Premium Essay

Examples Of Faith In Night By Elie Wiesel

Submitted By
Words 1036
Pages 5
Faith is what keeps humanity going. Once humanity lets go of faith, humanity will crumble. In the novel Night, by Elie Wiesel, the author puts the reader in his of view where he is the Jew, and the Nazis have captured him. This all takes places during the Holocaust and the novel shows the harsh conditions that the Jews were put through. The camps that the Jews are put into are made to crush their desire for freedom and make them lose all hope. Faith, one of the main themes in this novel, is portrayed very well through the main protagonist. Elie Wiesel, a faithful person in the beginning of the novel, starts to decline his relationship with faith as he is put through more trials and tribulations. In Night, Elie, the main protagonist, is put …show more content…
When Elie and his father are put into hospital beds, the father ends up getting taken away because he was declared as dead. Elie was devastated that his father died but he, “Did not weep, and it pained me that I could not weep, But I was out of tears”(Wiesel, pg 112). Elie was very sad that his father died, but could not cry because he was too exhausted. He is in immense mental pain because he now realizes, from what he knows, that his only surviving family member died. What really showed how his faith dropped was right before this happened. When he realized that his father died, he forgot to/ choose not to pray. He then says, “No prayers were said over his tomb, No candle lit in his memory” (Wiesel, pg 112). In the Jewish religion, saying a prayer or saying “kaddish” is very important because it helps the “soul” reach Heaven. When Elie does not say “kaddish”, he is admitting that God is not real and has no faith in him. How it shows that Elie has lost all faith is because he does not believe that saying “kaddish” will do anything for his father and therefore, believes that God is not real. Elie starts off as a strong, religious, and faithful boy, but his experiences with the Holocaust has made him lose all his faith. Elie’s faith declined throughout the novel because each time he saw something horrible, he would ask himself “How would God let this happen?”. He asked himself this question enough to finally

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Examples Of Faith In Night By Elie Wiesel

...“Faith isn't a feeling. It’s a choice to trust God even when the road ahead seems uncertain” -Dave Willis The struggle of leaving God behind come into the minds and hearts of prisoners during the Holocaust. In Night by Elie Wiesel, a young boy, Elie, finds himself in the exact situation when Elie and his father are separated from the rest of the family and put in the concentration camps. There, they are treated like animals, the cruel treatment is excruciating and hard to handle, but Elie makes it out alive leaving his father behind. During the traumatic experience, Elie Wiesel and other Jews were exposed to a great deal of cruel treatment in the concentration camps during the Holocaust. Therefore, he was struggling to keep his faith in the midst of it all....

Words: 894 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Elie Wiesel's Night Analysis

...Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night tells the story of the Holocaust, the mass genocide of the Jewish people and important event in WWII. The memoir Night begins in the polish town of Sighet. The story is About Elie Wiesel, a Jewish boy whose family gets deported to the concentration camp with other Jews from his town. Upon arrival his Mother and Sister, Tzipora are separated and executed by the Nazis in the Auschwitz death camp. Following that, after months of work, with the advancing allied front, the prisoners were forced to march all night to the Gleiwitz concentration camp. As Elie’s story continues, after being stuffed inside a camp barrack for 3 days without food or water, the Prisoners were let out for a selection, Elie’s Father was chosen to...

Words: 1665 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Night

... Loss, of a loved one, faith, trust, happiness, your own life; and once it is gone, it is lost, and good luck trying to find it. Sayonara, au revoir, adios, bye. Elie Wiesel’s Night deals with his loss of faith in his God. Wiesel’s problem can be root all the way back to 1942, the beginning of Elie’s awakening, his first insight into the real world, his first insight into the Holocaust. The Holocaust was a horrid event, of ruthless killing, of senseless slaughter, destroying families, and a whirlwind of destruction. Under strain, ones happiness and ones faith is slowly whittled under the knife of opposition and pressure. Elie has lost so much through out his life, losing his family, his friends, but most importantly his faith. The first example of Elie loosing his faith is when he arrived at Auschwitz, Elie and his father are directed to go to the left; a prisoner then informs them that they are on their way to the crematory, Elie’s father recites the Kaddish or prayer for the dead, revolt rises up inside of Elie and he questions God, “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? (Wiesel 31)”. Elie is hopeless, his situation rendering him of his beliefs unable to believe that a holy being could cause such grief. He was stricken with terror that even after his prayers, his deep devotion to the great “lord” that God has thrust him into this “hell”. Another example of prisoners in the concentration...

