Dawn

by Elie Wiesel

Book Overview

Elie Wiesel's Dawn is an eloquent meditation on the compromises, justifications, and sacrifices that human beings make when they murder other human beings.

"The author . . . has built knowledge into artistic fiction." --The New York Times Book Review

Elisha is a young Jewish man, a Holocaust survivor, and an Israeli freedom fighter in British-controlled Palestine; John Dawson is the captured English officer...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0809037726
• ISBN13: 9780809037728
• Release Date: March 2006
• Publisher: Hill & Wang
• Length: 96 Pages
• Weight: 0.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.6" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Dawn is a good read

Wiesel's Dawn is a heart wrenching book about an Israeli freedom fighter, just about a year after the holocaust, of which the man was involved with, that is forced to execute a British officer. The book is about the previous day, and that night leading up to the execution at dawn. The man is confronted by ghosts of his past telling him that if he kills the man, that he invariably labels everyone he has ever known, or loved as a murderer also. The man has to make the decision whether to execute the man, or let him live. It is a very moving and touching book

Excellent thinking book & totally different from Night

First off, this is not Night 2. I naively expected that when publisher's try to frame them as part of a 'trilogy'. Night is absolutely and without bar one of the most fantastic books I have read in my life. This is not just another chapter of that. And it is not a sequel. It is an incredibly profound, and beautifully written meditation on the journey of many Holocaust survivors -- but not his. This is a work of complete fiction. Many survivors went to Palestine, and fought the British (not the Arabs) to kick them out and thus be able to establish a free Jewish state. It is the story of a fictional Elishah (who has remarkably similar childhood and Holocaust experiences to those of Wiesel) who becomes one of these freedom fighters, and is ordered to execute a British officer in retaliation for their hanging one of the rebels. It is an account of the night that Elishah passes, knowing he has to become a murderer in the morning, and all of his internal struggles with that. In a particularly powerful lead up to the end, he realizes the power of hatred, how without hatred, terrorist groups like theirs, and indeed any violence against others is almost impossible. He notes how nations are so adept at teaching their people to hate, and even comes to the point of trying to make himself hate this stranger in order to be able to follow his orders. EXTREMELY powerful and evocative. One word of caution -- there is almost no action here. This is a thinking book. If you are not up to the mental effort to think and feel along with him, you will not like it.

Life and Death Matters

Have you ever had to do something very serious that you did not really want to do? Dawn, is an extraordinary novel written by Elie Wiesel, a surviovor in the Holocaust. Dawn is not in any way connected to Night or Day. Dawn is about responsibility and dity, unlike Night or Day. This novel is about a young boy that has been given the responsibility of executing John Dawson, a British soldier. He holds John hostage and brings him food, I know surprising right? The reason he brings John food is because he does not want John to die with an empty stomach. Later he feels sorrow for John Dawson. What will he do? I would have to say the young boy, main character is my favorite character in Dawn because he changes for the best, I think. This is definitely a novel I would read again because the first time you read it you can not comprehend it very well. I recommend Night, Dawn and Day but I would also recommend it for pleasure read only. You can not do any research on the Holocaust with these three books. I hope you take the time to read them.

Dawn Review

Elie Wiesel is a brilliant writer. Like all of his books, this one touched my heart and opened my eyes. I would recommend this book to all readers - even to younger readers. My children are 10 and 11 and they have read this book.

Not Night, But Excellent In Its Own Right

Elie Wiesel's Night is one of the most horrifying, moving accounts of the Holocaust experience that I have read. This book, Dawn, is sometimes referred to as a sequel to Night; however, I think that is misleading. Though readers of Night will see the influence of the author's concentration camp experience reflected in this book, Dawn is something very different. The most obvious difference, of course, is that Night is nonfiction whereas Dawn is a novel. Dawn tells the story of Elisha, a Holocaust survivor, who is recruited to a terrorist group in Palestine that is trying to drive out the British in the years after World War II. After participating in a number of terrorist activities without remorse, Elisha is assigned to execute a prisoner in retaliation for the execution of one of his comrades. As he waits through the night for his task at dawn, Elisha struggle (literally) with his ghosts. When faced with an author like Wiesel who has written a classic piece of nonfiction like Night, it is often difficult to judge his fiction fairly. The fiction doesn't seem to have the same impact. And though I, too, prefer Night, I found this book to be powerful in its own right. Dawn gives real insight into how people can be haunted and changed by an unfathomable trauma. In addition, it addresses real philosophical issues such as when does killing become murder and how does becoming a murderer change a person? Does suffering unto death justify a (some might say) disproportionate response? In these post 9/11 days, I also found the insight into the terrorist mindset very interesting. The American revolutionaries and the Zionists were considered terrorists in their day much as the Palestinians and al Queda are today and, though there are obviously differences between all these groups, there are some attitudes that run through all who can find it in themselves to use terror tactics. It is fascinating to see words come from the mouths of these young Jewish partisans that would fit equally well in the mouths of Palestinians today. All in all, Dawn is an excellent work: brief but powerful.