Introduction
The manner in which Eliezer struggles with his faith in God is portrayed throughout the novel. In the beginning, the faith he has in God is strong. This is evident when he asks himself, “Why did I live? Why did I breathe?” (Wiesel).
This shows how absolute his faith in an omnipotent God is and it is impossible for him to survive without faith in a divine power. At first, Eliezer’s faith is seen as a product of the studies he had done concerning Jewish mysticism. Those studies taught him that everything in the world emanates from a divine source. This means that all things that exist on this earth are a reflection of God’s power and holiness. According to those teachings, the world must be good because God exists everywhere. However, the experiences he had during the holocaust shook his faith in God. Although the cruelty that Eliezer experienced during the Holocaust made him question God’s existence and omnipresence, he still kept his faith.
The truth about humankind
When the cruelty of the holocaust takes effect, Eliezer’s faith in God comes into question. He wonders how a holy God can accept the Jewish massacre. The selfishness among the Jewish prisoners also baffles him. If the Jewish prisoners would unite and rise against the Nazis, this would somehow make him understand that the Nazis are a group of cruel oppressors. However, the experiences he had during the Holocaust bring about the sense that every human being, including himself, is capable of being selfish, cruel and evil. This raises the point that if human beings have such negative characteristics, so does God. He also starts to question God’s existence as a result of the cruelty he experiences.
Eliezer’s commitment to God
Eliezer’s realization that all human beings have the potential to be cruel and bear unpleasant characteristics appears to diminish his faith. Nevertheless, he is somehow able to keep some of this faith as he carries on. His many experiences make him question his faith in God. He starts asking why he should keep thanking and praising God when “The Eternal, Lord of the Universe, the All-Powerful and Terrible was silent” (Bloom 153), and even “going as far as to proclaim Him dead” (Fisher and Silber 213). It is, however, understood that by questioning God for the bad things that are happening and the cruelty he is experiencing, this demonstrates his commitment to God. He would have chosen to abandon the beliefs he had in God altogether. Instead, he chose to seek answers to why such cruelty is taking place.
Conclusion
From the novel, it is clear that Eliezer’s faith is at its lowest when he is going through hard times. It is during the Holocaust that he appears to question his previous belief that the world is good because God is good. However, Wiesel brings about the reality that even though Eliezer seems to have given up on God, he still holds divinity high regard. For instance, he turns to prayer when he realizes that his father is dying and when he dies, Eliezer regrets not holding a religious memorial in his honor. In the final chapters of the novel, it is evident that though the experiences of the Holocaust have dealt a heavy blow to Eliezer’s faith, his beliefs concerning God remain intact.
Works Cited
Bloom, Harold. Elie Wiesel’s Night. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2010. Print.
Fisher, Jerilyn, and Ellen S. Silber. Women in Literature: Reading through the Lens of Gender. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003. Print.
Wiesel, Elie. “Night”. SparkNotes. n.d. Web.