Category: Elie Wiesel

Throughout the presence of space and time, various incidents occur in which society gains experience from. Through those experiences things like articles and novels are made. ‘Night’ is a reiterated version of author Elie Wiesel’s experience during the Holocaust. He speaks about the ghetto he lived in, the suffering he endured, and the pain of it all. It raises the question how silence and indifference can perpetuate violence.

In the novel Wiesel illustrate the idea of how the world’s actions are bewildered and also how the world should change, so that an event like the Holocaust never happens again. He wants nothing but the central idea of society’s wrong doings to be engraved in each and every being’s mind. He aids to humanity’s mindset and uses different tactics to do it beautifully such as point of view, rhetorical questioning, and parallel structure. For example, when Wiesel says, “The instincts of self-preservation, of self-defense, of pride, had all deserted us. In one terrifying moment of lucidity, I thought of us as damned souls condemned to wander through space until the end of time, seeking redemption, seeking oblivion, without any hope of finding either” (Wiesel, 36). This is the beginning of what seems to be Elie’s new life and he does not know how to survive and what this change will hold for him. Throughout the novel you can see Wiesel’s mindset switch from scared and confused to numb and mechanic. You also begin to see what living inside the prison camps were like and what it took to survive. Not only how he survived but also the people he encountered and how they struggled to make it through this violent time and the effects it had on the ones who made it through. For instance, when Wiesel finishes his story of his experiences and ends it by saying, “From the depths of the mirror, a corpse has contemplating me. The look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me” (Wiesel, 115). This expresses the feeling of silence and makes Elie have to confront the two identities that he has unknowingly ignored. The interior self is wholly disconnected from the exterior self and the interior self has to come to terms with a new reality. His exterior self is not viewed as anything other than the image of the child that lived in the ghetto. Wiesel has talked about the actions of the world and explains how the world forgetting about this event will only lead to dreadful outcomes. For example, when Wiesel states in his Nobel Peace Prize speech, “I have tried to keep memory alive, that I have tried to fight those who would forget. Because if we forgot, we are guilty, we are accomplices” (Wiesel, 118). If the population forgot the horrid affair that they created who knows what would happen again in the future. Wiesel is trying to say that society has wronged innocent people, but the community can change and do well by just remembering his friends and family lost during this tragic point in history. Also, to serve as a form or respect for the people that were not fortunate enough to make it through and even the ones who did make it suffer the memories of those dark times.

Silence and indifference can and will ultimately lead to violence and chaos especially pertaining to events such as the Holocaust where the entire world is affected. Through ‘Night’ we were able to see the inside scoop on what it actually took to make it out alive which included make very strategic choices that would affect people in the non-ideal way. If only there was a way that people in general were more open to conversation to make an agreement our world today would be more at peace and everyone would be able to rejoice.

Through the creation of differing backgrounds, contrasting perspectives among people shape how the system of human society works. Having to be raised in certain ways with distinguished experiences, it is evident that people have various views on concepts. These different perceptions can be expressed in the form of literature and artwork. For example, the poems, ‘Before I Got My Eye Put Out’ and ‘We Grow Accustomed to the Dark’ by Emily Dickinson, depicts the advantages and beauty in blindness that the author inherits. Whereas, ‘Night’, a memoir by Elie Wiesel, displays the author’s atrocious experience of the Holocaust. In regards to artworks, ‘Landscape with the Fall of Icarus’ and ‘The Census of Bethlehem’, created by Pieter Bruegel, illustrate the ancient Greek and religious coming of the Holy Family. Elie Wiesel, Emily Dickinson, and Pieter Bruegel use stylistic techniques to ultimately deliver their message to humanity.

Firstly, Emily Dickinson conveys her perception of optimism in life despite losing her sight with the use of diction. In her poem, ‘Before I Got My Eye Put Out’, the author experiences “the uncertain step of newness of the night,” where she begins to deal with blindness and depression (Dickinson, 6). However, Emily Dickinson shifts perspectives when she “adjust [herself] to Midnight” (19) and that “life steps almost straight” (20). From what she writes, Emily Dickinson delivers the theme of overcoming obstacles. At first, she struggles with the challenges of losing her sight as well as dealing with depression, but later it changes when she adjusts herself into living with it. The author’s use of word choice, ‘almost’, in context, underlines that she bypasses her challenges by coping with it. Correspondingly, Emily Dickinson further demonstrates a positive aspect of her challenges through her poem, ‘Before I Got My Eye Put Out’. Specifically, her ability to adjust to blindness leads to the point where she expresses preference to it, even if she is offered her sight back. In the poem, the author states, “But were it told to me – Today –That I might have the sky/ For mine…my Heart Would split” (Dickinson, 5-8). As one can see, Emily Dickinson’s use of stylistic devices, specifically diction, portrays her hopes through her disabilities. Her word choice of ‘today’ clearly emphasizes the fact that she would certainly never give up her blindness now that she experienced living with it. Emily Dickinson faces the loss of her sight during her lifetime, but she finds ways to cope and even utilize that disability for her own. Nevertheless, she discloses the message that life comes with optimism and that obstacles will soon be overcome. Through her poems, Emily Dickinson portrays the positive aspect of life, turning her disadvantage to her own preference.

In contrast, Elie Wiesel portrays his negative view of life through explicit imagery from his experience of the Holocaust. From his novel, ‘Night’, Elie Wiesel writes about his traumatic experience of leaving his moralities behind to survive with the competition of many other prisoners who have the same pursuit. During one scene, bread was tossed inside the prisoner’s bus where men were “hurling…trampling, tearing at and mauling each other”, which Wiesel describes “Beast of prey unleashed, animal hate in their eyes” (Wiesel, 101). Through the use of imagery, Wiesel depicts his vivid personal experience, coming to the conclusion that human beings are selfish. In the bus, all the prisoners’ target was the bread and nothing else; they fought viciously for their lives, violently killing off others to survive. From what he witnessed, human beings are inner beasts who disregard societal principles for their own greed. In addition to this scene, Wiesel also witnesses tragedy among a father, Rabbi Eliahu, and his son. To summarize, Rabbi Eliahu lost his son after falling behind during a run to Gleiwitz. At that time, people who fell behind during the run risked being killed through the SS officers or trampled by the other prisoners. During that time, Rabbi Eliahu’s son ran ahead of his father after noticing him “losing ground, sliding back to the rear of the column…letting the distance between them become greater” (Wiesel, 91). The example of the kinship between the father and his son further exemplifies how human beings have the strong desire to survive even if they have to sacrifice someone, they are close to. The imagery depicted from this part of the story clearly demonstrates the author’s viewpoint of humanity where readers can visually see the scene. As one can see, Wiesel conveys the theme of greediness in human nature. All in all, Wiesel portrays his idea of a greedy and barbaric human society through his traumatic hardships and struggles during the Holocaust.

