The Rapid Change Of Elie Wiesel’s Life In The Book Night

As many Holocaust survivors and executions during the Second World War show, it was an extremely dark period. Night, Elie Wiesel’s memoir about his life, describes the hardships he and others went through and how they almost lost hope. It’s full of irony, powerful themes and compelling stories that force him to look at human nature historicalally. Night is Wiesel’s account of his experiences as a Jew in the Holocaust. Elie, a young man from Sighet România, believed that the Germans had lost World War II during 1944. His family was then moved from Sighet into Ghettos, and later to concentration camps. He was forced to leave Birkenau with his mother, and two sisters. This tragic event brought about a terrible series of events that saw Wiesel lose both himself and his God. Elie Wiesel’s memoir reveals how Elie’s relationship to God changed after seeing many people die right before his eyes. This essay will analyze the rapid changes by looking at Elie’s lives before, during and after the Ghettos.

Night’s opening scene features Eliezer, a fifteen year-old boy from Sighet Romania who felt a strong connection with God. From an early age, he wanted the opportunity to learn about mysticism from Jewish scholars thirty years and older. To answer his questions about God’s purpose and why everything exists, he wanted to learn Kabbalah. His father wasn’t keen on his son learning difficult subjects. Instead, he wanted him to learn the elements. His father stated to him that he was too young to do such a thing. Maimonides tells him that to enter the worlds wrought with danger, one must first be thirty. First, you have to learn the basic subjects. Moishe, a poor Jew from abroad who lives in Sighet taught Wiesel the mysteries of the universe and God’s centrality to the search for understanding. Moishe asked Wiesel his reason for praying one day. Wiesel (15 years old) couldn’t explain. Wiesel asked Wiesel to explain his reasons. Wiesel replied, “I pray for the God within” and he explained that faith goes beyond worshiping God. This strengthened Wiesel’s connection to God. Eliezer realizes that God is more than just worshipping Him. This section symbolically portrays God’s death. Elie does not believe the sight. He sees. He begins to wonder what the human race has become. As his faith began to shake, he couldn’t comprehend how God could allow children to be killed. Eliezer believes God cannot exist when innocent children are being hanged on gallows. Eliezer lost his innocence when innocent children were killed. He was a completely different person from the pre-Holocaust. He’s losing his faith and is about to lose his senses of morality and values. He hears prisoners reciting Kaddish, the Jewish prayer to the dead. This pisses Elie. He replied, “I felt anger rising inside me. Why should He be sanctified? The Almighty, an external and terrible Master of all things, chose silence. He began to recite it, and he was not only grateful for that. Wiesel questions his humanity after witnessing his father being struck with the Kapo by such force that he fell, and then standing there in paralysis and not moving. He is astonished at the transformation he has undergone since the Holocaust. His father being beaten beat up, he comforts him by saying, “It doesn’t bother”, even though it is obvious that he has a red mark on his face.

Eliezer was finally able to say that his faith in God had ended. He decided to survive on his strengths and not believe in God. While he believed he was the only one, Elie still has a portion of his soul that is dedicated to God. In 1944’s ending summer, Buna’s Jews gathered to celebrate Yom Kippur and Rosh Hadanah, their Jewish holidays. They all prayed and glorified God together. Eliezer was not aware of the reason they were praising a God who allowed them to suffer. “Blessed God’s name? Why, should he bless me? He began mocking them because he believed they were God’s chosen people and Jewish were God’s people. He eventually believes God is no match for mankind. “And, I, the former mestic, was thinking: yes. man is stronger that God.” Wiesel stops reciting the Kaddish to Akiba drummer’s behalf after the death. He promised him. It is not just God that he has been betrayed, but all of humanity. While Elie may claim that he doesn’t believe God exists, he also swears that the Holocaust is always remembered. He said, “Because of my memory, I have the obligation to reject despair.” I remember the murderers, I remember their victims, and I still struggle to find a thousand reasons to believe. While we may not be able to stop injustice at times, there should never be any reason to not protest. “By saving one human being, man saves the world,” The Talmud says. Elie went through countless sufferings during the Holocaust. But he never lost his faith.

Night is Wiesel’s account of his feelings during the Holocaust. Wiesel’s relationship is complicated and has its ups as well as downs. This alters his perception of God. The memoir shows Wiesel’s strong devotion before the Holocaust. Later, he begins to distrust his non-secular beliefs. But as he grows and transforms, God’s role in his own life is redefined. The memoir ends with Elie, a young man in despair, who is not hopeful for his life or the future of humanity. But Wiesel’s belief that each God and every human being are capable of goodness makes it worth reading. After witnessing the constant terror and losing his faith in God, Wiesel was able to rebuild his faith and lead a productive lifestyle. Wiesel survived the Holocaust, which was a strange coincidence. Without religion and hope, he would have died. He stated that “what hurts the victim most isn’t the cruelty of a bystander.” Elie lost his faith in humanity because so many people remained silent and didn’t stand up for Jews, who were experiencing suffering and pain.