Summary:
In his memoir, Night, author Elie Wiesel recalls his experiences as a young Jewish boy in a Nazi death camp. Throughout his ordeals, he develops a renewed relationship with his father and with God.
In his memoir, Night, author Elie Wiesel recalls his experiences as a young Jewish boy in a Nazi death camp. The narrative begins with Wiesel and his family living in Sighet, Romania, when the plot of the story begins to unfold. Soon afterward, the Jewish people are deported, and the horrifying events of the Holocaust are revealed. Throughout the story, Wiesel describes the atrocities that took place during this period of genocide during World War II. As the story progresses, various relationships that Wiesel holds with certain individuals evolve, and these changes contribute to his survival. Two such characters that the author relates to through his horrifying experiences are God and his father.
Wiesel starts out in the story as a firm believer in God; however, his faith in and relationship with God begins to change as a result of his agonizing experiences. Despite constantly being on the verge of life and death, Wiesel is able to carry on, partially because of this correspondence with God. At the beginning of the novel, Wiesel claims that "[he believes] profoundly." (1) The author has a naive, yet strong, faith in God at an early age, and he is constantly studying the Talmud and spending time in the Temple with his religious mentor, Moshe the Beadle. Months later, the Jews are placed in the ghettos, and then are expelled in cattle cars soon after. During the transport, the Jewish people receive false hope of good conditions in the labor camps, so "[they give] thanks to God." (24) Wiesel and his fellow Jews are not aware of the grim future that awaits them, so they are still optimistic and devoted to God while their confidence is still soaring. Unfortunately, hope cannot survive in gruesome times and places. As Wiesel witnesses the horrors of the Holocaust for himself, "[he feels] revolt rise up in [him]." (31) The author wonders for what purpose he should bless or thank God when He is silent against the carnage that is taking place. During his stay at Auschwitz, young Wiesel "[does] not deny God's existence, but [he doubts] His absolute justice." (42) He ceases to pray and sympathizes with Job, a biblical figure who underwent trials of his own. Wiesel is ashamed at his God for allowing the Holocaust to be carried out. Wiesel's commitment to God is degraded even further when a young pipel is hanged on the gallows. As the boy struggles in his noose for over a half-hour, prisoners ask where God could possibly be. Wiesel hears a voice inside himself proclaiming that "[God] is hanging [there] on [the] gallows." (62) On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, Wiesel is again troubled by feelings of revulsion at his God. He considers himself "the accuser [and] God the accused." (65) In addition, on Yom Kippur, Wiesel refuses to fast partly because "[he] no longer [accepts] God's silence." (66) Although he openly rebels against God, there is now a void in the author's heart, causing him to feel alone and empty. Many prisoners lose hope, and even more conclude that God is no longer with them. Wiesel himself does not bother to mention God or his increasing lack of faith in Him for the rest of his novel, although his separation from God has assisted in his survival. Because the author realizes God will not answer the Jewish people's calls for help, Wiesel understands that his life is in his own hands and he must survive without help. The changes in Wiesel's relationship with God are noticeable, since the author's faith in God rapidly deteriorates as the story develops. These differences in Wiesel's devotion to God affect him deeply and assist in helping him to survive this nightmare.
In addition to his relationship with God, Wiesel also mentions how the association between his father and him is altered from the beginning to the end of the story. Like his involvement with God, Wiesel's bond with his father also aids in developing what is ultimately his will to survive. Before he experiences life at the Nazi death camps, Wiesel has almost no relationship with his father. Wiesel feels that his father "[is] more concerned with others than with his own family." (2) Chlomo, Wiesel's father, is a well-respected, though unsentimental, Jewish community leader. At their arrival at Birkenau, Wiesel and his father are separated from the mother and three sisters. Immediately, Wiesel "[has] one thought - not to lose [his father]." (27) Being parted from the rest of the family devastates the author, and he realizes he must hold on to his father for the both of them to outlive their experiences. Shortly after, an aggressive gypsy strikes Wiesel's father. To his surprise, Wiesel does not "[sink] his nails into the criminal's flesh" (37) like he would have done on any other day.