In an artistic point of view, Pieter Bruegel illustrates his viewpoint on human society with the stylistic use of light perspective. Ultimately, Bruegel portrays human’s sense of ignorance in his paintings, ‘Landscape with the Fall of Icarus’ and ‘The Census of Bethlehem’. In ‘Landscape with the Fall of Icarus’, an epic hero, Icarus, falls into the ocean which led to his death. Through Breughel’s use of perspective, Icarus is not drawn at the center of the illustration; rather, it is the farmer who is plowing the soil. In addition to that, the fisher, shepherd, and ship all are facing away from the hero and working on their designated jobs. As one can see, the stylistic techniques that is portrayed demonstrate the artist’s message, which illustrates ignorance in human nature. Everybody around Icarus fails to notice the fallen hero due to his focus on work. Their devotion to their own duties prevents them from noticing the tragedy. In another significant art piece, ‘The Census at Bethlehem’, the same theme is viewed. Brueghel drew the Holy Family, biblical characters that heavily impact on a majority of people’s lives to emphasize the idea of obliviousness. Through the use of perspective, the artist directs his focus to the cabin where a lot of the citizens are headed to. Looking carefully, Mary and Joseph are shown with no emphasis in color. Similar to the first painting, Bruegel purposely illustrates this to portray the harshness of human nature. Everyone did not notice the miracles that were right in front of them. Again, this type of unconsciousness emphasizes how humans are attached to their desires and rush through them in order to finish their duties that they become blinded by the revelation taking place. Through the use of perspective and light, Bruegel is able to portray his perception of ignorance in human nature with his artworks.

In summation, different perceptions can be expressed in various stylistic techniques whether it is through forms of poetry, memoirs, or an art piece. Dickinson, Wiesel, and Bruegel all characterized their viewpoints of ignorance, optimism, and selfishness on human society where they used diction, definitive imagery from experience, and application of light and dark to captivate their perspectives. From the themes that they disclose, humanity is perceived differently through one’s personal experiences. To reiterate, perspective varies among one’s eyes and with that comes the idea that there are many truths to how the world can be seen.

Buddha, a teacher, philosopher, and spiritual leader, once said, “Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life” In Elie Wiesel’s ‘Night’, the victims of the Holocaust lived with a highly spiritual life. They lived by their traditions. However, many felt as if their faith was lost after witnessing the horrors of the concentration camps. Several people believed that they could not go on any longer. Through the use of tone, hyperbole, and mood, Wiesel conveys that although faith can seem lost in the darkest of times, it is something that can’t be lost easily and always remains within.

Wiesel uses many different literary devices to portray his messages throughout the tragic story. One of these devices is tone. We begin to see Wiesel’s loss of faith expand when his tone changes. It is Yom Kippur, and the question of whether to fast is being debated. Wiesel says: “I did not fast. First of all, to please my father who had forbidden me to do so. And then, there was no longer any reason for me to fast. I no longer accepted God’s silence. As I swallowed my ration of soup, I turned that act into a symbol of rebellion, of protest against Him” (Wiesel, 69). Wiesel’s tone towards God is negative in contrast to the beginning where it was positive. By changing his tone, Wiesel emphasizes the fact that he still believes in God, but his faith is fading away. He rebels against God because he has not prevented the horrors of the concentration camp. There is also some irony in this quote as they are in a concentration camp where fasting happens every day and he questions whether to do it for religion. While Wiesel uses tone to portray his message, he also uses other literary devices such as hyperboles.

In addition to tone, Wiesel uses hyperboles to illustrate his messages. A prisoner says to Wiesel: “I have more faith in Hitler than in anyone else. He alone has kept his promises, all his promises, to the Jewish people” (Wiesel, 81). This use of hyperbole helps to represent the loss of faith in God. The Jews have more faith in someone causing them to suffer, than in someone who they believed should free them from the concentration camp. Although this exaggerated statement indirectly targets God, by analyzing it, we can connect the loss of faith to the anger towards God. In addition to tone, Wiesel uses mood to interpret his messages.

Finally, Wiesel uses mood to impact readers and depict his messages. After witnessing a hanging, he says: “Behind me, I heard the same man asking: ‘For God’s sake, where is God?’. And from within me, I heard a voice answer: ‘Where He is? This is where-hanging here from the gallows…’ That night, the soup tasted of corpses” (Wiesel, 65). This passage gives a strongly depressing mood. The soup does not actually taste of corpses. The description illustrates how Wiesel is left with terrible memories. He feels as if his childhood and dreams have been cruelly stolen from him. By saying that God is hanging from the gallows, we can see how his faith has been further lost and how he feels as if God is no longer with them.

After examining Elie Wiesel’s ‘Night’, we see how through the use of hyperboles, tone, and mood, Wiesel was able to convey that although faith can seem lost in the darkest of times, it is something that cannot be lost easily and always remains within. Wiesel experienced many horrors in the concentration camp and often felt as if his faith had gone completely. However, we see him acknowledge God many times throughout the story. Whether it was protesting against him by not fasting, having more faith in the person responsible for his pain than God, or witnessing dreadful events and questioning whether God was really with them, although he was losing his faith, he still acknowledged him. Although Wiesel is freed physically, he still feels trapped mentally. Studying the story is important because we can recognize the horrors of the past and how Wiesel emphasizes that it should not be repeated again.