Words: 779 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Night By Elie Wiesel Essay

...person. The tragic and terrifying event continually haunts the world today. Elie Wiesel, the author of Night, describes his terrible sightings during the Holocaust. He was fifteen when his family, along with himself, arrived at Auschwitz, a death camp. Elie was separated from his mother and three sisters, but remained with his father. In Night, Elie Wiesel uses foreshadowing, symbolism, and tone to portray the inhumane conditions that occurred during his experiences and the ripple effect of harm it caused. Elie uses foreshadowing to hint that something terrible is coming. “Moishe was not the same. The joy in his eyes was gone. He spoke only of what he had seen. But people not only refused to believe his tales, they refused to listen. Some even insinuated that he only wanted their pity, that he was imagining things” (7). Moishe has seen what was hurdling towards them. He had already lived through it. The...

Words: 666 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Night, By Elie Wiesel: Literary Analysis

...of the Jewish faith. The Holocaust is a systematic genocide of Jewish people and other groups that lasts from 1933 to 1945 under the control of a German dictator, Adolf Hitler. Elie Wiesel is only 15 years old when he and his family are sent to Auschwitz and 16 years old when he is liberated from the concentration camp. In his memoir, Night, Elie Wiesel demonstrates the loss of Jewish identity during the Holocaust through his use of literary devices: personification, foreshadowing, and metaphors. The Jews experience a loss of identity and self value before they even get to the camps due to the dehumanizing acts of authoritative...

Words: 1118 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Themes In Night By Elie Wiesel

...In the memoir Night, the narrator Elie Wiesel recounts a moment when This is when Wiesel began to disbelieve or lose faith, for example, ‘’How could I say to him: Blessed be Thou, Almighty, Master of the universe, who chose us among all nations to be tortured day and night, to watch as our fathers, our mothers, our brothers end up in the furnaces?¨(Wiesel 67).He is confused on why he would continue to pray for his god. A reason is because he had let so many people died and made them surfer. As the author describes is experience, many other examples of inhumanity are revealed. Two significant themes related to inhumanity discussed in the book Night by Elie Wiesel are loss of faith and becoming closer to a loved ones. One theme in the Night...

Words: 703 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Theme Of Inhumanity In The Book Night

...“There are eighty of you in the car...if anyone goes missing you will all be shot like dogs(night pg 24).” This is one of many examples of inhumane content in the book Night by Elie Wiesel. Inhumanity can lead to a long life memory that can't forgotten. Two significant themes i picked out are losing faith and hope as well as the will to survive. The will to survive was very important in the holocaust because it wasn't easy for them to survive. On page 86 in the book night they were running to the next concentration camp but if you would not be able to make it there and stop running you would be shot. The jews wanted to live because they said “don't think, don't stop, run (Night pg 86).” That shows that they want to live and keep running because...

Words: 407 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

How Does Wiesel Present Eliezer's Relationship In Night

...In the memoir, "Night", by Eliezer Wiesel, Elie's relationship with other characters is explored. These relationships which are critically centralized within the text play an essential part in the characterisation of the protagonist Elie. One such relationship is that between Elie and his father, which helps in the characterisation of Elie . Another ongoing relationship explored within the text is between Elie and God, which is essential in the further characterization of Elie. Elie's relationship with himself is seen to be centralized in the memoir. Elie's relationship with his father is a critically explored central point in the text because it plays a key role in Elie's character development as it displays Elie's growing selfishness and lack of care toward his father. Through the use of a quote from Pg 35 where Elie is seen to describe that "My head was buzzing ...not to be separated from my father" Wiesel portrays Elie as a loving son and is able to illustrate a strong father-son relationship. Additionally by...

Words: 887 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Night Elie Wiesel Reflection

...many influential quotes Elie Wiesel has stated. Elie Wiesel is a nobel peace prize winner and has written dozens of fiction and nonfiction, addressing and crusaded against abuse and intolerance around the world inspired by his dreadful times in the Holocaust, including “Night”. In the book, Elie was only 15 when he and his family were taken and separated in Auschwitz because they were Jews. Throughout Auschwitz Elie experiences many horrid events that forever changed and shaped him into who he is today. and In the novel “Night” by Elie Wiesel, the main character, Elie, was effected by the events in the book because he lost his faith, gave up on humanity, and was physiological changed. Throughout Elie’s experiences during his time spent at Auschwitz, he started to lose his faith in God. Elie started to rebel and question God. Elie Wiesel stated in the text “Why, but why would I bless him? Every fiber in me rebelled” (Page 67). Elie clearly had lost his faith. The thought of rebelling occurred after so many people died having no power. “He caused thousands of children to burn in His mass graves?...Kept six crematoria working day and night… had created Auschwitz, Birkenau, Buna, and so many factories of death?” Elie also implies on page 67. Elie had heart-provoking thoughts occuring on how people could never worship the Lord and believe...

