Chloe McGraw 1

Chloe McGraw

Ms. Vitello

Advanced Composition

11 December 2017

Final Rough Draft

Elie Wiesel's Night is about the catastrophic events that he went through as a child. In his

memoir, he tells his story about what happens to him and his family in the Holocaust during

World War II. Throughout the story, Elie Wiesel loses his faith. However, in the beginning, his

religion is very prominent in his everyday life. Wiesel still continues to devote himself to

studies, Talmud during the day and Kabbalah at night. (8). In the memoir Night, Elie Wiesel

tells his story through his loss of faith in God and his religion through the harsh conditions of

Auschwitz.

The first evidence of Elie Wiesel losing his faith is when his family leaves their home

while being transported to the concentration camps. Wiesel looks at his house in which he has

spent years seeking his God, fasting to hasten the coming of the Messiah, imagining what his life

will be like later. Yet, he felt sadness and his mind was empty (55). His confidence in his faith

has not yet died, however he leaves some of it behind at his childhood home. The second

evidence of his loss of faith is when his family arrives at Auschwitz. Wiesels father recites a

Jewish prayer and Wiesel reacts by thinking, For the first time, I felt anger rising within me.

Why should I sanctify his name? (33). He reacts this way because he begins to lose confidence

in his faith and in his God.

As the memoir continues, Wiesels dad is not losing faith, even though his son is. When

Wiesel and his father leave for the concentration camp, they leave Tzipora, Wiesels sister, and
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his mother behind because they go to a separate concentration camp (33). Wiesel wonders, How

we would have liked to believe that mother and Tzipora might still be in camp. We pretended, for

what if one of us still did believe (34). Wiesel and his father hope that Tzipora, his sister, and

his mother are still alive. Wiesel knows deep down that this is just wishful thinking, however his

father does not know this. This quote is a metaphor for Wiesels faith in his God. He has false

hope in God and does not believe that He has kept his sister and mother alive.

Towards the end of the memoir, chaos breaks out. The SS surround the Jews and begin

shooting towards them with machine guns (64). As the SS surround a young pipel to tie a noose

around his neck, a man shouts, Where is merciful God, where is he? (64). Following that,

another man cried, For Gods sake, where is God? (65). Wiesel hears a voice from within his

mind calling out, Where He is? This is where hanging here from this gallows (65). Wiesel

feels as if the Germans have murdered his God and his faith, along with the Jews.

As Elie Wiesel and his father continued their march, they were coming closer and closer

to the pit, from which an infernal heat was rising Deep down, Elie was saying goodbye to his

father, to the whole universe, and against his will he found himself whispering the words: May

his name be exalted and sanctified (64). When Wiesel writes this, we see evidence of him taking

a step back from him originally losing his faith. He was starting to lose faith, but in times of

worry he still reaches out to God, while still doubting him.

In the memoir, Wiesel writes a poem about sights he shall never forget. He says, Never

shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever Never shall I forget those moments

that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes Never shall I forget those

things, even were I condemned to live as long as God himself (75). Wiesel writes this poem

because he is seeing his people being murdered right in front of him. He also feels as if his God
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was murdered as well. While the other men were speaking of God and his mysterious ways,

Wiesel ceased to pray (75). Even though it seems like Wiesel is rebelling against his religion,

he says, I was not denying His existence, but I doubted His absolute justice (75). This reveals

that he has lost faith, however he still believes in God at least a little bit.

In the memoir Night, Elie Wiesel loses his faith through the harsh conditions of the

concentration camps. Wiesel is devoted to his faith from the moment he was born. However,

while he is a prisoner in Auschwitz, he sees his fellow Jews being murdered along with his faith.

Throughout his journey of the Holocaust, he continues to lose confidence in his faith. At the end

of the memoir, he still had not gained it back. This memoir is a perfect example of how tough

times can cause a person to lose confidence in something that they believe the most in.
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Works Cited

Wiesel, Elie. Night. New York: Hill and Wang. 2006. Print.