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Night Elie Wiesel Theme

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The book, “Night” by Elie Wiesel is a first person person narrative of Wiesel’s time in Auschwitz, the obstacles he has to surpass and the sacrifices he has to make in order to stay alive and how his faith waivers as his desperation to survive increases. As one of the millions of Jew-ish survivors of the Holocaust, Wiesel shares his personal story from his point of view bringing the themes of faith and desperation to surface. The desperation to survive changes Wiesel’s be-lief in God from one of unquestioning faith to a cynical more callous view. As the book unfolds these two themes present themselves and are tied to the storyline and Wiesel’s disposition and mental state.

Throughout the book, Wiesel often talks about his faith and how …show more content…
The fact that the Nazis slowly strip the Jewish prisoners of their lives quite easily makes Wiesel believe that God leaves him in darkness. As he speaks to God he says, “What are You , my God? I thought angrily. How do You compare to this stricken mass gathered to affirm to You their faith, their anger, their de-fiance? What does Your grandeur mean, Master of the Universe, in the face of all this cowardice, the decay, and this misery? Why do you go on troubling these poor peoples’s wounded minds, their ailing bodies?” (page 66) At the beginning of the story, Wiesel sees God as a friend who he can talk to and look towards for advice and help when needed. Now, in his struggle to survive, Wiesel no longer looks towards God. He now feels that all the negativity that consumes him in Auschwitz is led by God. He now feels that God is his Hitler. This thinking process causes Wiesel to no longer believe in the existence of a higher being. He comes to believe that if God really did exist then none of the torture that Wiesel endures would …show more content…
The themes of faith and desperation con-stantly present themselves in Wiesel’s story. Even though Wiesel often doubts God during his ordeal he reverts back to prayer and worship in order to survive. Even though at first glance Wiesel seems to have lost his belief in God further analysis shows that his new relationship with
God is more of a desperate attempt to maintain his sanity. Almost habit like his new found way to religion is more personal and almost convenient to his situation. Even though towards the end of the story, Elie Wiesel is mentally and physically broken and no longer a firm believer in God and his plans for him, he continues to pray in his darkest hour. Wiesel’s actions show how we are all creatures of habit and in times of desperation and need revert to what we know and within our comfort

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