The Holocaust itself was a genocide on a scale never before seen, with as many as twelve million people killed in Nazi death camps—six million of them Jews. Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, wrote a memoir called ‘Night’, which gives us a look on what he faced, what he went through, and what life was like being held against his will by the Nazi’s. In the beginning of Elie Wiesel’s book ‘Night’, he was very naive and oblivious to what was going on around him. Elie witnesses countless corpses, and many people being led to slaughter. He goes through merciless and countless beatings by the Nazi soldiers, suffers from malnutrition, and watches his own father die before his very own eyes. These events that Elie faces and experiences during the Holocaust changes his life, his mindset and dramatically impacts his faith/ belief in God.

Elie Wiesel was only 15 years old when he, his entire family, friends, and neighbors were all forcefully evacuated from their homes, and sent to concentration camps. “They passed me by, one after the other, my teachers, my friends, the others, some of whom I had once feared, some of whom I had found ridiculous, all those whose lives I had shared for years. There they went, defeated, their bundles, their lives in tow, having left behind their homes, their childhood” (Wiesel, 17). I chose this quote because it shows how Elie feels when he sees all of these people out on the street. It didn’t matter if whether they were his friends, people he’s known his whole life, or strangers, either way, they were all hopelessly scared for the future, and for the unknown fate that awaited them, because after all, “we were all people condemned to the same fate—still unknown” (Wiesel, 21).

After his father says a Jewish prayer for the dead when Elie says that running into the electrified barbed wire would be easier than a slow death in the flames, Elie thinks to himself, “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 be silent. What was there to thank Him for?” (Wiesel, 33). The cruelty that the Jews experienced during the Holocaust, caused many to lose their faith in God, and their faith in humanity as a whole. Many felt as though the God they were so loyal to had abandoned them in their time of need, and saw no need to glorify/ praise the name of someone who would subject them to this kind of treatment. This quote shows how Elie starts to lose his faith, and shows how he visible changes from his old, former religious self in the beginning of the book.

“One day I was able to get up, after gathering all my strength. I wanted to see myself in the mirror hanging on the opposite wall. I had not seen myself since the ghetto. From the depths of the mirror, a corpse gazed back at me. The look in his eyes, as they stared into mine, has never left me”. This quote shows how much the Nazi’s took from him. They turned him into a shell of his former self. They took everything that he has loved, and everything dear to him, and now he has no one, and he can’t even recognize who his is anymore. He has experienced so much, and seen so many things, that he shouldn’t have at such a young age, and that alone scarred him. This experience is something that will stick to him, and is something that he will/could never forget even if he wanted to.

The whole experience he had during the Holocaust changes him, not only physically, but emotionally and spiritual as well. Not only did the Nazis take away his innocence, and his family, but they stripped him of faith entirely, and of his view on humanity.

In the novel ‘Night’ by Elie Wiesel, the story is about a 12-year-old boy named Elie who faced trials and tribulations throughout the story. Elie begins to lose his faith when he faces a lot during the Holocaust. Elie faced being separated from his mother and his sister who disappeared when they arrived at Auschwitz. Elie originally planned to take care of his father but, Elie soon realized that his father started to give up. Elie wants to feel sorry for his dad but he doesn’t want to see his dad suffer. For instance, Elie states that his father cares about other people rather than his own health. Elie and his father shared a distant relationship between each other when the Holocaust started. Before the Holocaust Moshe the beadle the teacher of Jewish mysticism warned the other Jews that there were going to be taken to these concentration camps. The main thesis is that although Eli faced various challenges during the Holocaust, his strength confirmed his faith.

Throughout the story Elie has lost a lot of faith because he has faced different life experiences. During the Holocaust Elie was separated from his mother and his sister and his dad eventually got sick. Elie began to give up because he felt that God was no longer here or even listening. “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, choose to be silent. What was there to thank him for?” (Wiesel, 33). Elie soon realized that he gave up on God and did everything he had to do to survive in the Holocaust.

Moshe was a poor Jew who lived in Sighet. Moshe the beadle was the teaching of Jewish mysticism and helped Elie with a lot of the beliefs. Moshe the beadle was gone for a few months and he came back to warn them. Shortly after arriving in the ghettos, they were being transported. Moshe the beadle was shot in the leg and he fake his death to protect all the Jews which did not believe in anything he said.

There were special officers at the camp called SS officers. The SS officers were there to monitor the Jews in the camp, if they did something wrong the SS officers would abuse them physically, and mentally. There was an inmate that told Elie and his father to lie about their age to the SS officers, Elie and his father would have been separated if they told the SS officers their real age. As soon as Elie and his father got to the camp SS officers took all their belongings and told them that they were older. “…Not fifty…Do you hear? Eighteen and forty” (Wiesel, 30). Elie watched his father get brutally beat by a SS officer. Elie believed that it was still a way out and he was giving up until he got freedom. “Don’t waste your tears” (Weisel, 36).

In conclusion, the Holocaust was a big effect on the Jews family in the concentration. Moshe the beadle tries to wrong them before it was too late but, they told him that he was crazy. During that time, there were many that starved from starvation. They were fighting over rations of bread many families were separated from, physical abuse, mentally abuse by officers and commandos. Elie stopped focusing on faith and started focusing on surviving because he felt like God wasn’t there at the time. The SS officers controlled the Jews life and made them feel like they were worthless.

Throughout history society has been tested with catastrophic events that inflicted suffering upon certain demographics. These past experiences show that in moments of enduring pain even good people are capable of making bad choices. In his memoir, ‘Night’ (Weisel, 2006), Elie Wiesel vividly depicts how moments of intense suffering absolutely bring out the worst in the characters rather than the best. Support from ‘Wiesel Talks about Night and Life After the Holocaust’ (Elie Wiesel interviewed by Bob Costas, 1993), ‘The Holocaust Poisoned Eliezer’s Relationships’ (Estess, 1980), and ‘Faith in Elie Wiesel’s Night’ (Blomster, 2018) are a clear indication of how misery and anguish result in a changed personality.

