Dawn: List 3

by Elie Wiesel
Elisha, a Holocaust survivor living in Palestine, joins a paramilitary group and is ordered to execute a British officer. As he waits for dawn, when the execution is to take place, he meditates on his life.

This list covers pages 44–81 in the 2006 Hill and Wang edition, translated from the French by Frances Frenaye.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. stifle
    impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of
    Suddenly I became aware that the room was stuffy, so stuffy that I was almost stifled.
  2. beseech
    ask for or request earnestly
    “Yes,” I said wearily, “this is a night of many faces, and I should like to know the reason why. If you are the one I think you are, enlighten and comfort me. Tell me the meaning of these looks, this muteness, these presences. Tell me, I beseech you, for I can endure them no longer.”
  3. sententious
    concise and full of meaning
    “For the time being he’s alive,” the child said sententiously.
  4. acquiescence
    agreement with a statement or proposal to do something
    My father nodded in acquiescence, and all the others followed his example.
  5. precipitate
    done with very great haste and without due deliberation
    Almost brutally he snatched the cup and plate from Ilana’s hands and went precipitately down the stairs.
  6. engender
    call forth
    And these dreams in their turn would engender new heroes, who would live through the night and prepare to die at dawn, to die and to give death.
  7. extremity
    the outermost or farthest region or point
    What matters is the fact that each of them is playing a role which has been imposed upon him. The two roles are the extremities of the estate of man. The tragic thing is the imposition.
  8. imposition
    the act of enforcing something
    What matters is the fact that each of them is playing a role which has been imposed upon him. The two roles are the extremities of the estate of man. The tragic thing is the imposition.
  9. impart
    transmit, as knowledge or a skill
    My mother, too, had a harmonious voice, even more harmonious than Ilana’s. Like the voice of God it had power to dispel chaos and to impart a vision of the future which might have been mine, with the goat to guide me, the goat I had lost on the way to Buchenwald.
  10. intonation
    rise and fall of the voice pitch
    There was neither passion nor despair nor even concern in her intonation.
  11. emaciated
    very thin, especially from disease or hunger or cold
    The sorrow written upon his emaciated, unshaven face became even more human than before.
  12. halting
    proceeding in a fragmentary, hesitant, or ineffective way
    In a halting, feverishly sobbing voice, this was all that I could find to say.
  13. espouse
    take up the cause of someone and use it as one's own
    “If I were to refuse to obey orders I should betray my living friends. And the living have more rights over us than the dead. You told me that yourself. Therefore choose life, it is written in the Scriptures. I have espoused the cause of the living, and that is no betrayal.”
  14. impunity
    exemption from punishment or loss
    Of course we were aware of the danger: No one can force God’s hand with impunity.
  15. wrest
    obtain by seizing forcibly or violently, also metaphorically
    Men older, wiser, and more mature than ourselves had tried in vain to wrest the Messiah from the chains of the future; failing in their purpose they had lost their faith, their reason, and even their lives.
  16. hinder
    be an obstacle to
    “We too,” I said, “my comrades in the Movement and I, are trying to force God’s hand. You who are dead should help us, not hinder...”
  17. disquiet
    a feeling of mild anxiety about possible developments
    Then the boy spoke. His voice was filled with echoes of disquiet and longing.
  18. brusquely
    in a blunt direct manner
    “After what?” said Gad brusquely.
  19. haggard
    showing the wearing effects of overwork or care or suffering
    With haggard faces they looked around the room, as if to assure themselves they weren’t dreaming.
  20. furrow
    make or become wrinkled or creased
    His brow was furrowed with preoccupation.
  21. preoccupation
    the mental state of being obsessed by something
    His brow was furrowed with preoccupation.
  22. imperceptibly
    in a manner that is difficult to discern
    His own mask cracked imperceptibly.
  23. bravado
    a swaggering show of courage
    I wanted to see a hostage who was doomed to die and who told funny stories. Curiosity or bravado?
  24. subaltern
    British commissioned army officer below the rank of captain
    Gad smiled. He was a commander, proud of his subaltern and expressing his pride in a smile.
  25. concede
    be willing to yield
    “They can come later,” I conceded.
  26. tousle
    disarrange or rumple; dishevel
    In spite of his unshaven face, tousled hair, and rumpled shirt there was something distinguished about him.
  27. resolute
    firm in purpose or belief
    He seemed to be in his forties—a professional soldier, no doubt—with penetrating eyes, a resolute chin, thin lips, a broad forehead, and slender hands.
  28. permeate
    spread or diffuse through
    I felt his pity go through me. I knew that it would permeate me completely, that the next day I should be sorry for myself.
  29. dint
    force or effort
    By dint of an enormous effort I managed to smile.
  30. facet
    a distinct feature or element in a problem
    The veneer of conventional attitudes was wiped off; every word and look and gesture was naked truth instead of just one of its facets.
  31. incandescent
    emitting light as a result of being heated
    The revolver too was incandescent, and burned my fingers.
  32. exhort
    spur on or encourage especially by cheers and shouts
    The rabbi gives you the traditional blessing: “The Lord bless you and keep you...” and exhorts you to have no fear.
  33. deliverance
    recovery or preservation from loss or danger
    Otherwise, John Dawson, our future will only be an extension of the past, and the Messiah will wait indefinitely for his deliverance.
  34. repose
    a disposition free from stress or emotion
    Gideon was looking down at his nails and praying for the repose of the dead.
  35. countenance
    the appearance conveyed by a person's face
    Ilana lifted a sad countenance upon me; Gad lit a cigarette.
Created on Fri Oct 18 13:31:02 EDT 2019 (updated Wed Oct 23 09:55:13 EDT 2019)

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