Loss of Faith in Elie Wiesel's Night Essay Example

More than 6 million people died in the Holocaust, so how did people survive with death constantly surrounding, and closing in on them? The book Night, by Elie Wiesel, takes the reader through the struggles of living in concentration camps as a teenage boy, and suggests that the only reason he survived was due to the little faith he had left. Prior to the camps, Wiesel’s main priority was to further develop his understanding of faith. While being in the concentration camps, Elie’s faith has been impacted, and the author reveals that Elie begins to question his beliefs. After being in the camps for so long, Elie loses faith in God and blames him for his experiences in the camps. Eventually, he starts to regain his faith, but not to the same level as before the Holocaust.

As a young boy, Elie devoted his life to God. At the beginning of the story, Elie reveals that his faith in his religion is so strong, that his main focus in life at that moment is learning about his faith with a deeper understanding. “I pray to the God within me for the strength to ask Him the real questions” (Wiesel 5).  Elie relies on God to answer his prayers and questions, and he believes in God with a fierce passion. In the same way, he believes in his religion extremely staunchly, he cries. “By day I would study Talmud, and by night I would run to the synagogue to weep over the destruction of the temple” (Wiesel 3). Elie has such a vigorous belief in God, that he spends most of his day practicing his religion. After struggling in the concentration camps, Elie's faith begins to diminish from the macabre events that occur.

 After arriving in the camps, it is disclosed that Elie begins to question his beliefs. Towards the middle of the story, the change in Elie’s faith becomes perceptible as he witnesses the execution of other prisoners. “Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever” (Wiesel 34). Elie comes to believe that everything he has experienced in the camps should not have happened if God was there to guide him. After seeing hundreds, possibly thousands of prisoners being murdered, Elie starts to lose his faith and recognizes that he is alone. “My eyes had opened and I was alone, terribly alone in a world without God, without man. Without love or mercy” (Wiesel 68). After witnessing the horrors of the camp, Elie comes to realize how horrific, and lonesome the camp is. Elie also believes that he no longer has any reason to fight any longer, and has almost completely lost faith in God.

God no longer plays a significant role in Elie’s life because Elie blames God for the sickening experiences in the camps. At the end of the book, it is divulged that Elie’s faith is no longer substantial in his life, and there is no longer any reason to continue fighting. “Suddenly, the evidence overwhelmed me: there was no longer any reason to live, any reason to fight” (Wiesel 99). At some point, being in the camp destroys you to the point where you no longer have the energy and motivation to fight. At the beginning of the story, it is shown Elie’s faith is so profound, that he cries, but towards the end, it is revealed that his faith is no longer there. “No prayers were said over his tomb. No candles it in his memory” (Wiesel 112). Elie has no faith left, not even enough to honor his father.

Dreadful experiences can make people realize what matters, and faith is crucial to survival. Elie’s faith at the beginning of the book is very intense and is his main focus in life, which is unusual for a young boy. In the middle of the story, the author reveals that the events in the camps cause Elie to question his faith. Gruesome events during the camp cause Elie to have a small amount of faith left at the end of the book, and he comes close to giving up. After Elie’s experience during the Holocaust, he has almost no faith left, but once they are liberated, he starts to regain his faith back.