The interminable days consumed his thoughts and extracted his strength little by little. How could one possibly have the resilience to continue pushing forward? In the memoir, the author explains the night of arrival in the form of a poem. The experience is forever engraved in Elie’s memories and the poem is the message of the book. The repetition of the words “Never shall I forget”, emphasizes the scarring this experience left on him. “Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes” (pg. 34). At this point in his journey, he was two steps away from death. However, they were taken to barracks immediately before. The poem represents Elie’s first loss of faith in God. Fatigue consumed all the Jews and Elie no longer had fear even when God wasn’t there to turn to. The poem is the backbone of the memoir and is referenced throughout the book. The mere thought of babies becoming nothing but ash was a permanent image in the author’s head. How could God authorize this corruption and not be capable of stopping it? These feelings shot throughout Elie’s body and mind and there was absolutely nothing he could do about …show more content…
Not only did this lift the spirits of all Jews but it helped everyone get the proper amounts of rest that all of them desperately needed. The idea of fasting was brought up and the irony of it all was that they were not eating plentiful amounts to begin with. “We needed to show God that even here, locked in hell, we were capable of singing His praises. 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” (pg. 69). Religion attempts to give answers about the meaning of life that seems chaotic and impossible. The Holocaust however, doubted the reasons of religion and was so destructive, it raised contemplation about God and the world around us. Elie and his father lost faith in God and endured many inhumane movements to the extent of no longer wanting to live in a world without the presence of God. The day Elie’s father passed away, he felt free and no longer had the weight on his shoulders. He did not cry because he had no tears left in him. He did not have the strength to cry and for that, he was angry with God. One day when he was able to get up, he looked at himself in a mirror. All that he saw was a corpse. Eliezer believes that without hope and faith, and after witnessing the unimaginable tragedies of the Holocaust, he should have just been