Darkness In Elie Wiesel's Night

The novel Night was written as a first hand account of the actual events that took place during the Holocaust nearing the end of the Second World War. This account of the Holocaust underlies themes, not only of the Holocaust, but also of World War 2 itself. Some of these themes include the theme of darkness, not just the title of the story, but the physical and non-physical senses of the word. Another of these themes includes faith, particularly in Judaism, but also religion all across the world as they pertain to various ethical and moral decisions. Throughout the novel, Elie continually fights his own morality. In the height of the Holocaust, Elie, as a small child, and his father were taken to a concentration camp where he and his father both were firm in their faith in God. …show more content…
One of the first encounters we see with darkness is the truck full of children that were thrown into the flaming crematoriums (N32). I personally believe this was the first time that Elie sees the darkness of the Nazi souls, and this, in my opinion, is a true showing of the evil of Hitler and his intent to rid the world of Judaism. The next instance of darkness is seen with the boy who was hanged, yet still alive. The man behind Elie asks ‘For God’s sake, where is God?’ but there was only silence (N65). This silence of God’s presence once again shows the darkness of the concentration camps having a complete lack of a compassionate God. The hanging of the boy reminds me of the story of Abraham nearly sacrificing his own son in the Bible as a test to his faith in God. Once told to sacrifice his own son, Abraham obediently complies, but right before jabbing the knife into his son, an angel saves Isaac, and tells Abraham that it was only a test of his faith (Genesis 22). But in the novel Night, this is just the opposite. There is no intervention by God, angels, or anyone else. There is only the darkness of the Nazi death