Examples Of Faith In Night By Elie Wiesel

Faith is to have confidence in somebody or something. Faith provides a purpose for living and gives life direction. Although it may provide stability, faith often changes. Change is handled in many different ways. Some say that change is good and many also say that it is bad and that change affects lives. Change in faith is present in Elie Wiesel’s novel, Night. In the novel, Elie is a young boy going through the Holocaust. At the beginning he is a person full of faith and has a purpose in his life; however, after witnessing horrific matters he begins to lose all faith. Throughout the time Elie spends in the concentration camps , Elie witnesses barbaric events such as Jews turning on other Jews that makes him lose his faith in God and himself.

The beginning of the novel starts with Elie in his home town, Sighet. Elie was a normal boy he went to school, had friends and studied Torah. Elie had a good relationship with his Father they got into a few fights for instance, Elie wanted to learn Kabbalah and his Father thought that he was too young to learn Kabbalah. Elie Studied

Kabbalah with Moshe the Beadle, his tutor. Elie's main motivations were Judaism and learning about Kabbalah. “Why did I pray? Strange Question. Why did I live? Why did I breathe?” Elie's purpose in life was to follow and learn as much as he could about his religion. Judaism guided him through life and he always turned to Judaism when he was in trouble or when he was happy.
When Elie was on the train and at the concentration camp he became a different person and his faith changed.

He loses his faith in many ways, one way was how he lost his faith in the Jewish community. Keep her quiet! Make that mad woman shut up. She’s not the only one here…”. ()Elie realized that people will kill one another in order to save their lives. He also realized that the sense of community is lost and it is every man for themselves. When the Jews were on the train they passed by a town. “In the Wagon where the bread had landed, a battle had ensued. Men were hurling themselves at each other, trampling, tearing, at and mauling each other. (101). The Jewish community is supposed to be a very supportive community. Seeing Jews fight and kill each other and being selfish at times where the community needs to stick together makes his faith in the Jewish community was completely

lost.
Elie was a big believer in God. He always turned to God when he needed something. But as the holocaust began, he kept on having a reason why not to believe in God. .“Then the entire camp, block after block,, filled past the hanged boy and stared at his extinguished eyes, the tongue hanging from his gaping mouth” (62-63). Elie decided that it was not necessary to fast in forgiveness for a God that they did not believe in. “Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky. Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever.” (Wiesel 34). Elie Wiesel included this poem in his book to show how horrific his experiences were and how he witnesses tragic things, and how he couldn't comprehend how the God that he believed would allow these events to occur. He doesn't believe in god, therefore and doesn't need to ask for forgiveness. But as the book comes to an end Elie writes about how he is after while he is old and he says that he made peace with God and that while he was alive he believed in God.
In conclusion, Elie Wiesel’s faith and belief in God and the Jewish community Changed. After seeing atrocious matters happening right in his face Elie for instance when those children were being burned and killed. After the Holocaust Elie Wiesel was a changed man and would never be the same as he once was.