Themes

One important theme in Dawn is that of retribution after the Holocaust. During the Holocaust, Vilna ghetto partisan Abba Kovner complained that instead of fighting back against the Nazis, the Jews meekly went like sheep to the slaughter.

Wiesel's novel portrays a different attitude of the Jews—an eye-for-an-eye philosophy. Dawn manifests that after the end of World War II, Jews became more aggressive in fighting for their rights and their lives. But the novel does not necessarily try to justify Elisha's actions. In fact, while Elisha contemplates the morality of his impending action against Dawson, he admits, "I did not know the man. To my eyes he had no face; he did not even exist, for I knew nothing about him. I did not know whether he scratched his nose when he ate, whether he talked or kept quiet when he was making love, whether he...