Characters who were once good are changed for the worse. Abandoning relationships is detrimental to happiness and causes the Jews in the death camps to lose regard for others. With few to no valuable relationships left, pain leads to revenge when the Jews turn against each other in the camps as well as in the open cattle cars travelling to Buchenwald. This behavior can be observed in the actions of Elie and some of his fellow inmates. In the book Elie abandons his core beliefs, leaving his innocence behind in Sighet. His story show readers that the Holocaust was an extremely traumatic event that pushed people to act harshly in order to survive. Under normal circumstances these were good people but because of the weight of this pain and suffering, abnormal negative attributes were highlighted.

Biologically, humans are social beings and rely on relationships to fulfil them. The difficulties Rabbi Eliahou’s son, Akiba Drumer, and Elie encounter deprive them of these essential relationships. Akiba Drumer is a symbol of religion and hope among the prisoners. His strong faith in God drives the Jews to persist and not give up. Akiba Drumer is weakened when his faith is lost. Elie witnesses Akiba Drumer’s natural spirits diminished and states, “…If only he could have kept his faith in God […] he would not have been swept away by the selection” (Wiesel, 77). When Akiba deserts God, his role as a leader is lost along with his charismatic essence. He is no longer able to support others around him and loses his sense of purpose. Akiba’s change in character impacts not only himself but the Jews around him as well. Similarly, suffering in the camps provokes Rabbi Eliahou’s son to abandon his own father. While running he “had seen him losing ground, sliding to the rear of the column. […] He continued to run in front, letting the distance between them become greater” (Wiesel, 91). Not only did the son see his father at his weakest point, but he subconsciously chose to leave him suffer by himself rather than help him. The death camps were able to kill compassion for family members leaving no room to focus on anything but survival. Furthermore, Elie is desensitized by his own experiences in the camp. When Elie’s Father is taken away, he feels a sense of relief, “deep inside [him], if [he] could have searched the recesses of [his] feeble conscience, [he] might have found something like: free at last!” (Wiesel, 112). Elie had no tears left to cry when his father died. Survival instincts distanced Elie from empathy and sensitivity towards his father. His spirit was bare from trauma with no emotions left. Relationships are crucial in building compassion for others but the anguish in the concentration camps leads to withdrawal from relationships. Without meaningful relationships the prisoners are subject to loss of benevolence which feeds into their rebellion against each other.

Pain endured by the prisoners of the camps causes them to turn against each other as demonstrated by the Kapos and other inmates. When Elie first arrives at Auschwitz he sees suffering and chaos among the inmates. Elie recites, “This is what the antechamber of hell must look like. So many crazed men, so much shouting, so much brutality” (Wiesel ,34). The Jews are tormented from the beginning by the prison leaders but also by each other. Misery is translated in the way that they act and abuse each other. The inmates of Auschwitz saw violence as an escape from personal pain. “What happened there, the killers managed to create a universe parallel to our own […] [a Jewish child] knows that only violence could be a refuge” (Elie Wiesel interviewed by Bob Costas, 1993). Jews entering Auschwitz were willing to take extreme measures in order to survive, even if it meant abusing those around them for personal gain. Their ability to distinguish right from wrong was blurred as the world they were living in was so far from normal. Even the Kapos are subject to fear and inflict further pain upon inmates due to their own squalor. When Chlomo asks to use the washroom, “the Gypsy stared at [him] for a long time from head to toe […] then he slapped [Chlomo] with such force he fell down and crawled back to his place on all fours” (Wiesel, 39). The idea of desperate times leading to desperate measures takes a whole new meaning when Kapos choose to beat innocent people for a possibility of less personal suffering. The suffering and desperation of the prisoners leads to subconscious thoughtless behavior and abuse towards others.

The horrific environment of the open cattle cars travelling to Buchenwald also feeds the feeling of desperation among the passengers. The Jews began to lose perspective so that they were even willing to kill loved ones for something as simple as bread. One night Elie is tormented with the cries of an old man, “Meir! Don’t you recognize me […] you’re killing your father […] I have bread for you too” (Wiesel, 101). The young boy turned against his own blood in the battle for survival. The pain and despair he experienced caused him to view his father as a competitor for survival rather than a loved one. The atmosphere of the open cattle cars was a source of insanity for the passengers. Rather than appreciate those around them they resorted to revenge and murder. “On the third night of [their] journey [Elie] woke up with a start when [he] felt two hands on [his] throat trying to strangle [him]” (Wiesel, 102). Elie had no explanation for why this man attacked him and will never know. Intense trauma leads to good people doing unspeakable things for no apparent reason. Along the journey to Buchenwald the prisoners had even lost respect for the dead. At a stop the passengers were instructed to remove all corpses from their car. “The living were glad. They would have more room […] Two ‘gravediggers’ grabbed him [corpse] by the head and feet and threw him from the wagon, like a sack of flour”( Wiesel, 99). The suffering these Jews endured brought along so much emotional trauma they were no longer saddened by death and were living only for themselves. They treated dead bodies like inanimate objects and were focused solely on obtaining the necessary resources for their own survival. Indeed, the cattle cars were a place of fear and suffering. The inhuman conditions were the soil upon which the passenger’s desperate actions and decisions grew.

Acute suffering caused Elie to abandon his core beliefs. In Sighet Elie was a faithful and curious student of the Talmud. Upon arrival at Auschwitz the Elie from Sighet was gone and the young boy was forced to live a new life where pain and suffering influenced his every decision. “’Night’ records how the Holocaust poisoned and nearly destroyed all primary relationships in Eliezer’s life. His relationship to himself- and by this is meant his understanding of himself- is called into question on the first night at Auschwitz” (Estess, 1980). Elie’s eyes were coated in fear from what he saw at Auschwitz. He progressively lost his faith and desire to learn, distancing himself from the teachings of the Talmud and Torah. “He watches himself through the lens of time and contemplates what he became; the old days’ Eliezer, whose life was dominated by Rosh Hashanah, no longer existed” (Blomster, 13). Elie was completely aware of his own change in character, however was shocked to see his internal and external self by the end of his horrific journey. During an interview later on, Elie speaks of life after the war. He states in recollection, “[…] one day, really, I saw myself in that mirror. And I saw a person who was ageless, nameless, faceless. A person who belonged to […] the world of the dead” (Elie Wiesel interviewed by Bob Costas, 1993). Elie had not seen his own reflection for years and didn’t even recognize himself upon first glance. The suffering which he endured changed who he was as a person. The camps gave Elie reason to give up his admired faith and forget his thirst for adventure and learning. The core beliefs which Elie lost at the camps were an important part of who he was as a character and once gone left him visibly spiritless upon freedom. Times were very difficult in the camps and Elie had no time to waste on anything but survival.

