Faith In The Book Thief

Faith is often thought of as simply believing in a religion or deity, but in the dictionary, faith is defined as complete trust in someone or something by. This definition of faith is shown in the works of Eliezer Wiesel, Markus Zusak, Alexander Kimel, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. In Night, Wiesel portrays his struggle with his faith in God during the Holocaust. Throughout The Book Thief, Zusak shows the faith which his characters, Liesel and Max, have in the Hubermanns. Kimel writes about his faith in God as a Jewish Holocaust survivor in “The Creed of a Holocaust Survivor,” and Roosevelt speaks about America’s faith in God and their soldiers during the D-Day attacks during World War II in his well-known “D-Day Prayer.” As shown through the relationships between the characters in the books and the real life experiences people went through, people affected by the Holocaust used faith to find solace, hope, or someone to blame during times of

People will have faith in someone or something in order to find solace in times of great fear. For example, in Night, Wiesel was facing a terrible situation. He feared that he was going to die in a pit of flames which he and his father were forced to march toward. In order to push down the fear of dying along with his father, he began to pray (Wiesel 34). Although Wiesel claims that he no longer believes in any God, he still finds solace in God’s presence through his prayers. Similarly, Kimel writes about his faith in God and the natural goodness of mankind in his poem, “The Creed of a Holocaust Survivor.” He writes that mankind is in a state of anger and hatred, but he has faith his God will come and teach the world how to be loving. Specifically, he states, "I believe with all my heart, That the Messiah and the Kingdom of Heaven will come; When man will conquer his destructive urge, And learn how to live in harmony with nature and himself." (Kimel) He displays the faith he has as a