Wiesel is unsure of what has become of him and why he resisted retaliation, even after his father tells Wiesel everything is fine. The growing aloofness of Wiesel for his father begins at this point. At Buna, the overseer for the Wiesels' block is Idek, who is well known for his fits for rage. One of these tantrums is eventually directed at Wiesel's father. As his father is beaten, Wiesel is horrified that the "anger he feels at the moment is directed... against [his] father." (37) His anger stems from his father's inability to avoid Idek's blows, and the author realizes it is concentration camp life that has made him feel like this. However, Wiesel is not completely ignorant of his father; they still rely and care about each other when many people are concerned only with their own survival. When Wiesel regains consciousness after Idek whips him, he figures that "[his father] must [suffer] more than [he does]." (56) Despite earlier feelings of irritation towards his father, Wiesel is still worries about his father and his well-being. After the stroke of midnight signals the New Year, Wiesel goes to wish his father a happy one. They are both silent, but Wiesel claims that the both of them "[have] never understood one another so clearly." (65) The bond between father and son still exists and it prevents them from leaving each other's sides. When Wiesel's father is chosen in the selection, Wiesel "[feels] that [he will] break into sobs." (71) Wiesel is still anxious for the safety of his father, and he ceaselessly worries about him until news comes that his father has passed the decisive selection. During the evacuation from Buna, prisoners are required to march the entire way to Buchenwald, through freezing cold and heavy snow. The author recalls that "[his] father's presence [is] the only thing" (82) that motivates him to keep going. Wiesel later runs into Rabbi Eliahou, who is looking for his son. It dawns on Wiesel that the son is trying to run ahead without the Rabbi to get rid of him. Wiesel is horrified by this and prays to the God he no longer believes in to "give [him] strength never to do what Rabbi Eliahou's son has." (87) Wiesel's relationship with his father has not died, and he knows that being together with him will encourage each other to continue. At one point, Wiesel's father is selected again, so the author "[creates] such confusion" (91) that several selected people can make it back to the side with healthy people. Later, as the prisoners are rounded back into cattle cars, Wiesel's father is almost thrown out because some people think he is dead. Wiesel "[sets] to work to slap [his father] as hard as [he can]" (94) to get him to move and prove himself to be alive. These examples all demonstrate how Wiesel's bond with his father is strong, in spite of the horrors that surround them. Even though the author's father has become very sickly and suffers from dysentery, Wiesel still "[holds] onto [his] father's hand." (99) The same, old fear or losing his father begins to trouble Wiesel's mind again. Wiesel may be looking after his father, but, in his mind, he wishes that he could be rid of him. Ashamed at these thoughts, Wiesel attends to his father's needs, and he imagines that he "[brings his father] more satisfaction than [he has] done during [his] whole childhood" (101) with his help now. Wiesel's father eventually dies, and although he is guilty for not shedding tears, the author believes he will have felt, if he searched hard enough, "free at last!" (106) Wiesel later proclaims that "after [his] father's death, nothing [can] touch [him] any more." He no longer includes details in his novel because he is indifferent to what happens when his father is not longer with him. As Wiesel's story presses forward, audiences can distinguish the changes that are occurring in the relationship between Wiesel and his father. Just as evident is how this connection between father and son has helped the author endure his appalling experiences.
Elie Wiesel, in his firsthand account Night, describes how his outlook on certain people has changed as the story moves forward. Two individuals that Wiesel changes a relation with as he goes through his terrifying experiences are God and his father. It is because of these relationships and how they evolve through the story that support is given to Wiesel's continued existence. Because Wiesel has been able to withstand his ordeal, he is capable of writing his own account of what he has seen in the Holocaust. Thus, what makes Wiesel's novel so important is that it is a direct explanation of the horrors of a Nazi death camp through the eyes of someone who has experienced it for himself. The subject matter of which Wiesel writes recaptures the imagery of one of the most infamous events of the 20th century and reminds us that if history is forgotten, it will be repeated.
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