In conclusion, settings of intense and pure suffering cannot produce good results in characters. Anguish and despair expose otherwise uncharacteristically negative attributes in both Elie and his fellow prisoners, as proven in the character development of Elie Wiesel’s novel ‘Night’. The inmates at Auschwitz abandon loving relationships making them more self-centered. When left with no other outlet, some Jews seek revenge through acts of betrayal against each other. With no relationships and great desperation, Elie begins to lose self-meaning. The Holocaust was a monstrous act of hatred which brought pain and suffering to millions of Jews across Europe. Agony murdered Jews physically, mentally, and spiritually. Suffering overtook Elie and many of the inmates causing them to act fearfully. Righteousness, although good, is not often the result of dehumanizing situations. In his book ‘Night’ Elie Wiesel shows us that humans are not born sinful but moments of pain can serve to bring out evil in people.

During World War II, Nazi Germany committed the most infamous genocide in history, the Holocaust. As a result, over 6 million Jews lost their lives in the horrific conditions inside concentration camps across Nazi occupied Europe. Fortunately, many of the prisoners of these concentration camps survived to share their stories. Among these is Elie Wiesel who, along with many others, survived thanks to social and physical resilience.

Social resilience was one of the reasons why Elie and many other Jews survived the Holocaust. According to Wiesel, when prisoners arrived at a new camp, they would seek information from other prisoners to know what they could do to survive. “We began to look for familiar faces, to seek information, to question the veteran prisoners about which labor unit was the best” (Wiesel, 31). Newly arrived prisoners would ask questions to the veteran prisoners in an effort to obtain information that might aid in their survival. Jews also relied on the moral support of other prisoners to survive. “Bite your lip, little brother… Don’t cry. Keep your anger and hatred for another day, for later on” (Wiesel, 35). Speaking with other people gives Elie and the other prisoners hope, it keeps them going. On a forced march, through the snow, to the Gleiwitz concentration camp, Elie encourages his friend to keep going and to not stop. “‘Wait a bit Zalman’…‘I can’t go on any longer’…‘Make an effort Zalman’…‘Try’…‘I can’t’… he groaned” (Wiesel, 57). A friend of Elie is ready to give up and either be shot or trampled to death on their forced march. Although Zalman ultimately dies, his death inspires Elie to keep striving for survival. Throughout the Holocaust, Elie and almost every other prisoner used social resilience in an effort to encourage each other to keep going, to survive.

From 1933 to 1945 Adolf Hitler instituted a discriminatory campaign which resulted in the forced deportation of millions of Jews and other so called ‘undesirables’ to horrific extermination camps across Nazi occupied Europe. To survive the appalling conditions they were subjected to, the prisoners had to use physical resilience. Before they were deported, Elie’s father, Chlomo Wiesel, buried the family savings in the hopes of coming back to Sighet to retrieve them after the war was over. According to the author, “A Jew no longer had the right to keep in his house gold, jewels, or any object of value… My father went down into the cellar and buried our savings” (Wiesel, 6). Elie’s father did this to have something valuable leftover, and the thought of having it kept Elie’s father pursuing their survival. The prisoners often search for scraps of food to survive. “We each in turn went for a walk through the warehouse, looking for a bit of bread some civilian might have left behind” (Wiesel, 37). To survive, Elie has to search for any scrap of food. After the death of Zalman, Elie is determined to not stop on the march to Gleiwitz. “I repeated to myself: ‘Don’t think. Don’t stop. Run’” (Wiesel, 57). Elie forces himself to focus on nothing but running since his life depends on it. By utilizing physical resilience, Elie and many of the other prisoners were able to survive the Holocaust.

Over the last couple of years, I have found that social resilience has helped me through my struggles. When I moved to Bakersfield in 2016, I became depressed since I had left so many friends back in Los Angeles. It wasn’t until I became friends with people in my new school that I started to get more accustomed to being away from the people I had known for years and had developed strong bonds with. Talking to my new friends helped me overcome my sense of being out-of-place in what I thought as an unwelcoming place. Venting my problems to my friends helped relieve stress, and their support has helped me overcome tough situations. I have also been there to support my friends in during their struggles, giving them advice and being a source of solace. Social resilience has helped me overcome what I thought to be an almost impossible challenge.

During the Holocaust millions of Jews died brutally in the death camps of Adolf Hitler. Although millions died, many managed to survive. Among these survivors is Elie Wiesel, who survived thanks to the use of social and physical resilience. His book serves as a testimony to the strength and determination that the Jews had in their worst moments. We as humans must band together to rid ourselves of the problems our planet faces and bring an everlasting peace to the world.

Work Cited

1. Wiesel, Elie. Night. Glencoe-McGraw Hill: New York. 2000. Print.

Due to the barbarities that the Jewish people endured throughout the Holocaust, many abandoned their faith in God and humanity. Elie Wiesel’s memoir ‘Night’ recounts how as a 15-year-old boy, he and the Jewish people endure the hardships of the Holocaust. Wiesel was a Romanian-born Jew, whose hometown of Sighet was controlled by the Hungarians for most of the Second World War. By May of 1944, all Sighet Jews were forced into cattle wagons and transported to Auschwitz against their will. Upon arrival, Wiesel was separated from his mother and sisters, but stayed near his father. Wiesel and his father were miraculously able to make it to the end of the Holocaust, but his father died shortly before the liberation of the camps. Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel, survives through a battle of conscience: first believing wholeheartedly in God, then resisting that faith, and finally rediscovering his faith.

