Night By Elie Wiesel Research Paper

Reimert 1

Cailyn Reimert

2/2/23

English 9 GATE

Period 4

Night by Elie Wiesel

Night, a memoir written by Elie Wiesel, describes the events during the Holocaust and the effect they had on him at 13 years old. At the beginning of the story, Elie’s main priority is his religion, and spending as much time praying as he can. But by the end of the story, his focus is surviving and finding food as swiftly as possible. He lost nearly all his faith in God, and rarely prays. As the story progresses, praying to God is no longer important to Elie, but merely his own life.

Elie’s studying and dedication to his religion is one of the first things he discusses in his memoir. He explains his schedule, “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 was his entire life, and he barely spent time doing anything else. Even though Elie struggled to find someone who could teach him Kabbalah, he continued his studies even without a proper education. Elie dedicated his entire life to

He only cares about staying alive and taking care of anything he has left. “I spent my days in total idleness. With only one desire: to eat. I no longer thought of my father, or my mother” (Wiesel 113). Elie rarely has any thoughts, anything to make the time pass faster. He doesn’t care about anything, anyone, other than the idea of his next meal. After the death of his father, Elie no longer had family with him or anyone he thought about. Even once he is freed, Elie’s only concern is getting food as quickly as possible. “Our first act as free men was to throw ourselves onto the provisions. That’s all we thought about. No thought of revenge, or of our parents. Only of bread” (Wiesel 115). Elie doesn’t even take a second to acknowledge that he was now free, his first thought was food. God is no longer a thought to Elie, he only cares about his own