Elie Wiesel Discrimination Quotes

When Elie was separated from his mother and sister at the beginning of the book Elie was only left with his father. When things got tough, they continued pushing for each other. They made sacrifices for each other and always made sure the other was ok. Elie had lost the rest of his family so his father meant the world to him. At the end of the book this is also taken away from him.

After living through the Holocaust, Elie lost his devotion and faith in God. To Elie, God was everything to him prior to the traumatizing experience. Every day he would pray and devoted his life to worshiping

He sees people being thrown into a fire and others are praying. According to Night, “Why should I sanctify His name? The Almighty, the eternal and terrible Master of the Universe, chose to be silent. What was there to thank Him for?” Elie uses a Rhetorical question to show his faith in God is fading because He chose to be silent during this very hard time for Elie and other Jewish people.

“Why should I bless His name? The Eternal, Lord of the Universe, the All-Powerful and Terrible, was silent. What had I to thank him for?” (42). Eliezer also expresses his disappointment and anger at God by rebelling against the religious teachings that he had been taught and followed for all his life.

lie Wiesel’s experiences of dehumanization in the Nazi concentration camps extraordinarily influence his behavior and identity. During his time in the camps, Elie demonstrated extreme behavioral adaptations to survive the treatment; these were made possible by the erasing of his identity. Elie’s identity is established in the opening pages of the book. Elie is characterized as a deeply religious and intelligent person.

At the start of their time in the concentration camp Auschwitz, Elie and his father were separated from the rest of their family, which included his (Elie’s) mother and sisters. This is when Elie reveals his inner thoughts, “My hand tightened around its grip on my father. All I could think about was not to lose him. Not to remain alone” (Wiesel 30). After being separated from his mother and siblings, Elie was left with only his father.

The Almighty, the eternal and terrible Master of the Universe, chose to be silent. What was there to thank Him for?” (33). Elie is mad at his dad for celebrating God because God is silent. He thinks that God is letting all of this happen and questions his judgment.

Elie soon stopped praying, talking, and studying about God. “ For the first time, I felt anger rising within me. Why should I sanctify His name? The Almighty, the eternal and terrible Master of the Universe, chose to silent. What was there to thank Him for?”

At this point in his life, Elie had all of his needs and was sincerely loyal to his religion. While Elie was in Auschwitz, some of the other Jews began praying and saying that God is testing them, to see how much they are able to handle. Elie did not agree with praying to the person who was supposedly responsible for all of this. “As for me, I had ceased to pray... I was not denying His existence, but I doubted His absolute justice.”

Elie and his father, however, realized how much they already fast in the camp, and decided not to fast. “In this place, we were always fasting. It was Yom Kippur year round,” Elie says (Wiesel 69). Not only did Elie decide to fast because of the lack of food already present in the camps, but also as a symbol of rebellion towards God. Elie scorns and says, “I no longer accepted God’s silence.”

Elie continued to be angry at Him. Thousands of prisoners were repeating the prayer “Blessed be God’s name…” (Page 67). But Elie was concerned why should he bless Him? Everything inside Elie opposed it.

On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the Jews gathered in silence, worshiping God. Elie is in shock that they still praise Him despite the terrible things they have endeavored. He even goes into lengths to say, “Praised be Thy Holy Name, for having chosen us to be slaughtered on Thine altar? ,” (pg. 67) and he even begins to think about how man is truly greater than God, “And I, the former mystic, was thinking: Yes, man is stronger, greater than God.

“I ran off to look for my father. And at the same time I was afraid of having to wish him a Happy New Year when I no longer believed in it,” (Wiesel, 75). Earlier, Elie talks about how he felt powerful and stronger than God himself, now that he was free from the Almighty. He also talks about how he felt alone but strong. Later, he shows retaliation against God.

Elie’s spiritual and emotional journey during his transformation throughout the Holocaust made him a stronger person. During his time at the concentration camp, Elie started losing faith in God, family, and humanity which gave him challenges on his spiritual and emotional journey. On page 34, Elie was thinking, “Why should I sanctify His name? The Almighty, the eternal and terrible Master of the Universe, chose to be silent.

As for me, I had ceased to pray... I was not denying His existence, but I doubted His absolute justice” (45). It is apparent here that the effect of the Holocaust on the Jewish people’s faith was delayed on some level. Elie refuses to pray to the God that apparently abandoned him. This is personified when he says he doubts that God has absolute justice.