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Night Essay Compendium

Freewrite #1:

How has Elie’s faith changed throughout the novel? Think of examples or scenes from the
memoir to support your ideas.

The freewrite must be at least 1 page in complete sentences.

Elie’s faith changed throughout the novel through his overall speech in his prayer and his

attitude towards life. This change is shown through Elie’s progression in Auschwitz and

throughout his story. In the beginning of the story, Elie is so pious that he actually cries over and

prays at the ruins of a destroyed temple in town, that he never even attended! After a few months

to a year, Elie begins to question god for his supposed cruelty. In time, he starts to directly defy

god. One strong example of this is his refusal to fast during Rosh Hashana. In the Jewish

religion, people often fast or refuse to eat for periods as long as one week. This act of defiance is

a turning point in the story. From that point on, Elie seems to turn into a mindless slave of the

Nazi tyranny. He is no longer religious and seems to barely have the will to live. Elie’s faith is

also altered through his loss in trust for god. On numerous instances, he exhibits malicious

sarcasm towards god in is prayers. Elie acts like a jerk and blames god for all of the evils

commited in the Holocaust. After Elie’s father dies, he actually states that there was no more

reason for him to live. This displays Elie’s dislike for god, and as a result, his inner numbness

and abandonment of god. He attempts to push himself away from god many times in the story,

and he ends up with quite Atheistic perspectives throughout the progression of the novel

“Night”. In conclusion, Elie begins “Night” as an extremely devout boy, but ends up losing all

hope and faith.


Freewrite #2:

Pretend that you are the modern day Elie Wiesel who wrote “A Prayer for the Days of Awe”.
Write a letter to your younger self with encouraging words to help you get through the
Holocaust.

The freewrite must be at least 1 page in complete sentences.

Dear Young Elie,

I understand that you are going through some very tough times now. Please persist. That

is all I can say: please persist. Do hear me out, Eliezer, for I have many things to speak of with

you. Regardless of what happens, do not give up. Further tragedy than what you’ve already faced

will confront you soon. Hold onto your hope. No matter what happens, just do persist through

the turmoil. Your father is a great man, Elie. Realize that, and respect him. At the same time,

though, realize that everything and everyone has their limits. Great trouble is near, Elie. Do not

let that discourage you. God does not wish for this to happen. Respect god, for he is all you have

left in Auschwitz. Once you lose god, you lose everything. Do not let yourself lose him. He will

always be with you as long as you believe in him and trust him. Without his help, there would be

nothing. Do not blame yourself or god for what is happenning right now. These factories of death

are creations of evil men. While god may have created evil men, he did not create what evil men

created. Do not allow these evil men to discourage you. You and only you can make it through

the tortures ahead. Elie, you shall turn into greatness one day. You shall fight these evil men in

ways they cannot defend against, and you will represent those who died during these days of

darkness. Whatever you do, though, my younger self, always remember: please persist. Thank

you with all my heart.

Sincerely,

Old Elie
Night Text Online:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/9787474/Night-by-Elie-Wiser

A Prayer For the Days of Awe:


BOSTON — Master of the Universe, let us make up. It is time. How long can we go on being
angry?
More than 50 years have passed since the nightmare was lifted. Many things, good and
less good, have since happened to those who survived it. They learned to build on ruins. Family
life was re-created. Children were born, friendships struck. They learned to have faith in their
surroundings, even in their fellow men and women. Gratitude has replaced bitterness in their
hearts. No one is as capable of thankfulness as they are. Thankful to anyone willing to hear their
tales and become their ally in the battle against apathy and forgetfulness. For them every moment
is grace.
Oh, they do not forgive the killers and their accomplices, nor should they. Nor should
you, Master of the Universe. But they no longer look at every passer-by with suspicion. Nor do
they see a dagger in every hand.
Does this mean that the wounds in their soul have healed? They will never heal. As long
as a spark of the flames of Auschwitz and Treblinka glows in their memory, so long will my joy
be incomplete.
What about my faith in you, Master of the Universe?
I now realize I never lost it, not even over there, during the darkest hours of my life. I don't know
why I kept on whispering my daily prayers, and those one reserves for the Sabbath, and for the
holidays, but I did recite them, often with my father and, on Rosh Hashanah eve, with hundreds
of inmates at Auschwitz. Was it because the prayers remained a link to the vanished world of my
childhood?
But my faith was no longer pure. How could it be? It was filled with anguish rather than
fervor, with perplexity more than piety. In the kingdom of eternal night, on the Days of Awe,
which are the Days of Judgment, my traditional prayers were directed to you as well as against
you, Master of the Universe. What hurt me more: your absence or your silence?
In my testimony I have written harsh words, burning words about your role in our
tragedy. I would not repeat them today. But I felt them then. I felt them in every cell of my
being. Why did you allow if not enable the killer day after day, night after night to torment, kill
and annihilate tens of thousands of Jewish children? Why were they abandoned by your
Creation? These thoughts were in no way destined to diminish the guilt of the guilty. Their
established culpability is irrelevant to my ''problem'' with you, Master of the Universe. In my
childhood I did not expect much from human beings. But I expected everything from you.
Where were you, God of kindness, in Auschwitz? What was going on in heaven, at the
celestial tribunal, while your children were marked for humiliation, isolation and death only
because they were Jewish?
These questions have been haunting me for more than five decades. You have vocal
defenders, you know. Many theological answers were given me, such as: ''God is God. He alone
knows what He is doing. One has no right to question Him or His ways.'' Or: ''Auschwitz was a
punishment for European Jewry's sins of assimilation and/or Zionism.'' And: ''Isn't Israel the
solution? Without Auschwitz, there would have been no Israel.''

