Sometimes, even words that repeat themselves over and over may have a second meaning that will only take notice when evaluated. In addition to the common definition of a word, the word might have been intended to be taken as a representation of bigger ideas, such as a symbol. In Night by Elie Wiesel, the word “night” uncovers these bigger ideas through both the literal meaning and symbolic purpose. Like the general storyline of a book someone is interested in, the literal meaning of night is well-known to most readers. Many contrasting events can take place at night, differing on the character and the surrounding. For the character, Elie, “so much has happened” in “one single night” that he subconsciously stops differentiating night and day, while other prisoners see night as a time to reminisce with old friends. Elie may be overwhelmed with all the sudden changes in his life and that causes him to think about nighttime many times throughout the story, because of the chain of events that happen at night. The other prisoners may want to spend their nights socializing because they have a feeling that night could be the last time they may see a fellow prisoner, another feeling Elie could relate to. The symbolic purpose of night is not like the literal meaning because it has to be searched for to understand. Night is not just a time, but a symbol. Nighttime is a dim and dreary phase that had turned Elie’s “life into one long night”, where there was hours before the sun would come out and Elie, a dying horse, would have to continue working. The dark night symbolizes the mood at the concentration camp, and the lack of differentiating night and day gives off a lack-of-hope feeling for the bad days to ever end. Once day appears, Elie can use his past experiences of night to guide him to the light, which can be seen as coming to God once more. By using literal meaning