Words: 959 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Symbolism In Ellie Wiesel's Night

...Stars in the night sky are obscured by millions of ashes; ashes of death and vanished hope. The eerie night as described in the novel Night, by Ellie Wiesel has many significant symbols. During the holocaust, darkness consumed individuals with the fear of the unknown. Flames of infernos covered the sky in dark smoke, and released a penetrating smell. Death was one of the factors one feared during the night. The gloomy scenery also convinced and tested many individual’s faith in God. The provoking actions performed by German soldiers consumed one to believe that fear was greater than faith. Ellie Wiesel, introduces the many tribulations of one yearning for truth and the distress for survival during the night. Night is a symbol for the absence...

Words: 565 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Elie Wiesel Inhumanity In Night

...In the memoir Night, the narrator Elie Wiesel recounts a moment when soldiers were throwing dead bodies off the train. “I woke from my apathy only when two men approached my father, I threw myself on his body. He was cold. I slapped him. I rubbed his hands, crying.”(Wiesel 99). Elie desperately tries to wake his father up to prevent him from being thrown out by grave diggers. Slowly Elie begins to lose his faith in God and begins doubting his existence. As the author describes his experiences, many other examples of inhumanity are revealed. A recurring theme in Night is how inhumanity can leave permanent wounds on a psyche of a person. It affects the person’s mind and body maliciously. “ One day when I was able to get up, i decided to look at myself in the mirror… From the depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me.” (Wiesel 115) In this quote he refers to himself as a “corpse” which is usually associated with a thin, empty, shell of a human. As Shakespeare called it, a “mortal coil”. As Elie grew more accustom to the camp's atmosphere and figured that the brunt of it was over. That security was stripped away by something even more disturbing ¨ Behind me, I heard the same man asking: ¨For gods sake where is god?¨ And from within...

Words: 445 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Reflection On Night By Elie Wiesel

...horrendous as survivors explained. The book ‘“Night’” written by Elie Wiesel does just that as it describes in detail the events that unfolded. In ‘Night,’ Elie is continuously relies on his faith and beliefs to continue fighting. Being constantly surrounded by savages or men that lost faith and gave up causes Elie to question his faith from time to time. Humans in general have a repulsive nature, this is then magnified when pushed to the limit. Not even Elie can escape the evilness in human nature, however, he attempts to keep his innocence or sanity the best out of anyone he encounters. Both witnessing and...

Words: 780 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Loss Of Faith In Elie Wiesel's 'Night'

...English 10 Rough Draft Essay In the novel Night by Elie Wiesel, the author uses symbolism, and metaphors to show the theme loss of faith. Both Elie and his father express signs that they have lost faith in the Jewish religion. This is important because religion is supposed to help people through hard times, and give them faith in the world around them. The first example of this is when all of the Jewish civilians are forced to wear the yellow Star of David. When Mr. Wiesel was asked what the community should do about being shamefully forced to wear the star. His response was rather nonchalant stating. “The yellow star? So what? It’s not lethal…” (11) This shows that Mr. Wiesel is not holding the offense to his religion in high regard, showing...

Words: 402 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Night Elie Wiesel Quotes

...Night by Elie Wiesel describes his experiences as a Jew in the Nazi concentration camps during World War II. Wiesel and other Jews survived, but many others did not. One of the key components to the Jews’ survival was faith and hope. Stein of Antwerp was one of the Jews that died because he lost his hope. He had known Wiesel and his family by his mother. Wiesel’s mother had written many letters to Stein and his wife Reizel. Stein had said “I was deported in 1942. I heard that a transport had come in from your region, and I came to find you. I thought perhaps you might have news of Reizel and my little boys. They stayed behind in Antwerp. . . .” (Wiesel 40) Although Wiesel knew nothing about them, he lied and said “Yes, my mother’s had...

Words: 917 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Dehumanization In Night By Elie Wiesel

...In Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night, the narrator describes how he struggled to survive in numerous concentration camps during the Holocaust. Eliezer changes throughout the text from a religious to an unemotional, lifeless being; the dehumanization he endured in the camps caused him to lose his childhood. Elie Wiesel uses simile, personification, and metaphor to demonstrate the effects of dehumanization. Wiesel uses simile to demonstrate that dehumanization causes people to act like animals. For example, Eliezer states how inhumanly his actions are: “ A man appeared, crawling like a worm in the direction of the cauldrons”(Wiesel 66). This quote demonstrates that people would do anything for the survival of themselves. Even if they were shot down, they would want to help themselves first before others. This quote is animal-like because, in the story, Eliezer is describing this prisoner to a worm. Elie dehumanizes others because he is jealous and wants what others have. The use of the word worm implies to an animal who slithers on the ground. In conclusion, Wiesel uses simile to demonstrate that dehumanization causes people to act like animals. Wiesel uses personification to demonstrate that dehumanization causes people to go crazy. For example, Eliezer states, “We...

Words: 407 - Pages: 2