The Girl Who Smiled Beads

by

Clemantine Wamariya

Elie Wiesel Character Analysis

Elie Wiesel is a Holocaust survivor and the author of Night, a memoir about his experience in Auschwitz. When she is in high school in the United States, Clemantine reads Night an identifies with the alienation and distrustfulness that Wiesel developed as a result of being a refugee and genocide survivor. Clemantine writes an essay connecting her and Wiesel’s experience and it wins an Oprah essay contest. Clemantine and Claire then appear on the Oprah Winfrey Show, where Elie Wiesel is a guest.
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Elie Wiesel Character Timeline in The Girl Who Smiled Beads

The timeline below shows where the character Elie Wiesel appears in The Girl Who Smiled Beads. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Prologue 
Narrative, Memory, and Fragmentation  Theme Icon
...The Oprah show tomorrow night is the follow-up to an episode in which Oprah and Elie Wiesel visit Auschwitz. Mrs. Thomas had encouraged Clemantine to write an essay on Elie Wiesel’s book... (full context)
Displacement and Identity  Theme Icon
...four a.m. to get dressed. The next day, they sit in front of Oprah and Elie Wiesel . They watch a video of Oprah and Elie walking through Auschwitz, then Oprah congratulates... (full context)
Chapter 6
Trauma and Faith Theme Icon
When she is 16, Clemantine starts reading Elie Wiesel ’s book Night. Even though Elie Wiesel was a white Jewish man, Clemantine identifies with... (full context)
Trauma and Faith Theme Icon
In Night, Clemantine reads how Elie Wiesel lost his own name and all sense of himself. She is fascinated by Wiesel’s questioning... (full context)
Trauma and Faith Theme Icon
Narrative, Memory, and Fragmentation  Theme Icon
...her life by believing that God has a plan. But no one Clemantine knows of—except Elie Wiesel —acknowledges the awful fact that people destroy each other. (full context)
Chapter 14
Displacement and Identity  Theme Icon
...room on the third floor. Clemantine has brought pictures of her family with Oprah and Elie Wiesel . She has moved countless times, but this is her first time living alone. She... (full context)
Chapter 18
Trauma and Faith Theme Icon
When Clemantine returns to the United States, she introduces Elie Wiesel at and event at the Holocaust Memorial Museum. President Obama then appoints her to the... (full context)