ipl-logo

Elie Wiesel Loss Of Faith In Night

2136 Words9 Pages

Night by Elie Wiesel is an influential book about the horrors of the Holocaust. The book recounts Wiesel’s experiences as a young Jewish boy who was rounded up and taken to a concentration camp during World War II. Through his vivid descriptions of the atrocities he witnessed and endured, Wiesel reveals a profound loss of faith in God and Humanity. The cruelty and senseless violence that he encountered shattered his beliefs and forced him to confront the darkest part of human nature. Elie’s loss of faith in God and humanity is demonstrated through his experiences in the Holocaust, as he witnesses unspeakable atrocities and the betrayal of religious beliefs, ultimately leading to a crisis of faith that alters his understanding of the world. …show more content…

In "Night," Elie Wiesel describes his attempts to explain the horrors he saw in the light of his faith in a just and merciful God, as well as his final loss of hope in the face of such unfathomable evil. According to the text, "Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. I will never forget the events that killed my God, destroyed my soul, and crushed my dreams. Even if I am sentenced to an eternity of life equal to God Himself, I will never forget these things. Never” (Wiesel, 32). Wiesel reflects on the horrendous anguish and devastation he suffered in the concentration camps, and how it affected his belief and point of view on life. This is known as the "nocturnal calmness," and throughout this period of quietness he experienced atrocious brutality and cruelty. This experience, which caused him to feel as though his God and spirit had been murdered, drained all of his desire to carry on. This displays how the violence and cruelty he encountered in the camps resulted in him losing his faith and hope in humanity. The passage also indicates how Wiesel's time in the camps had a huge effect on his perspective of the world. No matter how much time goes by or even if he survives as long as the Almighty, he makes the promise to never put out of his mind what he saw and experienced. This hints that Wiesel's episode in the camps had a deep-seated and everlasting effect on his outlook and understanding of the role of faith in a universe able to be so cruel. This emphasizes how Wiesel's encounter in the concentration camps significantly changed the way he interacted with his religion and the external world. In Elie Wiesel's novel Night, the horrors Elie witnesses at the concentration camp cause him to doubt God's goodness and justice, shattering his faith. In the article, it states, “He

Open Document