Night
NightNight
In the autobiographical novel Night by Elie Wiesel, many forms of the horror caused by the holocaust are depicted. Abuse towards man, discrimination, and most of all the doubt felt by the Jews. The doubt the Jews felt is in religion and above all in their God. Wiesel begins the novel, as with many of the Jews, with a deep faith and devotion to God. But by reaching a turning point in his life, the horror of the concentration camps open his eyes and he becomes exposed to situations that cause him to lose his faith in God. The camps make him “an agonized witness to the death of his innocence, his human self-respect, his father, his God…” (Riley, Contemporary 526). Soon as the terrible life of being held captive by the Jews progresses, Wiesel comes to the point where God is no longer a part of his life. The loss of faith is prevalent in Night along with the continued struggle of the people to believe in the religion in which they seem to be abandoned by. In Night, Wiesel changes drastically towards his religion and towards the end of his novel it is apparent that he has lost all faith in God. The loss of faith in Night shows how extreme circumstances can change a person’s belief in their religion till there is nothing left to believe in.
In the beginning of the novel, Eliezer has a deep appreciation for his religion as a “religions seeker” (Estess 20). He lives for God and has been raised on the Talmud and entirely dedicated to God. Eliezer becomes fascinated about learning more about his religion so he befriends an elderly man, Moche the Beadle, who teaches him the ways of the Talmud and cabbala. They discuss the religion for long hours. Eliezer continually asks Moche why he prays to God. Moche replies, “I pray to God within me that He will give me the strength to ask Him the right questions” (Wiesel 15). By the answer that Moche gives to Eliezer, it is clear to see that Moche puts all his faith into God and that he depends on God’s guidance.
But later in the novel, Moche is taken captive to a concentration camp. When he escapes, he returns to warn the people of Sighet of the horror he has seen and he “no longer talked to me of God or the cabbala, but only of what he had seen” (Wiesel 17). Moche has changed from the experience and possibly also lost some of his faith in God but not entirely for he believed he “[has] been saved miraculously” (Wiesel 17). He wonders where his strength came from to escape. Moche’s survival “confirms the continuing intervention of God in human affairs”(Davis 54). Moche believes that God plays a part in his...
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