The Night
The night is obvious a motif throughout the whole book, but what might not be quite so obvious is the variety of manners with which Dewdney treats the subject of the night. Sometimes he remarks upon the different personifications of Night throughout history; other times he might explain the scientific phenomena that create the effects one experiences during the night. The night's recurrence in different forms is one of this book's greatest appeals.
The Etymology of "Nacht"
The etymology of the word "night" is fascinating, and it serves as a symbolic representation of the evolving ways night itself has been seen throughout the ages. The "n" sound has been present at the beginning of the word for over four thousand years, able to be traced back to the Hittite nekus and the Sanscrit nakti. As the word evolved over the millennia to the German nacht to the Middle English nyght all the way to the Modern English form, night.
Longfellow's Lover
In his poem "Hymn to Night," Romantic poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow uses the symbol of a lover to describe night, waxing eloquent on her "sable skirts" and the "celestial walls." This symbol of a calm, majestic lover brings a sense of personality to the night, one that is not entirely unwarranted in the mind of a Romantic poet.
Sunset
Sunset is sort of a natural symbol; it is a symbol woven into the fabric of Nature itself. This beautiful panorama of light and color is a symbolic representation of the fading of day into night, a baton-passing that is not without a healthy dose of inherent sentimentality. A sunset at the end of a long day signals its waning, heralding the advent of night in the same way that the dawn heralds the advent of day.
A Light Desert
Dewdney uses the symbolic metaphor of the Sahara desert to represent the darkness of night for nocturnal creatures with night vision. Just like creatures in the desert have special adaptations for surviving on very little water, nocturnal creatures have special adaptations that allow them to see using very little light. Their ability to see in the dark is reliant on the faintest residual glimmers of light that can allow them to see the whole area, but if there is complete darkness, their vision is ineffective in the same manner as a creature trying to survive in the desert without a single drop of water.
