Wiesel’s Father-Son Relationship Replacing His Faith
In concentration camps during World War II, relationships were often torn apart. When arriving in the camps, family relationships were often disregarded with half of a family going straight to the crematories. Whatever sort of relation could be salvaged was clung to, even when letting go was the best option. In his memoir Night, Elie Wiesel, prolific author and Nobel Peace Prize winner, recounts his relationships with his god, which was the foundation of his early life, and his father, who became his motivation for carrying on. Just as often as his father was a help, he was a burden. As Wiesel’s relationship with his god is destroyed, Wiesel relies on a relationship with his father, which …show more content…
Such as, Wiesel shows that the concept of not fully trusting in the relationship with his god is foreign through proclaiming, “For the first time, I felt revolt rise up in me. Why should I bless His name?” (31). These thoughts come for the first time when Wiesel and his father go through Birkenau passing burning Jews of all ages. In these horrific moments, Wiesel 's relationship begins to show signs of strain. As the account of Wiesel’s terrible time continues, the relationship between Wiesel and his god becomes a tattered shadow of what once was so evident. Notably, Wiesel makes the reader feel the change in the relationship by simply stating, “I had ceased to pray” (42). Vastly different from the boy in the beginning of the memoir, Wiesel shows himself as torn from his god in one of the most fundamental ways which they were once connected. Throughout Wiesel’s time in the concentration camps, his relationship with his god eventually reduces to nothing. Most significantly, Wiesel embodies the entirety of his relationship with his god when writing about how he felt during Yom Kippur in the concentration: “Once, I had believed profoundly that upon one solitary deed of mine, one solitary prayer, depended the salvation of the world. This day I had ceased to plead.” (65). His attitude toward the purpose of his religion completely changes. Wiesel, to further show his defiance toward his god, continues, “I was alone [...] in a world without God [...] I felt myself to be stronger than the Almighty” (65). The perils of the concentration camp force Wiesel, and many of the Jews, to drop their once strong relationships with their god and leave them with the choice to find a new motivation for life or to fall aside and
In concentration camps during World War II, relationships were often torn apart. When arriving in the camps, family relationships were often disregarded with half of a family going straight to the crematories. Whatever sort of relation could be salvaged was clung to, even when letting go was the best option. In his memoir Night, Elie Wiesel, prolific author and Nobel Peace Prize winner, recounts his relationships with his god, which was the foundation of his early life, and his father, who became his motivation for carrying on. Just as often as his father was a help, he was a burden. As Wiesel’s relationship with his god is destroyed, Wiesel relies on a relationship with his father, which …show more content…
Such as, Wiesel shows that the concept of not fully trusting in the relationship with his god is foreign through proclaiming, “For the first time, I felt revolt rise up in me. Why should I bless His name?” (31). These thoughts come for the first time when Wiesel and his father go through Birkenau passing burning Jews of all ages. In these horrific moments, Wiesel 's relationship begins to show signs of strain. As the account of Wiesel’s terrible time continues, the relationship between Wiesel and his god becomes a tattered shadow of what once was so evident. Notably, Wiesel makes the reader feel the change in the relationship by simply stating, “I had ceased to pray” (42). Vastly different from the boy in the beginning of the memoir, Wiesel shows himself as torn from his god in one of the most fundamental ways which they were once connected. Throughout Wiesel’s time in the concentration camps, his relationship with his god eventually reduces to nothing. Most significantly, Wiesel embodies the entirety of his relationship with his god when writing about how he felt during Yom Kippur in the concentration: “Once, I had believed profoundly that upon one solitary deed of mine, one solitary prayer, depended the salvation of the world. This day I had ceased to plead.” (65). His attitude toward the purpose of his religion completely changes. Wiesel, to further show his defiance toward his god, continues, “I was alone [...] in a world without God [...] I felt myself to be stronger than the Almighty” (65). The perils of the concentration camp force Wiesel, and many of the Jews, to drop their once strong relationships with their god and leave them with the choice to find a new motivation for life or to fall aside and