James Robinson
James Robinson
Night Essay
Elie’s religious commitment is an essential feature of who he is. Once he loses his faith in God he is destroyed. Do you agree?
Elie Wiesel’s ‘Night’ is a novel which showcases the story of the Holocaust from a Jewish perspective. ‘Night’ tells the story of how Jewish people were rounded up by the Nazis and placed into concentration camps such as Auschwitz and Buchenwald. Before Elie and all the Jews were rounded up by the Nazis, Elie was one of the most devout Jewish children. Elie’s struggle with faith is one of the most dominant themes in Night. At the beginning of the text, his faith in God is paramount. Elie believed that God was present in everyday life. As the Jews were being killed in the concentration camps Elie believed God was watching and didn’t do anything. Elie’s faith was shaken by the events of the Holocaust.
At the start of the text, Elie’s faith in god is absolute. His belief in an omnipresent God is unconditional. When asked why he prays to God he answers, “Why did I pray? Why did I live? Why did I breathe?” Elie has grown up believing that everything on Earth reflects God’s holiness and power. His faith is grounded in the idea that God is everywhere, all the time, that his divinity touches every aspect of his daily life. At the beginning of the novel Elie prayed with a man named Moishe the Beadle. He was also a deeply religious character. When Elie asked Moishe why he prayed he answered, “I pray to the God within me that he will give me the strength to ask him the right questions,” Moishe conveys two key concepts to Elie’s struggle: the idea that God is everywhere, even within every individual, and the idea that faith is based on questions, not answers.
Throughout the novel, Elie slowly began to question his faith. From a young age he was taught that God knew everything that happened in everyday life. Once the Jews had been transported to the concentration camps and Elie knew what a terrible...