Noah Finley Ms. Crowell English 11 5 April 2019 Elie Wiesel’s loss of Faith Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night, is a detailed recollection of his survival during the Holocaust. It follows Elie through his time in the Ghetto, different concentration camps, and to liberation. Night proves itself as a truly unique guide to the Holocaust. Wiesel lived very religiously before witnessing the horrors of the Holocaust; “I continued to devote myself to my studies, Talmud during the day and Kabbalah at night” (8) but throughout the memoir he loses this faith and later in the book he even refuses to fast on Yom Kippur. The Holocaust truly destroyed his soul. Wiesel transforms from a devoted student of the Talmud and deeply religious individual to a degraded corpse, however ultimately his vengeance for God helps him to survive the terror. This transformation shows the extent of the power that the Nazis had and how they had the ability to do such unspeakable things, they had the power to completely tear a person from their soul and their god. The transformation shows the utter extent of force and evil the Nazis practiced. In the beginning of the book the reader explores a glimpse of how deeply into religion Wiesel rooted himself prior to the holocaust, he even explained how he would study religion during the day and worship at night. Wiesel makes it clear that religion plays a large day to day role in his life, ““By day I studied the Talmud and by night I would run to the synagogue to weep over the destruction of the temple” (3). This quote demonstrates Elie's immersion in his God and it shows the connection he has with his religion because he is pained by the destruction of the temples. During Wiesel’s conversation with Moishe the Beadle he asks Wiesel why he prayed, Wiesel's response; “Why did I pray? Strange question. “Why did I live? Why did I breathe?” (4). This quote shows his utter connection and love for God, he had no reason to why he prayed so much yet he still did it often because he has such a strong connection with Him. Before the camps, Wiesel had nothing but love and faith in his God, looking to him for guidance and light. Wiesel sees that his fears of Hitler's plan to annihilate the Jewish population are coming true when he arrives at the first camp. Wiesel begins to switch from questioning God and his justness to completely losing his faith: “Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes” (34). The image of dead men women and children being thrown into the incinerator made him question his faith. Wiesel was unsure of how his God could let something like this happen to all the innocent Jews, he was purely unable to comprehend the root of such violence and evil. This in addition to the fact that he lost his mother and his sister results in Wiesel growing anger towards God, he feels as though God has no mercy and is against him.Wiesel feels betrayed by God because he devoted his life to God, hoping to answer the world's questions and reach enlightenment. God was supposed to be just and kind to his children but Wiesel only witnessed his wrath. Because he no longer has faith in God Wiesel stops worshipping “As for me, I ceased to pray” (45). Once he has realized that he has completely lost his faith, Wiesel feels as though a large part of him had been lost. Once Wiesel has completely lost his faith in his god we begin to see how his vengeful attitude towards God helps him to survive longer than others. He becomes so angry that on Yom Kippur he refuses to fast for God, “There was no longer any reason for me to fast. I no longer accepted God’s silence.” (69). This in turn gives him strength; physical strength because he eats more than usual that day so he feels stronger, but there is also a large mental component because of his act defying God. For the first time in his life he was actively acting against the person he had devoted himself to. This is the first large step in Wiesel’s path of acting against his former God. As Wiesel continues to grow more angry towards God he feels as though he needs to survive the Holocaust in order to show God that he has become stronger and could not be defeated. Wiesel’s conflict with God gives him the fuel and desire he needs to be able to survive until Liberation. Wiesel undergoes a large change in his character during the Holocaust; before the Nazis began taking Jews sending them to the ghettos Wiesel shows signs of deep interest in religion. Yet after his experience in the concentration camps he turns a darker side that has a vengeance towards God. The reader does not see much of Wiesel’s character after liberation, but in his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech Wiesel explains how he has made his peace with God, saying, "I have faith. Faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and even in His creation" (120). This excerpt from his speech demonstrates how Wiesel has worshipped and mulled over his own personal vengeance towards God to the point where he has the ability to accept faith back into his life. In conclusion, Wiesel loses his faith and his love for God during the violence and horror of the Holocaust.
Work Cited Wiesel, Elie,Wiesel, Marion.Night. New York: Hill And Wang, 2006. Print.