In the novel Night by Elie Wiesel, many Jews began to question their faith. Thousands of men stood outside praying in the cold dark, begging to a god that yields no response. Elie is suddenly engulfed with fury for his God: “ You have betrayed, allowing them to be tortured, slaughtered, gassed, and burned, what do they do? They pray before You! They praise your name!”(68). He was baffled that for committing to a belief he was brutalized, and his faith provided no aid. He then truly began to distrust his beliefs and questioned the intention of his God: “ I was the accuser, God the accused. My eyes had opened and I was alone in a world without God, without man”(68). He felt stronger for his doubt, but in a crowd of men, he was isolated. In the days of Yom Kippur, the Jewish traditionally fast. Elie was further conflicted by the idea that in the midst of starvation one is asked to fast. Elie did not participate and broke away from his religious restraints: “ I did not fast. First to please my father who had forbidden me to do so. And then, there was no longer any reason to for me to fast. I no longer accepted God’s silence. As I swallowed my ration of soup, I turned that act into a symbol of rebellion, of protest against Him. And as I nibbled on my crust of bread. Deep inside me, I felt a great void opening.” (69) Elie’s separation from his faith allowed him to make decisions indifferent to his morals or emotions. It instilled a numbness in him that allowed him to survive through excruciating pain.
Learning about the Holocaust has had a great impact on me. Previously I had little knowledge of its existence, now I know of its horrific impact on our past and present. It's difficult to comprehend the suffering these people went through. Even though it's devastating to process we have to understand so that we don't make the same mistakes. Nadia Murad’s article filled me with empathy as well as anger. Our world is still infected with thriving hatred, people are truly suffering. As citizens of a free country, we must take action, support survivors and give them justice. We need to stop squabbling over the small things and fight for human rights.
Ever,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your thoughts on this specific aspect of Night. I actually did the same thing for my blog post. I believe that he was loosing hope because of how horrible the situation was. Also the fact that it wasn't getting any better. What do you think?
Ever, I agree with what you wrote, and I thought it was interesting how you talked about how he suffered for being jewish. You worded that part very well.
ReplyDeleteOverall, your post was very well written and put together.