Actual Essay:

Intro Paragraph:

Faith is a belief a person has that is often based on myths and legends. It is a story and

reputation, rather than solid, reputable, and refined evidence. Faith has been a topic of debate for

many centuries amongst many people. Elie Wiesel, a man of Jewish faith in the book “Night”,

has been through degrees of hell rarely experienced or known to our modern world. As a

survivor of the Holocaust, Elie recounts the horrors he faced during his stay at Auschwitz, a

German concentration camp. Elie also addresses his horrendous Holocaust experience through

an article in the New York times called “A Prayer for the Days of Awe” which is more of a

reflection of his faith many years later. There are many differences between the novel and the

article, especially in regards to Elie’s faith. The novel portrays Elie as a boy starting with great

faith, but losing it as a result of his stay at Auschwitz, while “A Prayer for the Days of Awe”

shows Elie’s reflection on his faith at Auschwitz, and his regrets towards his original questioning

of his faith.

Body Paragraph #1:

Elie starts the story as an extremely religious boy who seeks to be more educated in

Judaism, but as the story progresses, Elie begins to shun God and to lose his faith. His original

untainted faith becomes bleak, and eventually, virtually nonexistent and wry. Elie also has very

deep hate towards God in “Night”. “Why, but why should I bless Him? In every fiber I rebelled.

Because He had had thousands of children burned in His pits? Because He kept six crematories
working night and day, on Sundays and feast days? Because in His great might He had created

Auschwitz, Birkenau, Buna, and so many factories of death?” (Night 79) Elie changed drastically

during his imprisonment at Auschwitz. At first, he was one of the most religiously keen people

his age, but after experiencing the cruelty of the Holocaust, his faith left him entirely. This quote

demonstrates the change of belief and care before entering Auschwitz and deep into his stay

there. In “A Prayer for the Days of Awe”, though, Elie Wiesel explains his regret. “In my

testimony I have written harsh words, burning words about your role in our tragedy. I would not

repeat them today.” (Wiesel 2) This quote demonstrates how Elie Wiesel’s views of faith

changed from his ideas in Auschwitz to his modern day feelings to god. Comparing the two, Elie

is now upset with himself for thinking that god was evil.

Body Paragraph #2:

Elie smites god near the end of “Night”, but in “A Prayer for the Days of Awe”, he

almost forgives god for the unfair judgement he did to the Jews in the Holocaust. In the article,

Elie compares his ability to forgive god to his own ability to accept the events the Holocaust

brought. “Does this mean that the wounds in their soul have healed? They will never heal. As

long as a spark of the flames of Auschwitz and Treblinka glows in their memory, so long will my

joy be incomplete. What about my faith in you, Master of the Universe? I now realize I never

lost it, not even over there, during the darkest hours of my life.” (Wiesel 1) On the other hand, in

“Night”, Elie gives an example of how he began to push the Jewish faith out of his life. “I did

not fast, mainly to please my father, who had forbidden me to do so. But further, there was no

longer any reason why I should fast. I no longer accepted God's silence. As I swallowed my bowl
of soup, I saw in the gesture an act of rebellion and protest against Him. And I nibbled my crust

of bread.

In the depths of my heart, I felt a great void.” (Night 83) This act represented Elie’s sadness and

anger in the holocaust and blamed God directly for all of it. This shows Elie’s extreme emotions

attacking god and his overall clarity of thought after the events which caused him so much pain

ended.

Body Paragraph #3:

Elie demonstrates different views on his emotions after the Holocaust. In “Night”, Elie

almost feels numb or too weak to go against the fascists. “[insert Night quote here]” Elie seems

to no longer have the strength to go against the anti-semetic Germans and to fight for the other

Jews in Europe; it almost seems like he blames god for this mess more than he blames the Nazis.

Although Elie states in the novel that he did not think of revenge, he does explain in the poem

that he never will recover from the pains of Auschwitz. “Oh, they do not forgive the killers and

their accomplices, nor should they. Nor should you, Master of the Universe. But they no longer

look at every passer-by with suspicion. Nor do they see a dagger in every hand.” (Wiesel 1) Elie

no longer had a reason to be frightened of standing against facism. In comparison to the book,

Elie gained lots of mental and emotional strength after undergoing the Holocaust.

Conclusion:

Elie Wiesel’s views on faith changed throughout the course of his life. In the beginning

of “Night”, which represents his pre-holocaust childhood and life, he is extremely devout.

Towards the middle and end of “Night”, which would represent his adolescent life, he had

absolutely no faith or respect for god whatsoever. Finally, in “A Prayer for the Days of Awe”,
which represents Mr. Wiesel’s modern-day life, he returns to faith, but with taintings and

confusion of his past thoughts. Although Elie began as a very pious boy in the beginning of the

novel, he later in the story becomes quite Atheistic, but through evidence provided by the poem,

he lives today with his former religious views and recalls his days of non-belief with sorrow.

Ideas For Body Paragraph Basis:

1. Elie's transition from pure, young faith to having an absolute lack in faith

2. "Night" also showing how Elie seems to turn into a faithless, mindless zombie, and in "A
Prayer for the Days of Awe"

3. Elie returns to his thoughts on faith through a different light; not no faith at all, but not quite
pure faith either.

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