Analysis of Night
3 April, 2013
H English 10
Period 1
“Faith is Lost in the Night” The horrible accounts of the holocaust are vividly captured by Elie Wiesel in Night, an award winning work by a Holocaust survivor. It describes his time in the Holocaust and helps the reader fully understand the pain he went through. In the text, Elie continuously mentions how he is losing his faith to god. It is evident that he has nearly, if not completely lost his faith during the events of the holocaust. In the memoir, Night, Elie Wiesel’s faith changes because of the absence of God, the dehumanization of the prisoners, and all of the death that surrounds him. A main factor to the loss of Elie’s faith is the absence of God. Many times in the memoir, Elie is concerned that God is no longer with them or even gone. One of which being “Where is God now? And I heard a voice within me answer him: Where is He? Here He is—He is hanging here on this gallows.” (Wiesel 62). The gallows that Elie is referring to is the gallows at which the little boy was hanged from. The gallows symbolize the loss of not only God but hope. On page 64 Elie thinks to himself that God has forsaken his people for no reason. He wonders why they are being punished for doing nothing but praying and praising their god. God has not only neglected the Jews, but has allowed them to be tortured and dehumanized by the Nazi soldiers. The SS. Soldiers treated the Jews so badly that they could be considered dehumanized. Dehumanization caused Elie to lose faith because the feeling of being helpless drained all of the hope left within him. One of the first things the Nazis did to humiliate the Jews was to make strip. An SS soldier yelled out, “Strip! Fast! Los! Keep only your belts and shoes in your hands…” (Wiesel 32). This was the last time any Jew was an individual. They were all given identical outfits to wear each day. Their heads were all shaved which also took away any individuality within the community. The
H English 10
Period 1
“Faith is Lost in the Night” The horrible accounts of the holocaust are vividly captured by Elie Wiesel in Night, an award winning work by a Holocaust survivor. It describes his time in the Holocaust and helps the reader fully understand the pain he went through. In the text, Elie continuously mentions how he is losing his faith to god. It is evident that he has nearly, if not completely lost his faith during the events of the holocaust. In the memoir, Night, Elie Wiesel’s faith changes because of the absence of God, the dehumanization of the prisoners, and all of the death that surrounds him. A main factor to the loss of Elie’s faith is the absence of God. Many times in the memoir, Elie is concerned that God is no longer with them or even gone. One of which being “Where is God now? And I heard a voice within me answer him: Where is He? Here He is—He is hanging here on this gallows.” (Wiesel 62). The gallows that Elie is referring to is the gallows at which the little boy was hanged from. The gallows symbolize the loss of not only God but hope. On page 64 Elie thinks to himself that God has forsaken his people for no reason. He wonders why they are being punished for doing nothing but praying and praising their god. God has not only neglected the Jews, but has allowed them to be tortured and dehumanized by the Nazi soldiers. The SS. Soldiers treated the Jews so badly that they could be considered dehumanized. Dehumanization caused Elie to lose faith because the feeling of being helpless drained all of the hope left within him. One of the first things the Nazis did to humiliate the Jews was to make strip. An SS soldier yelled out, “Strip! Fast! Los! Keep only your belts and shoes in your hands…” (Wiesel 32). This was the last time any Jew was an individual. They were all given identical outfits to wear each day. Their heads were all shaved which also took away any individuality within the community. The