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How Does Elie Wiesel Change In The Book Night

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Elie Wiesel's stirring book Night describes his experiences during the Holocaust. The story follows the journey of a young boy named Eliezer who, along with his family, is transported from their home in Siget, Transylvania, to a Nazi concentration camp during World War II. After experiencing several horrific events, Eliezer changes from an innocent boy to an emotionally scarred, deeply traumatized adolescent. Under the cruel influence of the concentration camp, Elie undergoes a transformation marked by the deterioration of his body, apostasy, and relational estrangement. Elie had a strong physical frame and was a healthy kid before the concentration camps. This was especially notable during the long march between camps where, despite the harsh …show more content…

He had a deep spiritual outlook and devoted abundances of time to learning the Torah, as well praying each day at the Synagogue and even sought out a mentorship under Moché the Beadle in studying the kabbalah. Elie's faith is put to the test, however, when he is brought to the concentration camps and forced to endure its brutal conditions. He experiences horrific atrocities and cruelties and finds it difficult to comprehend how God could permit such evil to exist. His once unwavering faith is shaken as he starts to doubt himself and his confidence in God after the death of a young pipel, “‘Where is He? Here He is—He is hanging here on this gallows….” (72). When he is forced to watch the inhumane and slow, agonizing death of the pipel, he is left wondering how God could remain silent and permit such brutality. His once-firm faith is replaced by a strong sense of rage and despair as he develops a deep feeling of cynicism and …show more content…

In the beginning of the story, they lean on each other as their situation in the camps gradually worsens. They share rations, comfort one another, and Elie even makes sure to keep his father from the verge of death by not allowing him to sleep in the snow, which would have inevitably lead to his death. However, as the book progresses their relationship deteriorates when the brutal conditions of the concentration camp forces them to prioritize survival over their previous bond. Elie starts to emotionally withdraw as he grows more detached and distant from his father. The loss of hope and the overwhelming despair of their circumstances takes a heavy toll on their relationship.. Elie frequently finds himself reflecting back on another prisoner's words about abandoning his father, “He was right, I thought in the most secret region of my heart, but I dared not admit it. It's too late to save your old father, I said to myself…”(115). Through the later chapters of the book, he constantly mulls over the idea of leaving his father behind for the sake of his own survival, as it seemed everything was against the odds that any relationship would survive the brutality of the

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