Night1

A detailed Summary of Night1

Night by Elie Wiesel is a compelling story of one boy's survival of the Holocaust. Elie starts describing his early years in the town of Sighet in Transylvania. Here his father was a prominent member of the Jewish community and Elie devotes his entire life to his religious beliefs. "During the day I studied the Talmud, and at night I ran to the synagogue to weep over the destruction of the Temple." His beliefs ran so deep that he would always weep when praying without knowing why. When asked why he prayed he responded,

'"I don't know why." He then asked himself, Why do I pray? A strange question. Why did I live? Why did I breathe?'

This alone shows a passion for his beliefs that is often overlooked in today's society. As a young boy of twelve, his way of life was deeply shaped by his religious sensibilities. As his life went on, a horrible act of humankind not only destroyed his family, his way of life, his people, but also his conception of God. It is this destruction that he focuses on and explains as only a person who has lived through such a horror can.

The central thesis of Night focuses on one little boy's experiences during the Holocaust. The strength he found for survival, the friendships that he made, and the dehu

From this point on, the experiences compound upon this feeling of a death of faith.

"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 wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky.

Elie had not been at Birkenau for an entire day when already he felt his first revolt against God. As they stood waiting for their destiny, someone began to recite the Kaddish, the prayer for the dead. " ' Yitgadal veyitkadach shme raba...May His name be blessed and magnified...'whispered my father. For the first time, I felt revolt rise up in me. Why should I bless His name? The Eternal, lord of the Universe, and All-Powerful and Terrible, was silent. What had I to thank Him for?" However, a few steps later when he was face to face with death, he himself started to recite the same prayer as his father had. He may have recited this prayer, but it was not a heart-felt prayer. It was a prayer he had been taught since birth. That first night in the camp was the turning point for Elie's life.

manizing treatment he and others experienced are detailed in this book. It was this experience in his life that turned him away from his God that he grew up worshipping and loving. His memoirs focus on this turn away from God and why a young boy of twelve no longer believed.

Elie began his life simple enough. His world evolved around God. In the spring of 1944, Elie's world changed. All of a sudden he was not allowed to worship in public. All synagogues were shut down. Families still continued to meet in houses to worship. Then life became a little rougher and the Jews were moved out of their homes. Even though during this time there was little food, they still maintained religious practices such as fasting. Elie and his family had deep religious convictions. It was the events to follow that caused him to curse God.

And, as though he had repented of having spoken such words, so clipped, so cold, he added in his faint voice:

'"It's the end. God is no longer with us."

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Approximate Word count = 1705
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Religion