Night Elie Wiesel Essay Questions

As humans, we are made to ask questions. Even if we ask our teacher a simple question in math class or ask ourselves the more complex questions of “why does the world work,” and “how am I supposed to live my life,” life allows us to ask questions. In Night by Elie Wiesel, Elie has to live through one of the most horrific moments known to mankind, the Holocaust, and during this period of his life, Elie starts to question himself. He starts to examine his conscience and, more importantly, his faith. Change is inevitable. The time that Elie spent in the concentration camps had much impact on him, and this made Elie question the change between the two things that he thought would always be in his life, both his relationship with his father and

“He rarely displayed his feelings, not even with his family, and was more involved with the welfare of others than with that of his own kin”(4). Elie describes his father as an unsentimental man who cared about others rather than his family. Although Elie’s father is a well-respected leader in their Jewish community, he doesn’t truly support Elie and his faith journey. This is why, at the beginning of the story, Elie turns to Moshe as more of a father figure that supports him. However, their bond starts to change once Elie and his father get sent to the concentration camps. It changes the perspective that they rely on each other more than ever when they arrive at Auschwitz since each day becomes a different chance of life or death. When the soldiers start to assign imprisoned Jewish people jobs, Elie’s father is deemed not strong enough to do any work, so he is sent to the line for those headed to the crematorium, while Elie is strong enough to work and is in the other line. In the heat of the moment, Elie runs to his father and gets him back into the working line. This is the main turning point and change in their relationship, where Elie’s father learns to value his son. Their relationship continued to grow until Elie’s father died, “Since my father’s death, nothing mattered to me anymore”(113). Over the time period that Elie and his father spent in the camps, their bond grew greatly, and it this change had a large impact on Elie’s life and