Essay on Elie Wiesel's Loss of Faith in Night
Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night tells an enduring story of his experiences during the Holocaust. Elie lived in a town called Sighet in Transylvania during World War II. He had in interest in learning more about his Jewish religion. However, the Jews in Sighet were attacked by the Hungarian police, the Jews were then deported to a concentration camp called Auschwitz. Following that Elie arrived at Auschwitz and was separated from his mom and sister. Elie and his dad stuck together and were surveyed to see if they were fit for work. He was then introduced to the violent conditions of the Holocaust. From then on, Elie begins to lose faith in multiple values in his life. After a new year came, more
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One crisis of faith was a loss of faith in himself. This is evident when Elie is put in a concentration camp. He was yelled at by a prisoner that was in charge which is called a Kapo. He commanded Elie and Elie blindly nodded to his commands. Elie was later disappointed in himself, because he didn’t think for himself. Elie writes, “I nodded, once, ten times endlessly. As if my head had decided to say yes for all eternity” (Wiesel 58). In this passage, Elie starts to think that he can’t choose his own actions. He shows no sign of independence unlike when he wasn’t in the camp. Elie starts to accept his punishment. Elie’s loss of faith in himself is also visible in his biography when Elie witnessed the change his father had gone through. He saw how miserable everyone was. Elie lost track of time and woke up and reflected on how the camp changed him. Elie says to himself, “My soul had been invaded- and devoured- by a black flame” (Wiesel 37). In this excerpt, Elie doesn’t think he is innocent anymore. He feels that the things that he had seen had changed him and made him lose faith. He realized that he is no longer religious to Judaism. Elie Wiesel’s loss of faith in himself is clear in the mortifying events of the