Dawn

by

Elie Wiesel

Catherine Character Analysis

Catherine was a delicate blonde woman in her late 20s whom Elisha met in France after World War II. She was the first woman Elisha got to know up close, outside of his family. She asked Elisha about his past and spoke to him about love; they eventually began a romantic affair, but when Elisha told her that he loved her, she became distressed, and Elisha fled before they could consummate their relationship sexually. After this, Elisha realized that Catherine saw him as a pitiable little boy. Catherine’s ghost is the first one Elisha sees around midnight on the night before Dawson’s execution.

Catherine Quotes in Dawn

The Dawn quotes below are all either spoken by Catherine or refer to Catherine. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Revenge, Terrorism, and War Theme Icon
).
Chapter 4 Quotes

"Poor boy!" she repeated. […] Ilana disappeared, and Catherine was there instead. I wondered why Catherine had come, but her apparition did not particularly surprise me. […] She liked to speak of love to little boys, and since men going to their death are little boys she liked to speak to them of love. For this reason her presence in the magical room—magical because it transcended the differences […] between the present and the past—was not surprising.

Related Characters: Ilana (speaker), Elisha, Catherine
Page Number: 39
Explanation and Analysis:
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Dawn PDF

Catherine Quotes in Dawn

The Dawn quotes below are all either spoken by Catherine or refer to Catherine. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Revenge, Terrorism, and War Theme Icon
).
Chapter 4 Quotes

"Poor boy!" she repeated. […] Ilana disappeared, and Catherine was there instead. I wondered why Catherine had come, but her apparition did not particularly surprise me. […] She liked to speak of love to little boys, and since men going to their death are little boys she liked to speak to them of love. For this reason her presence in the magical room—magical because it transcended the differences […] between the present and the past—was not surprising.

Related Characters: Ilana (speaker), Elisha, Catherine
Page Number: 39
Explanation and Analysis: