Elie Wiesel changes a lot over the course of the novel Night. In the beginning, he is readily accepting of the Jewish religion and ideals and wants to learn as much as he can. However as we progress through the story, his feelings about religion and faith shift to the point where he rejects them and God entirely. He feels God has abandoned him and his fellow prisoners. This is demonstrated many times within the novel Night.
In the beginning, Elie was very accepting of the Jewish religion, and wanted to learn as much as he could. He was excited to learn and prayed every day. He came under the wing of a beadle called Moshe, and learned as much as he could from him.Unfortunately, this was not meant to last, as Moshe gets deported and comes back
…show more content…
When the power station explodes, it is suspected that sabotage had occurred, and the leader and pipel are killed. When someone asked where God is in all this, Elie replied that “Here He is - hanging here from these gallows.” This marks a turning point, where Elie no longer believes in his religion or in God.
The last and final time this occurs is when Elie attended the Rosh Hashanah, as the other Jews are praying. He feels almost anger that the others still put faith in God. He feels that God is lesser than man, that Man is stronger because they still worship God after all they have been through. He felt that he “was the accuser, God the accused.” This is the final stretch, and Elie no longer believes in God or religion.
Elie experiences an extreme shift in religious perspective throughout the book Night. It starts with him being a divine follower of Judaism, but as time goes on he eventually rejects God altogether. He feels God has abandoned him, and he therefore abandons God. This abandonment shows how much stress and terror the inmates had to endure. Hopefully, this is the last time such a horrible event