Cultural Differences In Elie Wiesel's Night

Since the beginning of mankind, man has sought some form of a higher entity and a basis for humanity. Since the beginning, it has always been important to find a greater purpose for human life--to discover life’s meaning. Naturally, due to cultural differences, incongruities arose in man’s interpretation of how best to live and how best to be faithful, and eventually man focused more on those differences rather than the similar theme that was emphasized in each of the Holy Books: to love our neighbors and to love God, or whatever higher entity we chose to worship (Interview). As time progressed, these differences in opinion began to become forms of identification, and man began to use faith and religion to distinguish themselves from one another.
[to be cont.] Wiesel’s purposeful tone emphasizes the reality of religious hostility. The last sentences in Night, especially reflects the direct tone. “From the depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me. The look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me” (Wiesel 115).
In a mass exodus, over a million Syrians have fled their homes in search of safety, but the escape from ISIL has its own risks to consider. “Even after escaping from predatory militias and vengeful military assaults, victims continue to be prey for criminals, sexual predators, sectarian vigilantes or allies of the Syrian government” (source 10). But the risks that these people take exemplify their strength in faith. Instead of relinquishing their faith, these people give up everything. Their religious identities give them something for which to fight. Throughout history, people have had to suffer when they chose to follow their own faith. And when people go through difficult times, they often lament to God or a higher entity because they have no control over their situations. That itself implies that there is a God or higher being to lament to