Night By Elie Wiesel Research Paper

Faith is defined as complete trust or confidence in someone, something prisoners of the Holocaust often struggled to find. The horrific and oppressive behavior that millions of prisoners had to endure at a plethora of concentration camps had even the most orthodox Jews questioning their adamantine faith in God. Further, faith in their relatives or peers was fragile as well, as separation and death in the camps were common. Eliezer, the main character in the memoir Night by Elie Wiesel, finds faith in his father, as well as God. However, as time goes on in the camps, these faiths begin to falter, which leads to his ultimate faith in himself - which proves to be a necessity for him to survive.

Despite the inseparable bond formed between Eliezer

By overcoming his faith in both his father and his God, he turned to himself for protection and hope. With his father, his faith was created through the situational case of the Holocaust, as they transformed their relationship because of their need to survive. However, ultimately, this faith was deemed to be redundant, as his father ended up hurting him, and his chance of survival. Coming into the camps, Eliezer was a religious boy, even trying to pursue and further understand the Cabbala. However, after seeing innocent people get killed, under the so-called “watch” of God, he began to doubt his faith. Eliezer had a pent-up anger brewing, as the horrors he had witnessed had become too much to bear. The collective doubts throughout the camps of God’s protection over his believers were apparent, and Eliezer was upset that a person who is so worshipped could not help his supporters in a time of

In the midst of his tirade certifying his doubts in God, Eliezer said “On the contrary, I felt very strong. I was the accuser, God the accused…I was nothing but ashes now, but I felt myself to be stronger than this Almighty to whom my life had been bound for so long.” (68). He gained power and strength through the losses of his faiths, which aided him in becoming a more resilient person. For so long, he deemed himself “less than” God, and looked up to him as an “Almighty”. However, by overcoming this, by making God the accused and himself the accuser, his faith began to center around himself and his preservation. Ultimately, his faith in himself helped him to survive, as he no longer relied on others to ensure his safety. With his father, he was hurting himself to help him, harming both his safety and survival. After assuming faith and control over himself, Eliezer no longer doubted his strength and had the power and capability to protect himself. Through his loss of faith in his father and God, he ensured survival for himself and strengthened his capability and