Until the Holocaust, Wiesel believed wholeheartedly in God as he stayed committed to Him, trusted in His protection, and regularly expressed gratitude to Him. From a young age, Wiesel was passionate about his Judaism because of his studies in Jewish mysticism, and the understanding of a strong need for God. In the text, it states, “I was almost thirteen and deeply observant. By day I studied Talmud and by night I would run to the synagogue to weep over the destruction of the Temple” (Wiesel, 1). In the aforementioned quote, Wiesel’s emphatic belief in God is conveyed through his commitment, which shows that he has an extremely devoted faith in God. Wiesel specifically uses the words ‘deeply observant’ and ‘weep’ to show that he takes his prayer-time and the religion of Judaism as an immensely serious matter. Later on in the chapter, when asked why he weeps when he prays, he is uncertain. Wiesel’s ability to subconsciously cry allows the reader to realize that he truly trusts and believes in God. Similarly, Wiesel did not believe Moishe the Beadle’s warnings of the cruelty of the Holocaust, due to his strong faith in God and the belief that God would protect him from the horrors of Moishe’s stories. Wiesel writes, “Even I did not believe him. I … listened to his tales, trying to understand his grief. But all I felt was pity” (Wiesel, 7). In the antecedent quote, Wiesel’s dedication to God is exuded through his use of euphemism, which shows how Moishe’s true warnings were made to be seen as a hoax. Wiesel explicitly uses the words ‘tales’ and ‘trying to understand’ in an effort to panoply that he could not understand Moishe, and therefore degraded his warnings to tales. Wiesel’s inability to comprehend Moishe’s cautions, allows the reader to picture how firmly rooted Wiesel was in God, and how he could not even think of the worst to come. Likewise, Wiesel’s absolute faith in God was still quite evident as he began to take minute commodities, that would have taken for granted, more seriously. Wiesel states, “I thanked God in an impoverished prayer, for having created mud in His infinite and wonderful universe” (Wiesel, 38). In the prior quote, Wiesel’s unambiguous faith in God is portrayed through his optimism that shows how he sees God in the minutest commodities and magnifies Him for the smallest of miracles, in such a brutal situation. Wiesel expressly uses the words ‘I thanked God’ to express his gratitude to Him. Wiesel’s gratitude to God amid a tough situation, allows the reader to realize that he felt the need to draw closer to God in an attempt to feel more security over his uncertain future. In this instance, Wiesel and other Jews realize the need to appreciate previously overlooked gifts from God and focus more on what matters in life. In summary, Wiesel’s tribulations of the Holocaust were preluded with a strong faith in God and a battle of conscience.

As Wiesel was battling to survive the Holocaust, he began resisting his faith in God as he could no longer understand God’s silence thus leading him to rebelliously question God, and place man above Him. Wiesel’s faith began to wither as he could not understand how such a preeminent God could allow such cruelty to take place in the world with such silence. Wiesel states, “For the first time, I felt revolt rise up in me … The Eternal, Lord of the Universe, the All-Powerful and Terrible, was silent?” (Wiesel, 33). In the previous quote, Wiesel’s impotence to understand God’s silence is a key sign of him slowly losing his faith, as he finds God’s silence to be immensely troubling. Wiesel specifically uses the words ‘All-Powerful and Terrible’ and ‘silent’ in the same sentence to show that he has begun to notice the omission of God and wonders why there has been no divine intervention. The silence of God and His ineffectiveness to intervene in Wiesel’s situation speedily led to Wiesel rebelling against Him in his thoughts, and it was only a matter of time for a Wiesel’s internal motives to become actions. Furthermore, Wiesel’s religious rebellion escalates, as he cannot find a reason to glorify God amid so much agony. On page 67, Wiesel writes, “Why should I bless him? Every fiber in me rebelled … How could I say to Him: Blessed be Thou, Almighty, Master of the Universe… Praised by Thy Holy Name…?”. In the preeminent quote, Wiesel’s retrogressive faith in God is divulged through his tedious reiteration and rhetorical questions, to show that he is having a one-sided conversation with God. Wiesel repetitively questions ‘Why should I bless him?’ to emphasize the fact that he no longer wants to praise a God who allows so much evil to occur. Wiesel’s conversation with God allows to reader to realize that Wiesel has begun resisting his faith as his innocent religious questions transform into rebellious ones, leading to rebellious actions. Even though it is Rosh Hashanah, Wiesel feels as if he cannot acclaim a God who has not done anything beneficial to improve on his situation. Wiesel is overwhelmed with the sentiment and feels as if he is the only Jew rebelling among the thousands of Jews in the internment camp. In the same way, Wiesel’s faith continues to deteriorate as he put man on a pedestal higher than that of God. In the text, Wiesel states, “And I, the former mystic was thinking: Yes, man is stronger, greater than God … I felt very strong. I was the accuser, God the accused” (Wiesel, 67-68). In the aforementioned quote, Wiesel’s loss of faith is conveyed through a paradox that shows how Wiesel feels like he is more powerful, persistent, and affectionate than God, an omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent being. Wiesel specifically uses the words ‘stronger’ and ‘greater’ to show that he has downgraded God, the Creator of the Universe, to lower than that of a mortal man. Wiesel referring to man as stronger than God is seemingly absurd, as Wiesel cannot get himself out of the situation he is in, but God can. As thousands of Jews are lying prone before God, Wiesel watches them helplessly, comparing God’s eminence with the weakness of the congregated Jews. Comparing God in this way was a sign of Wiesel’s weakened faith, and allows the reader to realize that as Wiesel sets man above God it means that he no longer relies on God. In essence, as Wiesel is managing to survive the Holocaust through a battle of conscience, he begins to doubt God and then eventually loses his faith in Him.

