How Does Elie Wiesel Lose His Identity

“From the Depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me” (Page 115). When Elie Wiesel, the main character of “Night,” was 16, Poland was taken over by Germany and the Holocaust began. Elie, being a jew, was taken into a concentration camp for more than one torturous year, where he faced many challenges. These numerous difficulties in the camps caused Elie to change a lot. In “Night,” Elie Wiesel is changed by the Holocaust because he lost his identity, his opinion and relationship with his father and his religion.
While in Auschwitz, Elie Wiesel changed by losing his identity. He states, “I became A-7713”, and no longer had a name (page 42). This shows his loss of identity because he no longer felt unique, important, or noticeable. He …show more content…
Elie was a strong supporter of the Jewish religion before the Holocaust and even wanted to grow up to be a rabbi, but when the Holocaust happened, that changed. As Elie says, “What was there to thank him (God) for?” (Page 33). This shows how he starts thinking negatively about God and start leaning away from his religion, eventually giving up entirely. Later on, Elie says, “Blessed be God’s name… why should I bless Him?” (Page 67). What Elie is saying shows how he has given up on praising God and now is starting to rebel against him. Both of these show how he changed because he has now gone from supporting God and doing whatever he can to worship him, to rebelling against him.
In “Night,” Elie Wiesel changed in multiple ways, including losing his identity, turning against his father, and losing religion. This changed him for many reasons; first off, it made him more uncertain and scared, but simultaneously making him untrusting and selfish. Also, it gave him a sense of regret and sadness after he was freed because he didn’t even care when his father died. Finally, he changed by no longer believing in or supporting any deity. Who would Elie be if the holocaust never