The Holocaust changed the lives of many people. Over eleven million people were killed during this tragic time in history, six million were the Jewish people. The small percentage of those who survived were terrified to tell their stories and relive through the horrendous moments of the past. Elie Wiesel was able to overcome this fear and publish a candid and horrific autobiography illustrating his survival as a teenager in the Nazi concentration death camps. Elie Wiesel's Night is a powerful and moving story uncovering the truth of when life is reduced to the essential struggle to survive, insensitivity and cruelty can occur. Natural life instincts kick in and the prisoners began to live the life drive theory in which they are only worried …show more content…
Although many prisoners sadly became reduced to brutes, Elie seems to be able to keep his humanity intact and escapes the fate of others by directing his anger towards God, maintaining a strong bond with his father, and observing how people suffer rather than partaking in the barbarism around him. Initially, Elie shows great devotion to God, but soon becomes enraged by the series of events that take place against the Jewish people. This anger becomes disillusioned with God’s power and Elie begins to doubt God’s preeminence. Innocent people were tortured in the most horrendous ways: starved, beaten, everyone was barely hanging onto life. During the beginning of Elie’s time at the concentration camps he noticed, “some of the men spoke of God: His mysterious ways, the sins of the Jewish people, and the redemption to come. As for me, I had ceased to pray. I concurred with Job! I was not denying His existence, but I doubted His absolute justice.”(45) Many lost complete faith in God upon the arrival in the concentration camps due to the suffering they face. This was an interesting moment marked by Elie as he …show more content…
Before the camps, Elie considered humanity as part of his fatih, something God would maintain if he remained a true believer. During this time Elie was trying to understand the chaotic feelings of abandonment and injustice. Elie believed there was little to no justice in the camps, he was angry, wondering if God was really there how could he be so silent, punishing his own people. Elie walked into the concentration camps watching innocent babies being consumed by flames. Elie understood the Nazi’s were wrong and evil, he knew there was nothing he could do to change his family’s situation. Instead of lashing out his anger against his fellow inmates and those in charge, in this moment he still believes God is there, but his anger has caused him to lose faith in God’s justice. He does not act childish and acts out against the Nazis, rather he continues to question God, “What
“Ahead of you lies a long road paved with suffering”(Wiesel, 38) . In the novel Night ,by Elie Wiesel, he explains about his experiences and suffering as a young boy during the Holocaust. The Holocaust was a systematic persecution of millions of Jews. Elie Wiesel and his family were apart of this horrific event. Elie was a very religious boy that loved studying the Talmud and spending time at the Temple until his life was forever altered by the Holocaust.
In the nonfiction writing journal, Night, Elie Wiesel learns of the Kabbalah, and its teachings through the studies with Moishe the Beadle, but soon questions what he once believed. As Moishe teaches Elie the Jewish mysticism, he says that “man comes closer to God through [his] questions [to] Him” (5). Throughout this section, Moishe explains to Elie that he may question God, however he desires, but often times he will not receive an answer. Throughout the novel, Elie believes in God, never losing faith.
Before he and his family were sent to the concentration camps, Elie was described as a loving, smart, and caring boy. But as months go by in the concentration camps he slowly begins to his emotions for other people, which definitely affects the way he thinks mentally. In page 112 he stated, “I did not weep, and is pained that I could not weep. But I was out of tears”, which displayed Elie’s inner emotions and meant that he didn’t have enough in him to feel sad because he went through so much during the concentration camps he felt emotionally tired to feel anything. The day after his father died he said, “Since my father’s death nothing mattered to me anymore,” meaning he had nothing to live for or no one to care for anymore.
As cruel as this horrid heinous act may be, the true crime against humanity can be viewed with a little examination. Under the surface was Elie’s mention to the fact he was changed. Shockingly, he displayed his surprise to the fact, and how he was different. This was his way to strengthen the fact that he was being changed by this place. Of course, the change was towards his priorities, that being survival.
Nathaniel Hawthorne once said “such loss of faith is ever one of the saddest results of sin.” As for the novel, Night, you read the struggles of people as they battle within themselves and their faith, we see how they become willing to sacrifice anything to stay alive. In the novel, Night, by Elie Wiesel we grasp further learning about the Holocaust through the author's perspective. We're shown what difficulties the Jews, others have faced, and we see how ruthless they're treated . During his experiences in the concentration camps, Elie Wiesel loses faith in his fellow-man and in God.
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?”
Elie Wiesel loses faith in God and his family through the events that he undergoes in the Nazi concentration camps. To begin, Elie is deprived of his religion in the camps. He struggles physically and mentally, therefore, he no longer believes that there is a higher power: "Never shall I forget these moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust..." (34). Imprisoned in a factory of death, Elie does not believe that his God will give him the strength to keep him going.
(Ilibagiza 78). Elie also believes in God, but as time goes on he starts to believe that he is not in God’s favor. He is constantly rejected by hope and thinks he, being a Jew, is brought to camps to die. The main focus for the prisoners is that they survive. “In this place, it’s every man for himself” (Wiesel 10).
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.
At the beginning of Night, Elie was someone who believed fervently in his religion. His experiences at Auschwitz and other camps, such as Birkenau and Buna have affected his faith immensely. Elie started to lose his faith when he and his father arrived at Birkenau. They saw the enormous flames rising from a ditch, with people being thrown in.
The cruelty of the German officers at the concentration camps change Elie’s personality throughout the novel. At the beginning of the novel, Elie is deeply religious and spends most of his time studying Judaism. However, by the end of the novel, Elie believes that God has been unjust to him and all the other Jews, and has lost most of his faith. The cruelty of the German officers also changed the other Jews as well. The events of the Holocaust forces the prisoners to fend for themselves, and not help others.
Eliezer was faithful to God and humane towards his family, but after his brutal experience in the concentration camps, he would become faithless and relentless. Change was shown in Elie’s religious beliefs in
Elie's Relationship with God Elie's relationship with God in "Night" by Elie Wiesel is complex, with his journey marked by a progression from a devout and unwavering belief in God to a deeply shaken and conflicted faith, ultimately leading to a sense of abandonment and disillusionment. At the beginning of his internment, Elie has a strong conviction in a compassionate and righteous God, as illustrated by his statement that "I believed profoundly. During the day, I studied the Talmud, and at night I ran to the synagogue to weep over the destruction of the Temple" (Wiesel 4). However, as he witnesses the unspeakable atrocities of the concentration camp, he begins to question God's existence and justice, expressing his disbelief and confusion
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.
Suffering not only forces people to make inhumane decisions but it also causes people to lose hope and give up on themselves. In this section of the book, Elie describes a time where he was devastated to see his father beaten and hurt in the camps. Throughout his time in the camps, Elie saw and heard the abuse that was given to people in the camp killing his hope. The biggest turning point in the story was when he saw his father getting beat. When Idek “began beating [Elie’s father] with an iron bar … [Elie’s] father simply doubled over under the blows, but then [Elie's father] seemed to break in two like an old tree struck by lightning”