Although the Holocaust scarred Wiesel for life and seemed to annihilate his faith, he was able to retain some of his faith during and even after the experience as he started praying to God again, admitting his faith, and even giving thanks to God. Wiesel gradually begins to recover his faith in God as he prays to Him for the strength to keep himself from abandoning his father. Wiesel states, “… a prayer formed inside me … to this God in whom I no longer believed. ‘Oh God, Master of the Universe, give me strength never to do what Rabbi Eliahu’s son has done’” (Wiesel, 91). In the precursory quote, Wiesel’s short prayer to God reflects the incomplete nature of his loss of faith. Wiesel directly uses the words ‘Master of the Universe’ and ‘God in whom I no longer believed’ sequentially, to show that he now reverences God, but hasn’t fully recovered his faith. Wiesel claims that he no longer believes in God, yet he turns to God when he doubts his ability to control himself. Wiesel’s short prayer allows the reader to realize that Wiesel perceives his possibility for weakness, and therefore turns to a higher power for assistance. Moreover, Wiesel recuperates his faith as he gives thanks to God, after having survived the Holocaust. On page 117 (the epilogue), Wiesel writes, “Words of gratitude. First to our common Creator. That is what the Jewish tradition commands us to do”. In the preliminary quote, Wiesel’s recuperation of faith is revealed through his gratitude, which shows how he eventually saw God as worthy to be praised. Wiesel categorically uses the word ‘gratitude’ alongside the word ‘commands’ to show that he is thanking God because of what his studies in Judaism instructed him to do, not necessarily because it came from the bottom of his heart. Wiesel’s form of gratitude toward God allows the reader to realize that he’s making effort to reunite with God, but that his new faith is not the same as his old faith. Similarly, Wiesel continues to prove his recovery of faith in God, as he publicly admits his credence. On page 120 (the epilogue), Wiesel writes, “But I have faith. Faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and even in his creation. Without it no action would be possible”. In the prior quote, Wiesel’s newly transformed faith in God is emanated through his confession that shows how he has now rediscovered God and accepted Him. Wiesel specifically uses the words ‘I have faith … in God’ next to the words ‘the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’ to show that he has new faith, but that the faith seems distant. Wiesel admits that he has faith, but does not mention that he has faith in ‘his own God’, rather he makes mentions the faith that other prophets in the Torah had. Wiesel’s newly emerged faith in God is not fully like the faith he had at the beginning of ‘Night’. Overall, even though Wiesel has been forever changed by his Holocaust experience, he reemerges and manages to get some of his faith back.

In conclusion, Wiesel miraculously survived the Holocaust, and in the process he struggled to maintain the true meaning of his faith. Wiesel conveyed his absolute trust in God through his commitment, gratitude, and belief in God’s protection to show that he had a strong belief in God at the time when his faith was innocent. Wiesel also emanated his loss of faith through the use of his inability to comprehend God’s silence, thus leading him to rebelliously question God, and place man above Him. Wiesel’s loss of faith in God shows how the Holocaust shaped his life into nearly deleting one of his core values. Finally, Wiesel regained his faith and started praying to God, thanking him, and even publicly admitting his faith. However, Wiesel’s newly emerged faith was unlike the faith he had before since it was not as strong. The reader may consider how Wiesel’s account shows us that even the most committed believer in God can have a breaking point in their faith due to the circumstances of life, and even a severed faith in God can be revived.

In 1986, during his Nobel Prize speech, Elie Wiesel said, “No one may speak for the dead, no one may interpret their mutilated dreams and visions” (Nobel). Wiesel was a holocaust survivor who dedicated his life to telling his story. One of his most famous books is his memoir, ‘Night’. Wiesel starts the memoir describing his life before the Holocaust, how he was a family man who heavily relied on God and the importance of his religion. His life was full of opportunities and hope for his future. All of this rapidly changed once he entered Auschwitz for the first night. Wiesel’s memoir is very detailed and readers emotionally connect with his story. In the memoir ‘Night’, Wiesel relates to his readers through symbolic meanings, one of them being the word ‘night’ itself. In the memoir ‘Night’, the word ‘night’ symbolizes how Wiesel’s life becomes dark and changes for the worst.

The book gains its title from Wiesel’s touching quote where he states, “Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed …” (Wiesel, 34). Readers can see from the beginning that Wiesel’s first night is one that changed his life forever. He describes the first night as never-ending because it seems like night is just repeating for weeks at a time. He continues to say “Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live” (Wiesel, 34). At a first glance, Wiesel is literally talking about the first night he spent in camp. When more deeply examined though, readers can conclude that Wiesel’s life was becoming one long symbolic night after his first night spent at camp. Wiesel tells of the horrors and unforgettable tragedies he will forever have lingering in the back of his mind.

This first night at camp for Elie Wiesel is also symbolic of his journey to disbelieving in God. He describes how his first night at Auschwitz was filled with “those moments that murdered my God and my soul” (Wiesel, 34). As stated before, he valued his religion over many things in life. God was his savior; in Wiesel’s eyes, God would save and protect him from any and every way of harm. But, when he witnesses horrible things at his first concentration camp, like “…the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky”, he starts to believe that maybe God didn’t care enough to take them out of harm’s way (Wiesel, 34). Wiesel was led to believe that maybe overall, God wasn’t even real.

In addition to his life becoming dark because and losing his faith, Wiesel’s humanity was also drained because he had no power. He was surrounded by silence; the silence was almost murderous to him. It was caused by the fact that people weren’t sure what may happen to them or who the next victim would be. Wiesel claims “…the silence became more oppressive” (Wiesel, 38). The silence symbolizes how people in the camp with him were losing hope and had no power. People became silent because they were too scared to fight back and to speak up. This happens to Wiesel after he saw his dad get hit by a Gypsy and he does not react. He says: “I stood petrified. What had happened to me? My father had just been struck, in front of me, and I had not even blinked. I had watched and kept silent” (Wiesel, 39). In their first night of camp, they saw how much power was being held over them; millions of people died before the end of this oppression. The silence is a symbol for the emptiness around Wiesel just like night is a dark and empty time.

In the end, the word ‘night’ means so much more than the time of day where Wiesel was sleeping at a concentration camp with the stars and moon in the sky. The word ‘night’ to Wiesel stands for the haunting and riveting terror forever implanted into who he is. He would not live a day without that uneasiness and that fearfulness of another tragedy in the world. The book ‘Night’ by Elie Wiesel is full of emotion and the depth of what he had to go through. Wiesel told a story that millions wish they could have. Elie Wiesel’s life was forever changed after that first night in a concentration camp.

