Night

Night Religion has always explained the unknown in knowable terms. It has
created symbols for that which could not be known. This symbolism is so deeply
imbedded in our minds, cultures, and cosmology that it is rarely questioned from
inside the religious paradigms. From outside that paradigm, the religious
imagery loses its impact, its subliminal meaning. Religion functions to relieve
the anxiety of the absolute fact for each of us that we will die, that our family
will die, that our friends will die. Religion promises us that although we may
die, we will continue. And, if we believe, then our afterlife will be glorious.
Spirituality offers another perspective to this 'man-made' solution. The
spiritualistic belief is that of love for the fellow man instead of god; hospitals
instead of churches; deeds done rather than prayers said. Spirituality, although
bordering on atheism, seeks to understand and love, to find an ethical way of life
rather than turning to a higher being for the easy way out. In "Night" by Elie
Wiesel we see death of religion in a child because of absolute evil and
consequently, the embrace of spirituality. Separated from man made institutions,
the core of religion and spirituality must be preserved, if one is to survive in the
midst of horror. The Jewish religion was a key motivation to the citizens of
Sighet. To Jews religion is not only a method to achieve immortality, but a way
of life that must be holistically embraced. This all-consuming religion demands
total obedience and is a key motivation in the Jewish deportation and personal
surrender to Germany . Analyzing history, one sees the pattern of a Jewish
nomad lifestyle ,so deep is their faith, and moving on. "Night" is the first
episode where this blind faith could not save them. Spawning from this failure
of God is the genocide of millions at the hands of the Nazis. As young Eliezer
visits Auschwitz and witnesses this genocide first hand, his blind faith is quickly
revoked and in its place remains doubt, question and bitterness. "Never shall I
forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long
night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that
smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw
turned into a wreath of smoke beneath a silent blue sky." The novel highlights
the internal conflict Eliezer faces: the problem of religious conscience in all
aspects of his life. The problem that grows out of the religious conscience is the
division of life and the world. This is the inner division of our impulses, desires,
and aggressions bordering with the conditioned behavior of our religion. Eliezer
struggles with this guilt as he sees the failings of his God in the midst of the
horror. Torn between the refined perception of God, merciful and loving , and
the punishing God he witnesses in the camps, Eliezer attempts to dissect his
feelings and knowledge in order to determine whether God is indeed
compassionate or chastising. "What are you, my God" I thought angrily,
"compared to this afflicted crowd, proclaiming to you their faith, their anger,
their revolt? What does your greatness mean lord of the universe, in the face of
all this weakness, this decomposition and this decay? Why do you still trouble
their sick minds, their crippled bodies?" As Eliezer, a young child, witnesses the
slow agonizing death of the "young, sad angel", the reader sees the emergence of
his growing existentialism. No longer does he feel kinship with the Almighty:
instead feelings of loneliness and abandonment dominate the young child's
psyche. As the man behind him asks where God is, the young soul responds with
brutal truth: "God is dead." The death of this innocent child at the hands of an
unmerciful God reduces Eliezer's faith further, causing him to lose sight of the
Jewish faith that has been his foundation for so many years. "The child was still
alive…For more than half an hour he stayed there, struggling between life and
death, dying in slow agony under our eyes and we had to look him full in the
face. He was still alive when I passed in front of him. His tongue was still red,
his eyes were not glazed… Behind me I heard the same man asking: "Where is
God now?" and I heard a voice within me answer him: "Where is He? Here He
is, He is hanging on this gallows." As the novel comes to a conclusion God, and
religion as an institution, assume a cynical role: Eliezer recognizes the failings
of the Almighty. Rather than seeking sanctuary within the confines of a higher
deity, the author seeks revenge and a need to lay blame. Religion has fallen by
the wayside highlighting the void due to the millions of dead Jews. A
pessimistic young man , who recognized the lack of God as a savior, replaces
the young child with blind faith. Eliezer is faced with his own mortality as he
realizes his individual strength. This strength however, is ironic as it is all he has
left: the deity has deserted him altogether. "This day I had ceased to plead. I was
no longer capable of lamentation. On the contrary, I felt very strong. I was the
accuser, God the accused. My eyes were open and I was alone - terribly alone in
a world without God and without man, without love or mercy. I had ceased to be
anything but ashes, yet I felt myself to be stronger than the Almighty, to whom
my life had been tied for so long." As the groundwork of Eliezer's youth is
repeatedly annihilated, Eliezer becomes more disillusioned. This disillusionment
leads to further denunciation of God and religion. The core of Eliezer's morality
is preserved and manifests in the form of spirituality. No longer do man-made
dogmas dictate Eliezer's actions, but rather the innate morals he has, are
persevered. God loses significance as earthly effects take precedent: loyalty to is
father, family and man are become his main priority. "To break the ranks, to let
oneself slide to the edge of the road… My father's presence was the only thing
that stopped me … He was running at my side, out of breath, at the end of his
strength, at his wit's end. I had no right to let myself die. What would he do
without me? I was his only support. " At a very poignant time in Eliezer's life,
we see the revival of a god. Although religion and God are no longer of
significance, the familiar act of sending a prayer signifies the importance of
reinforcing his values of commitment and loyalty to his father. Eliezer
recognizes the abandonment of the Rabbi's son, and Eliezer's prayer, although
directed to God, keeps shape of a personal vow. Eliezer no longer relies on the
values and beliefs of the institution of religion, but rather bases his values on
personal spiritualistic beliefs. It is at this key transitional period in Eliezer's
growth that he recognizes the death of God and religion, but maintains an ethical
way of life: that of love and loyalty, consistent with his spirituality. "His son had
seen him losing ground, limping, staggering back to the rear of the column. He
had seen him. And he had continued to run on in front. Letting the distance
between them grow greater. A terrible thought loomed up in my mind: he had
wanted to get rid of his father! He had felt his father was growing weak, he had
believed the end was near and had sought separation in order to get rid of the
burden… and in spite of myself, a prayer rose in my heart, to that God in whom
I no longer believed. My God, Lord of the Universe, give me strength never to
do what Rabbi Eliahou's son has done." Mankind will always be a mixture of
good and evil, it is in this balance however that we find the internal conflict that
Eliezer struggled with throughout the novel. "Night" presents its audience with a
range of beliefs: atheism bordering on spirituality, bordering on orthodox
religion. Although making no hard-line judgments about the preferred path to
follow, the significance of having morals and maintaining a value system is not
overlooked. As Elie illustrates, in the midst of absolute evil, when all else is
stripped away, who you are and what you