Loss Of Faith In Night By Elie Wiesel

How important is faith in religion, humanity, and a relationship with one’s parents? Would these things make it easier to survive the Holocaust? The Holocaust was when Jewish citizens in Europe were killed by German soldiers. The Holocaust was an event that made it a terrible time for Jews to live in. Elie Wiesel, a Jew, was a Holocaust survivor. Three important themes that impacted his chances to survive were religion, humanity, and relationships.

Throughout the Holocaust Elie Wiesel gradually lost faith in religion. He was getting very angry towards God. When Elie Wiesel was younger, he wanted to learn more about what he believed in. Wiesel’s father told him “You are too young for that” (4). His father was implying that Elie Wiesel needed

Wiesel wanted people to understand him, but nobody was kind to him. There was only one girl that helped Elie Wiesel. When Wiesel was getting hurt, she said “Keep your anger, your hate, for another day, for later. The day will come but not now” (53). She becomes relevant again years later when they meet for the first time, by accident, outside of the camps and she remarks “It was imprudent of me to say those few words to you, but I knew that you wouldn’t betray me...” (54). That means that even though it was a few years ago they both remember that she showed him the kindness he wanted. Throughout the Holocaust Elie Wiesel started to feel numb. When selection was happening Akiba Drumer told them “In three days, I’ll be gone... say Kaddish for me” (Wiesel 77). After the selection, the people who survived had to work harder and got hit harder. Nobody remembered what Akiba said because they could not feel anything. The Holocaust was always changing people. There was an old man that was in the same train wagon as Elie Wiesel. This man was lucky because he got a piece of bread that was thrown to everyone in the wagon. When his son seen that he had bread he started to attack him. “Meir, my little Meir! Don’t you recognize me... You’re killing your father... I have bread... for you too... for you too” (Wiesel 101). The old man wanted to share the bread with his son, but his son wanted the bread for himself. This is what the

“My father had just been struck in front of me, and I had not even blinked. I had watched and kept silent” (Wiesel 39). Elie Wiesel was scared that he changed too fast. Before they went to the Ghetto Elie Wiesel would have tried to hurt the person that hit his father. Unlike that son in the wagon Elie Wiesel wanted to help his father. Wiesel needed to stay alive to take care of his father. When Wiesel's foot was hurt, he still ran to his father to ask him what to do. Elie Wiesel thought “I made up my mind to accompany my father wherever he went” (82). Even though his foot needed to heal he only wanted to stay close to his father. The only person who motivated Elie Wiesel to push through was his father. “I tightened my grip on my father’s hand. The old, familiar fear: not to lose him” (Wiesel 104). Elie Wiesel was scared to lose his father especially after everything that they went through. Overtime the Holocaust changed Elie Wiesel and his father’s relationship. The more that they depended on each other the closer they