Theme Of Suffering In Night

The Effects of Suffering on a 12 year Old Boy

“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars” - Khalil Gibran. Throughout Night, Elie Wiesel copes with the agony of the Holocaust first hand. Suffering by definition is the state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship. In Wiesel’s Night, suffering forces people to make inhumane decisions, shatters hope, and destroys self identity. Suffering forces people to be put in bad places where they feel pressured to eventually make inhumane decisions. Putting people in these poor situations pressures them to make choices that will be best for survival. An example of an inhumane decision occurred in Night in chapter 7 when the whole camp was

Suffering not only forces people to make inhumane decisions but it also causes people to lose hope and give up on themselves. In this section of the book, Elie describes a time where he was devastated to see his father beaten and hurt in the camps. Throughout his time in the camps, Elie saw and heard the abuse that was given to people in the camp killing his hope. The biggest turning point in the story was when he saw his father getting beat. When Idek “began beating [Elie’s father] with an iron bar … [Elie’s] father simply doubled over under the blows, but then [Elie's father] seemed to break in two like an old tree struck by lightning” (Wiesel 82). Elie is heartbroken when this event occur because throughout the whole story Elie’s role model was his father and to see him get beaten made him lose hope. During their times in the camp the suffering laid upon on both Elie and his father made them give up on themselves and feel like they didn’t have a chance to make it out or survive. This was shown once again in depth when Elie said to himself, “Were there still miracles on this earth?” (Wiesel 76). This quote demonstrates the hardships that he overcame and how he struggled to have hope. After the experiences he underwent in the camps his hope was at an all time low. Suffering drains hope and courage from a character making them vulnerable to

This, however, is not true. This is shown throughout the story with loss of faith and self identity. Wiesel loses faith a lot in this book along with other jewish members of the camps. Faith and religion is one thing that makes Elie who he truly is, making him more than just a “number”. Elie shows his loss of faith in God and in humanity through the “moments that murdered [his] God and [his] soul and turned [his] dreams to ashes. Never shall [he] forget those things, even were [he] condemned to live as long as God Himself” (Wiesel 75). This quote leads me to believe that the suffering endured in the camps lead Elie to become lost with who he was. Elie and the other members of the Jewish community try to keep their faith as much as they can even though it is being tested. As shown in Night enduring suffering forces people to become much different versions of themselves. This was portrayed when the Jewish population at the camps were questioning where god was and if he was real. Elie becomes a whole different person at the camps because of his suffering which leads to loss of faith and self identity. While in the camps Elie learned that suffering makes him a weaker person physically and mentally forcing him to lose self