As
Night begins, Eliezer is so moved by faith that he weeps when he prays. He is also searching for a deeper understanding of the mystical teachings of the Kabbalah. How does Eliezer's relationship with his faith and with God change as the book progresses?
During the time Eliezer had spent in concentration he faith began to slowly decrease. He lost all faith in God and the Kabbalah that he once studied. Eliezer would blame God for his constant beatings and hunger and for letting his people suffer. In the end I wasn't sure if he had regained his faith or not but what he did gain was a lot more faith in himself.
ReplyDeleteLeidi what a thoughtful post! Do you think you would have lost your faith also? Or would you have viewed God differently than Elie did?
ReplyDeleteWhat do the rest of you think about Elie's faith? Why did it change? Do you think your faith would have changed? Also, what happened to the faith of other characters during the story?
ReplyDeleteMariana
ReplyDeleteAs Elizer, moves from concentration camp to concentration camps his faith starts to diminish. He sees so much cruelty inflicted on the Jews, the marching on for days without no food or water and the beating they took from the Capos. The one scene that really changed his faith in God was when he saw so many children being burn at the crematory, but he wanted to live. The other character lost their faith. They did not believe anymore. I would not loose faith in God. Have faith in God and he will deliver
Christaly
ReplyDeleteEliezer grew up believing that everything in the world revolves and reflects around God and his power and his commitment to God. Throughout the book Elizer faith changed with the cruelty experience of the Holocaust and with the conflict of faith, but the end of "Night" he had faith in himself.When Elizer moves from concentration camp to concentration camp, he starts to see the cruelty and selfishness among the prisoners. He wonders about faith during the first night at the camp and the hanging of Pipel; which is one of the reasons why he lost faith in God and the Kabbalah. The other characters lost their faith, the did not believe in anything. If i was in that position i would not loose faith i would follow what i believe in and what my heart tells me and no one will change it.
Elizer most deffintly lost most of his faith in God while he was in the concentration camp. Most of the other characters in the story lost faith in their God as well. Even though he lost faith in God, i think he still had a little bit of faith inside of him because throughout the story, his courage and motivation increased. His title was a Jew and that's just what it was. There really was no point of trying to change religions because that was already what his title was and nobody can change that. I dont think it is unusal for him to loose most of his faith in God because if i was in his position, i would be iscolated and confused about my religion. I would ask God in my prayers, "Why do you do this to us? Are we not the right ones?" But what he needed to remember is that God does not answer in person. He answers in the spirit. What happened to the Jews only makes them a stronger religion and that is something that no one should forget. The Holocaust in general proves that religion is something useful in life. It build your self confidence and not only makes you have faith in your God but builds faith in yourself.
ReplyDeleteI notice a connection between Mariana's post and Christaly's: you both mention how seeing and experiencing such cruelty made him question his faith. Why do you think that is? Why do you think seeing/experiencing cruelty would make a person question his/her faith and God? Do you think this is similar to people questioning their faith when something bad happens (ex: getting sick with cancer, when people die, etc)? Why do people question God and their faith when bad things happen?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I agree with Anny that Elie's actions showed that he still had a little bit of faith left- I'm glad you noticed and mentioned that. I, also, would feel isolated and confused about my religion if I had to experience what he did.
Rosaurys
ReplyDeleteas the book progresses Elizers notices that there is really no point of praying to God when he is still letting the jew's go trough all of this torture. From my point of view, the last time that Elizer actually prayed was when he thought he was going to get craminated and he heard the chant of the dead,But Elizer mainly lost faith while moving troughout the concentration camps. Elizer lost faith in God but he gained faith in himself and that is what made him stronger troughtout this torture.
I agree with Anny in that religion is not something you can change or just stop beliving,And if i was in that same position i would'nt have exactly lost all of my faith but just question myself in why God would do such a thing as make me go trough this and why would he let such a thing happen to just anyone.
At the beginning of the book Eliezer is full of faith, and is really interested in knowing more about religion. Sadly, as the book progressed Eliezer lost his faith in God. As he continued to suffer Eliezer began to doubt God. He lost his faith, and he didn’t want to pray because he said that he didn’t have anything so thank God for. Eliezer also had a lot of anger toward God. He was mad that God allowed so many horrifying things to happen to the Jews and himself. Honestly, I understand why Eliezer lost so much of his faith in God. I don’t know whether I would loose, but I would question God for allowing awful things to happen. Eliezer and I are both children and we are raised thinking that God controls everything in the world. Knowing this, I would feel horrible. I would want to know why God allowed extremely bad things to happen to Jews. I would always ask why. I might loose a little bit of faith, but I would continue to pray. Ms.S, your question also got me thinking. I think people question God when bad things happen because a lot of us pray to God for help. When we see that God is not helping, and our problems remain the same we will begin to question God.
ReplyDeleteVisaury,
ReplyDeleteThe faith Elizer had compared to the one he then had after going into concentration camp changed alot. After entering concentration camp, Eliezer had lost most of his faith in God and the Kabbalah. One thing that really structed me, was when Eliezer had almost completly lost his faith in God that he really didn´t have a point to pray because he consider that he had nothing to thank him for. Another thing that struct me was that fact that Eliezer was mad at God. He blamed God for all the suffurings people went through, including himself. In respond to Ms. Stechmann´s question, to be honest I do not know if i would have lost faith in God or not. The reason why is because i can know say that i wont, but when I think and see myself in Eliezr possition, its complecated. The reason why is because after going through all that and have to see his father suffer, I too would have probaly lost my faith. To concluded, I do agree with the last part Elianes said. The fact that people question God when they are going through bad situations. Which I do not think is right, but we are all humans and humans make mistakes.
Nataly,
ReplyDeleteAt first he has is full faith in God and had a lot of interest in learning more about religion.As the book continues a little by little he loses faith in God. The more Eliezer suffered the less faith he had in God. Even though Eliezer was losing his faith I never really thought that he completely lost all his faith in God. He sort of was just mad at God and blaming God for all the bad things that had happened. The reason I say this is because he kept praying to god even though he was mad at him. At some moments he just decided to quit, he recovered from that shortly after he found out that things were getting better. So by the the end of the book he recovered his faith back. I think if I was Eliezer I would by angry also, but I would of kept my faith.