Night Blog

There were a lot of ways Elie changed throughout Night. The most obvious change was his religion. From the beginning of the book it is very evident that Elie is very religious, on the fifth page it says “Together we would read, over and over again, the same page of zohar. Not to learn it by heart but to discover but to discover within the very essence of divinity. And in the course of those evenings I became convince the Moishe the Beadle would help me enter eternity, into that time when question and answer would become ONE.” Those few sentences alone show how fixed he is on learning his religion and practicing it. Later in the book it is shown on page 67 that he is starting to lose his faith, it says “Blessed be God’s name? 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? Praise be Thy Holy Name, for having chosen us to be slaughtered on Thine altar?” Which shows Elie questioning why God would do this to him and his people. Elie would never of questioned God when he was content in the safety of his home but it is hard to imagine someone who you’ve read so many good things about, that you were devoted to, to do something as bad as this. Not only was Elie questioning God but he was defying what he knew to be right. On page 69 they were celebrating The Day of Atonement which is a day where you fast. There was much debate on if they should fast or not considering that they were practically fasting everyday due to the lack of rations they were given. One line that shows his deniance towards God is “And then, there was no longer any reason for me to fast. I no longer accepted God’s silence. As I swallowed mr ration of soup, I turned that act into a symbol of rebellion, of protest against him.” Not only is Elie doing this to survive but he wants to show God he is upset and fed up with the lack of action taken to help him and all the others.

    Another change was Elie and his father’s relationship. Very early in the book it was said “My father was a very cultured man, rather unsentimental. He rarely displayed his feelings, not even within his family, and he was more involved with the welfare of others than that of his own kin.” Which means that his father was more focused on helping others than that of his own family. Later in the book it if found that they are separated from their family and only have each other left. At one point in the book, page 74-75 to be exact, it is time for selection and the father gets chosen to die. The quote I found is when the father is saying “Here, take this knife, I won’t need it anymore. You may find it useful. Also take this spoon. Don’t sell it. Quickly! Go ahead, take what I’m giving you!” That quote alone shows that the father loves Elie a lot and wants his to be able to protect himself if he is in danger instead of giving it to someone else.

  Another one of the changes was how Elie felt towards his father when he was being hurt ad what he’d do to survive. On page 39 the father is having a colic attack and asks where the bathrooms are this is the response: “The Gypsy stared at him for a long time, from head to toe. As if he wished to ascertain that the person addressing him was actually a creature of flesh and bone, a human being with a body and a belly. Then, as if waking from a deep sleep, he slapped my father with such force that he fell down and then crawled back to his place on all fours. I stood petrified. What had happened to me? My father had just been struck right in front of me, and I had not even blinked. I had watched and kept silent. Only yesterday, I would have dug my nails into this criminal’s flesh.” It isn’t stated earlier in the book that he would help his father if something was happening to him but here it says that if it had only been a day before he would’ve done something not caring about the consequences which would, most likely, be death. Not only does Elie disregard this moment but there is another incident on page 54 that states “And he began beating him with an iron bar. At first, my father simply doubled over under the blows, but then he seemed to break in two like and old tree struck by lightning. I had watched it all happening without moving. I kept silent. In fact, I thought of stealing away in order not to suffer the blows. What’s more, if I felt anger at that moment, it was not directed at the Kapo but at my father.” And instead of being angry at the Kapo he feels anger towards his father. It might not seem like much but there is a big difference from doing anything for someone if their life is being threatened to feeling as if it is their fault.