Elie Wiesel Silence

“And yet, having lived through this experience, one could not keep silent no matter how difficult, if not impossible, it was to speak” (Wiesel introduction). Elie Wiesel introduces his tragic memoir Night with the fact that silence was not the answer for victims of atrocities. This memoir depicts Elie Wiesel’s experiences at Auschwitz, one of the cruelest concentration camps during the Holocaust. Through the pain and seemingly eternal silence that fell upon the victims, a voice needed arise to shed light on the broken actions in the world. Elie Wiesel, in his memoir Night, reminds the world that “silence” or “indifference” to atrocities committed anywhere is an unacceptable answer to those in need.
“What is indifference? Etymologically, the word means "no difference." A strange and unnatural state in which the lines blur …show more content…
“Why should I sanctify his name? The Almighty, the eternal and terrible master of the universe, chose to be silent” (Wiesel 33). Teenage Weisel cries out for the breaking of silence from the ‘Almighty’ because he feels that even his saviour has grown silent in such times. Over the duration of his time in Auschwitz, his anger clearly grew based on his writing, “I no longer accepted God’s silence. As I swallowed my ration of soup, I turned that act into a symbol of rebellion, of protest against him” (Wiesel 64). The atrocity that surrounded his teenage self withered not only his physical and emotional health, but his spiritual. The silence that surrounded him chipped away at his soul. In an interview with Oprah, Wiesel expressed his anger towards God once again - years later. It is evident though, that his relationship with his savior was on the mend when he said, “At least God can say, ‘Who are you to understand me?’... but the world’s silence is different. I don’t understand it.” Wiesel expresses a peace with God over the silence, but is still distraught with the