Night Blog

Throughout the book Night by Elie Wiesel, the main character, Elie, loses his faith. In the beginning of the memoir, Elie was very close with God. He prayed all the time and never doubted anything different then what he was taught. During the first pages of the book it says, "By day I studied Talmud and by night I would run to the synagogue to weep over the destruction of the Temple.”(Wiesel 3) This shows how dedicated he is to the Jewish religion. However, this is before he is sent to the concentration camps. The horrible events that occur during his time in the concentration camp make him to believe that God is to blame for all the injustice happening in the world. Elie states, "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?”(33). In this quote Elie begins to realize that God isn't going to do anything about saving the lives of all the innocent people. He becomes mad at him, putting all his hate into God. From the beginning of the book Elie goes from being a very pious boy, to a faithless person.

Another way that Elie was changed was through his personality. Being a prisoner for so long made him think of only himself. When his father is slapped in front of Elie he states, "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. Only yesterday, I would have dug my nails into this criminal’s flesh. Had I changed this much? So fast?” (39). This shows the difference between Elie's actions in and out of the concentration camp. Before he was placed in Auschwitz Elie had a lot of pride and would defend his father for any sort of punishment. After residing in the camp for only a little amount of time, Elie remains silent. He thinks that if he acts out then he will be punished as well. The fear of being penalized, makes him a different person.

Elie's personality was altered in a similar way. During his time in the camp, Elie has to take care of his father. Most of the time Elie feels like this is the right thing to do. The novel states, "I brought him water. Then I left the block for roll call. But I quickly turned back. I lay down on the bottom bunk. The sick were allowed to stay in the block. So I would be sick. I didn't want to leave my father."(Wiesel 111). This quote shows how devoted he is to taking care of his father. Elie doesn't want to be without him. However, his total devotion changes. After his father is taken to the crematorium, Elie says, "And deep inside me, if I could have searched the recesses of my feeble conscience, I might have found something like: Free at last!..."(112). Elie is showing how he really felt about his father. He thought that he was a huge burden that restricted him from an easier life. Before his dad died, Elie would never have been able to admit it. Now, he can say that his father was a hardship.

Wiesel, Elie. Night. New York: Hill and Wang, 2006. Print.