CC Blog #2

A particular theme that I have noticed multiple times is Elie’s loss in his religious beliefs. Even though he has not lost all faith in what he believes/believed in, it is very apparent to me that he no longer has the same comfort and confidence in what he was so intent with in the past.

On the contrary, I felt very strong. I was the accuser, God the accused. My eyes had opened and I was alone, terribly alone in a world without God, without man. Without love or mercy. I was nothing but ashes now, but I felt myself to be stronger than this Almighty to whom my life had been bound for so long. In the midst of these men assembled for prayer, I felt like an observer,a stranger. P. 68

This is where Elie has really lost his intense love of his faith. He says “I felt like an observer, a stranger.” which, at least to me seems like he doesn’t feel as close to God as he used to, or that he is questioning whether God exists at all.

Why, but why would I bless him? Every fiber in me rebelled. Because He caused thousands of children to burn in His mass graves? Because He kept six crematoria working day and night, including Sabbath and the Holy Days? Because in His great might, He had created Auschwitz, Birkenau, Buna, and so many other factories of death? How could I say to Him: Blessed be Thou, Almighty, Master of the Universe, who chose us among all nations to be tortured day and night, to watch as our fathers, our mothers, our brothers end up in the furnaces? Praised be Thy Holy Name, for having chosen us to be slaughtered on Thine altar? P. 67

I think these are very powerful in the sense that Elie was so devoted to his religion, and then he starts losing almost all faith in something that was so important in his life. These are just a few of the examples in Night of how Elie is starting to lose his comfort in what he was so invested in for such a long time.