Blog #3 - Izzy Cone

A common theme that I often find in the novel “Night” is faith, and the loss of faith that Elie Wiesel experiences. As he goes through many heart-wrenching events throughout the book, his faith loosens, and he becomes much less observant than he was before he went to the concentration camps. “What are You, my God? I thought angrily. How do You compare to this stricken mass gathered to affirm to You their faith, their anger, their defiance...Why do you go on troubling these poor people’s wounded minds, their ailing bodies?” (Wiesel 66). Elie is extremely upset at God, not only because he felt hurt, but also his father, and everyone else suffering with him. This point of the novel was before he became more of a sociopath who only thought about himself. Elie is angry because in his faith, God is the one who makes the life plans for his disciples. Growing up believing that God is all knowing and kind makes it even harder and much more shocking for a young child to go through this. In present day, when someone says or does something that you find hurtful, you start to think that person does not care about you, or love you the way you thought they did. That is the feeling of betrayal that Wiesel constantly experiences. “But now, I no longer pleaded for anything. I was no longer able to lament. On the contrary, I felt very strong. I was the accuser, God was the accused.” (Wiesel 68). Although he is betrayed by his own higher power, Elie gains a sense of strength from the freedom he gets from not being constrained by the belief that once gave him hope.