Eliezer Wiesel Religion

“From the depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me. The look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me” (Wiesel 115). Eliezer Wiesel wrote the last statement of his accounts with a meaningful tone. He drifted between life and death during his extensive journey. Before his numerous encounters of adversities, he was always looking up to God for the right answer, following in his father’s successful footsteps, and perceiving the world as a constant place of comfort and security. In Eliezer Wiesel’s memoir, he examines how his own view of religion, his father, and the world around him changes as he faces the cruel truth of reality. Eliezer was known as a strict person in his religion who always stayed in the house of study as told. During his childhood, he studied diligently with Moishe the Beadle as his mentor. Moishe was a strong, religious man who always spoke of God and his wonders. He endured the small massacre of foreign Jews by the Gestapo, witnessing people being killed with no hesitation or remorse. He returned to Sighet to

In the past, he felt comfortable with the world he lived in. He was content with only focusing on his religious studies and nothing else. When Moishe came back with news of concentration camps, no one believed or listened to him, including Elie. He felt secure because of the things his father had told him. As the threat came closer and closer to the Jews of Sighet, Elie tried to stay optimistic. He did not view the world as a place of disaster and felt like God would protect him even if disaster did strike. However, losing two of the most important aspects of his life, his father and belief in God, caused him to wake up. Eliezer’s view on the world changed dramatically through watching the impassive massacre of innocent people and going through the deaths of this entire family all