Work Cited

1. ‘Nobel Prize Speech’. Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, 26 Sept. 2017, http://eliewieselfoundation.org/elie-wiesel/nobelprizespeech/

In the spring of 2005, Elie Wiesel was interviewed and asked a series of questions, most of them predicated on why still after his experience of this traumatic history event he still opt to believe and have faith in God. One of his answers was: “‘I am a person who has problems believing, and yet, in spite of them or perhaps because of them, I do believe’, Wiesel continues. ‘I think the right to doubt is one of the most important rights given to human beings. But I believe in God. In fact, I never stopped believing in God—that’s why I had the problem, the crisis of faith’”.

‘Night’ by Elie Wiesel, is a memoir about a Jewish boy named Eliezer, who lives in Romania during World War II. Elizer and his family are taken away from his home by the Germans and are headed to concentration camps. He, his mother and sisters are split up and over the course of time he is accompanied by his father who near the end of the novel, grows sick and dies. Eliezer survives and is rescued by American forces.

The most significant theme in this memoir was faith. Elizer questioned his faith a lot during the Holocaust, at a point where he even felt like he lost it, years after this experience he counts this as a valuable lesson and it pushed him harder to have faith, he later calls it ‘wounded faith’. This is shown throughout the book. The following will show you the journey he took on his road of faith, and how it was tormented with.

In Elie Wiesel’s memoir ‘Night’, he deeply writes on the topic of faith and belief, this is proved in the beginning of the book when Elie states, “I was almost thirteen and deeply observant”. He was surrounded by Judaism, and would study the Talmud during the day and by night he would go to the synagogue and cry with religious feeling. He wanted his father to find him a master for his studies of Kabbalah. But his father did not want him to at such a young age. His father wanted him to forget the idea of studying the Kabbalah, but despite that Elie ended up finding a master on his own, his master’s name was ‘Moshe the Beadle’. Moshe asked him one day while they were praying, “Why do you cry when you pray?”, Elizer did not know what to say, he responds by saying that he feels the need to cry, because something inside of him feels like that. This also shows how deep his faith in God was and how much faith he had in him, if he feels the need to cry, it shows how much he cares and believes in his God. Him crying also shows how his faith in what he believes is an ‘all good God’. He believes that nothing bad will ever happen, because how can this good God ever let something bad something happen, so he cries because he has so much faith and is probably so thankful for him. “Moishe was not the same. The joy in his eyes was gone. He no longer sang. He no longer mentioned either God or Kabbalah”. Moishe who was a deeply religious man seems to have lost his faith in God. He tries to warn the Jews of the horrors he saw, but none were solicitous, considering their deep faith in an all good God. People thought he had gone mad, and even Elizer did not believe. All he felt for him was pity, even after hearing his discussions on what he saw, he called them ‘tales’.

The Jews were banned from their homes, and on the way to the concentration camps, people discussed this and only saw this as a test of faith from God. “My father was crying. It was the first time I saw him cry” (Wiesel, 19). They were ordered to run. Jews of all ages, were ordered to run. And were forced to run faster and faster, even a little girl with a bag too heavy for her. When they had arrived at their destination they were drenched, but they still continued to pray, they asked for mercy, and still couldn’t believe what was happening to them. “They just want to steal our valuables and jewelry. They know that it has all been buried and that they will have to dig to find it; so much easier to do when the owners are on vacation” (Wiesel, 21). They began to make up reasons for why this was happening. Silly reasons that lifted their moods. Making up situations on why this was happening. Avoiding the fact that God could let something terrible happen to them, they could not even think to put this on God, for their faith was still very strong. “There was so many of us we could hardly breathe” (Wiesel, 22). People had to relieve themselves in a corner because they couldn’t leave. They were shoved in cars packed with people with very little bread and water. Trapped with little to no air, and intolerable heat. Yet they still remained calm and tried to reassure one another. “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 be silent. What was there to thank Him for?” (Wiesel, 33) They began to separate women and men. Elizer, losing part of his family, same as the others. At the crematorium they saw small children getting thrown in fires, same for the adults. People were in shock that these things can be possible, things like crematoriums, etc. After all of the inhumane things that had happened to them, Elizer began to lose his absolute devotion to God.

“Twenty more steps. If I was going to kill myself, this was the time” (Wiesel, 33). He doesn’t understand how God could let this happen. He thinks back on that first night in camp. The children bodies turning to smoke, the rider there. This was all too frightening for people and for Eliezer, he came to a close encounter with death, because of the fact that he lost his God, he still believed in a God, just not the God he thought he knew. “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” (Wiesel, 45). He doesn’t believe that there isn’t a God, but this whole experience opened his eyes. It helped him see how things like this can happen, and that God allows it to happen. That’s what he can’t grasp, the fact that the God he thought he knew so well, the God that wouldn’t let anything bad happen, is allowing it to happen. He lost his faith in a God he thought he knew but not God overall, but he realizes that this is a God he doesn’t want to praise. “Behind me, I heard the same man asking: ‘For God’s sake, where is God?’”. Others are losing faith in their God too, for the obvious reasons. If they believe in an all good God, then how can God do this to them? How can he allow these inhumane, disgusting things, that no person should have to go through, happen? They question their God because they finally realize what’s happening. “And I, the former mystic, was thinking: yes, man is stronger, greater than God. When Adam and Eve deceived You, You chased them from paradise. But look at men whom You have betrayed, allowing them to be tortured, slaughtered, gassed, and burned, what do they do? They praise before You! They praise Your name!”. He used to believe the world depended on his prayer, his good deeds, but now after this traumatic experience, he feels even stronger. He no longer would plead for anything. He compares himself to ashes. Without love, without mercy, without God. He felt lonely, because though he lost his faith in his idea of God, he was surrounded by people who still continued to pray to a God, he no longer believed in, even after all that has happened, they prayed.

In conclusion, Wiesel’s association with God encounters high points and low points, which at last changes his perspectives about God. At the absolute starting point of the book, Wiesel demonstrates his solid commitment to God however as he encounters the Holocaust, Wiesel gets negative of his strict convictions. While Wiesel develops and changes into a man, he all the while reclassifies God’s situation in his life. Wiesel, being a blunt creator, surfeits numerous instances of the psychological and physical impacts of individuals in the Holocaust and all the more explicitly, a young boy. Therefore, ‘Night’ gives a more profound comprehension of the Holocaust so that with a superior comprehension of such an awful occasion, history doesn’t rehash itself.