Adversity Of A Survivor: Synthesis Essay

2. Elie gave up on his faith while he experiences the “Kingdom of Night”. He felt like God wasn’t doing anything about it and he didn’t understand why God would let something this horrible happen. Elie wanted to know how God could be a part of something so cruel.

As a result of a constant exposure to brutality, Elie nearly forgets the existence of a standard of humanity, since even the smallest acts of kindness are”judged too humane” (44). As Elie’s situation disintegrates from the stable Sighet to the Nazi concentration camp, he develops

During the Holocaust, Elie and his family were captured by Axis and Nazi Forces and were sent to multiple concentration camps. As Elie witnessed the atrocities committed by the Nazis, he struggled with survivor's guilt and guilt for his perceived failure to protect and help his father during their time in concentration camps. Elie experiences guilt for his survival while others around him suffer and die. He struggles with the knowledge that countless innocent people, including friends and family, were subjected to the horrors of the Holocaust and did not survive. This survivor's guilt weighs heavily on him, creating a moral conflict within him and leaving him questioning why he alone survived when so many others did not.

Elie Wiesel's character transforms throughout the book as he experiences the Holocaust. While some may argue that Elie's experiences made him weaker as a person, it is clear that they also made him stronger, and more committed to fighting for human rights. At the beginning of the book, Elie is an innocent young man, deeply committed to his family. However, as he and his family are deported to the concentration camps, Elie's faith is being challenged. He witnesses countless atrocities and suffers unimaginable trauma, including the loss of his father.

At the end of the novel, Elie no longer thinks about God, or hopes for His mercy. His faith has completely left him, and the horrors of the concentration camp forever destroyed his aspirations of being a holy

Oftentimes, the effects of traumatic experiences can transcend the importance or the gravity of original beliefs. With every passing day, Elie is seeing more and more innocent infants, children, men, and women dying all around him, simultaneously. However, as the survivors around him congregate and continue to pray to God on their own volition he is thoroughly confused. With the amount of deaths around him, he questions everything, and thinks aloud.

Elie believed that if there was a God, he would most certainly would not allow these acts of horror. He was terror-struck by the crematories, the hangings, and the gas chambers that he felt like a part of him just died, “Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my god and my soul and turned my dreams to dust..."(Wiesel 32). During his time in Auschwitz, Elie experienced innocent Jews being tortured in cruel ways, people starving, and family members killing each other over a piece of bread. Elie witnessed a father and son beat each other nearly to death over something as simple as a piece of bread, “"Why should I bless his name? The eternal, lord of the universe, the all-powerful and terrible was silent.

He showed the readers a personal view of the Nazi's treatment to the prisoners. The hell Elie went through in the camps is something that he will never forget. In contrast the dehumanization the jews received was very harsh it was something that changed their lives forever. They lost their possession, family,morality and their identity. Because of the strength Elie had through this horrible experience he has gained a stronger

The heart wrenching and powerful memoir “Night” by Elie Wiesel depicts Elie’s struggle through the holocaust. It shows the challenges and struggles Elie and people like him faced during this mournful time, the dehumanization; being forced out of their homes, their towns and sent to nazi concentration camps, being stripped of their belongings and valuables, being forced to endure and witness the horrific events during one of history’s most ghastly tales. In “Night” Elie does not only endure a physical journey but also a spiritual journey as well, this makes him question his determination, faith and strength. This spiritual journey is a journey of self discovery and is shown through Elie’s struggle with himself and his beliefs, his father

Throughout the book, Elie’s thoughts expresses anger towards God. For example, on page 67, it states,”Why, but why would I bless Him? Every fiber in me rebelled. Because He caused thousands of children to burn in His mass graves?” He is feeling frustration as a result of God’s unwillingness to do something to end the mass destruction.

He sees the flames and smells the burning flesh. All he can think about is being burned to death. At the end of the book Elie keeps telling his father to hold on a little longer that everything will be better. Elie says “I tried to tell him that it was not over yet, that we would be going home together, but he no longer wanted to listen to me. He could no longer listen to me” (Wiesel 108).

I’m your father... you’re hurting me... you’re killing your father! I’ve got some bread...for you too...for you too.... ”(106).

Traumatic experiences often lead to a decimation of humanity around people. This causes people to distrust everything, sometimes even themselves. In the beginning of the story, Elie explains his general mindset about himself during the time of his depression. The Holocaust, which is such a negative turning point in his life, causes him to lose the will to live as more people were quickly dying around him as well. He recalls the events, and tries to determine the purpose of his survival.

And so he remained for more than half an hour, lingering between life and death, writing before our eyes. And we were forced to look at him at close range. He was still alive when I passed him. His tongue was still red, his eyes not yet extinguished.” This had reinforced Elie’s growing conviction that God was dead, that there was no purpose in praying to God or calling up God’s promises to His people because He had abandoned them.

This is the question one must ask themselves when reading Night, for it would seem that Elie lost everything he had to the Holocaust. Having to endure unspeakable cruelty and having to witness the destruction of his faith, of his family,