Eleven million people were murdered in the Holocaust, six million of which were Jews who were killed solely for their beliefs. This terrible genocide is recounted through the eyes of Elie Wiesel in his memoir, Night. As the novel progresses, Wiesel's faith in his God falters, due to the physical and emotional suffering he endured as a Jew in the Holocaust.
During the first couple of chapters of Night, Wiesel’s faith and dedication to his religion are very strong. At age twelve, Elie Wiesel was fully devoted to his religion. He was unwilling to let any obstacles come between him and his religion. His father rejected the idea of him delving into the studies of the world of mysticism at such a young age, but Elie refused to give up. Wiesel writes, “He wanted to drive the idea of studying Kabbalah from my mind. In vain. I succeeded on my own in finding a master for myself in the person of Moishe the Beadle” (4). From this quote, the reader can see just how strong his faith is. He is willing to blatantly disobey his father, a figure of authority, to gain a deeper understanding of his religion, to discover ¨the very essence of divinity” (5). Wiesel’s faith was
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Throughout the beginning of the novel, his faith is steadfast. After his family has been split up and after he has been forced into the concentration camps, however, his faith in God begins to crack. Elie Wiesel describes how ¨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). This quote explicitly states how, for the first time, Wiesel feels differently about his God. He even describes God as ‘terrible’. This fracture in his faith is a result of his fear that God will continue to ignore their pleas for help. The reader can see an obvious change in Wiesel’s faith as his situation