, it appears that many of
these women are not even involved with the headscarf girls. This suicide epidemic is condemned
by many Islam adherents, who argue that suicide can never be justified within the principles of
Islam, and they can only be acts of atheism. However, an embedded discourse on women’s
conditions is incited during the staging of The Spanish Tragedy, as it addresses the issue of the
suicide epidemic and prompts the following utterance:

“The moment of suicide is the time when they understand best how
lonely it is to be a woman, and what it really means to be a woman…
Women kill themselves because they hope to gain something… Men
kill themselves because they’ve lost all hope in gaining anything.”
(405 - 406)

It is difficult, of course, and perhaps wrong, to attempt to glorify the suicide epidemic as
agency. However, I believe that there is value in looking at these suicides as symbolic acts that
point to women’s struggles in Islamic society. They must not be read as women’s defeat in the
face of oppression, but rather significant and symbolic performances which signify the need for
the evaluation of gender politics in Muslim society. It is, indeed, interesting how some of these
suicide girls seem to have killed themselves for no particular reason; they do not kill themselves,
for instance, after an episode of patriarchal abuse. Many of them seem to have meditated long and
hard over their suicide and are just waiting for the right trigger to do it. These girls are not atheists
either; in fact, they are devout Muslims with a strong sense of faith. But why kill themselves? With
these irregularities, it is possible for us to conjecture that these suicides are not suicides prompted
by despair, helplessness, or defeat, but by a desire to call attention to their situation, a desire to
assert themselves politically, to embroil themselves at the center of the religious and secular
debates. Their suicide is not escape from the world; rather, it is the rendering of a socio-political
challenge.

Finally, on a more personal level, it is possible to examine women’s agency by looking at

the political and sexual ideologies of Ipek, Kadife, and Funda Eser. It may be observed that these
three women are a far cry from typical illustrations of victimized Muslim women. Ipek, for
instance, is the desire and frustration of so many men in the novel – Ka, Muhtar, and Orhan, to say
the least; not to mention an affair with Blue. While these attractions may be anchored primarily on
her beauty, it is noteworthy to see that Ipek is not a passive participant in her relationships. With
Muhtar, for instance, she asserts her choice not to go back to him, even if he is her ex-husband.
With Ka, she is the one who sets the rules of engagement, leading him on and holding him at bay
as she wills it. In effect, Ipek exhibits sexual agency that neither transgresses spiritual practice nor
reinforces gender inequities.
 Meanwhile, Kadife embodies a more political form of agency as she function as the leader
of the headscarf girls. Formerly a television performer and commercial figure, she asserts her
political competence in becoming a figure for the struggle for the freedom of spiritual practice.
Her involvement with Blue and the resistance movement against State authoritarianism
furthermore concretizes how capable she is despite occupying the role of a woman. Even if it may
be argued that it is her relationship with Blue that empowers her, it remains that her voice in
political debates is regarded with respect.

All of these arguments add up to a conception of Muslim women who are not necessarily
victims by virtue of their staying within the patriarchal system of Islam. Rather, they are able to
exert agency in their own affairs, their own bodies, their own practices, and exhibit aggressive and
transgressive resistance to typical constructions of passive, oppressed, victimized Muslim women.

Miriam Cooke writes of a way of reading women’s roles in Islamic society through what
can be called “Islamic feminism”: Commented [11]:
You may refer to academic texts external to the novel
you are analyzing. However, make sure they are
The label Islamic feminist brings together two epithets whose academic and reliable.
juxtaposition describes the emergence of a new, complex self-
positioning that celebrates multiple belongings. To call oneself an
Islamic feminist is not to describe a fixed identity but to create a
new, contingent subject position. (Cooke 2000:93)

If we attempt to appropriate such a framework in the reading of women’s identities in the

novels, we are able to come up with a series of revaluations of women’s roles in the Muslim world,
despite the fact that they do not directly resist nor transgress the boundaries of their Islamic
practices. Without necessarily moving against the dominant ideology of Islam, which, in truth, is
really a strong anchor for their sense of self, they are able to execute internal strength and enact
their own emancipation through recognition of agency and self-control.

Such observations certainly moves toward an expansion of the more dominant forms of
feminism stemming from the West which may tend to speak against any form of emancipation
possible in a patriarchal system. Contrary to such reductive views, the Islamic feminist framework
allows for a view of women in Islamic societies as having agency over themselves without the
necessity of separating themselves from the culture which empowers them with a deep sense of
identity. Without discounting the fact that vigilance is required in evaluating the gender inequities
in Islamic society, Islamic feminism believes in the possibility of creating the conditions in which
multiple identities, including the religious, can coexist in safety and with dignity (Cooke 2000:92).
 WORKS CITED Commented [12]:
Please have a properly formatted reference page
should you use more than the text you are examining.
Amer, Sahar. 2009. “Medieval Arab Lesbians and Lesbian-Like Women.” Journal of the History
of Notice that all the texts used here are either books or
Sexuality, 18(2): 215-236 journals.

Don’t give me Wikipedia, SparkNotes, GradeSaver,

Cooke, Miriam. 2000. “Multiple Critique: Islamic Feminist Rhetorical Strategies.” Nepantla: CliffsNotes, and other such proofs of your lack of will to
Views from analyze your choice of texts critically. Remember,
citation is meant to strengthen, not weaken your paper.
South, 1(1):91-110

Khalifeh, Sahar. 2003. Wild Thorns. Salma Khadra Jayyusi, trans. Northampton, Massachussets:
Interlink
Books

Marshall, Jill. 2008. “Conditions for Freedom? European Human Rights Law and the Islamic
Headscarf
Debate.” Human Rights Quarterly, 30(3):631-654

Massad, Joseph. 2002. “Re-Orienting Desire: The Gay International and the Arab World.”
Public Culture
14(2): 361–385

Pamuk, Orhan. 2005. Snow. Maureen Freely, trans. New York: Random House

Singh, Amardeep. 2007. “Reorienting Forster: Intimacy and Islamic Space.” Criticism 49 (1):
35–54