The book “Night” by Wiesel, which was awarded the Nobel Prize, depicted the events of World War II and touched upon the problem of the Holocaust. The author of the book was the prisoner of Buchenwald, and he saw with his own eyes all those terrible events. The book, written by him, sparked a public outcry.
Despite the fact the world war has ended, the problems highlighted in the book are still actual. The author wants to express the idea that the genocide organized by the Nazis is not only a crime against the Jews but it is also a crime against humanity. All the horrors of war, all the horribleness of the genocide, must not repeat.
The events described in the book took place in 1941 during Hungary’s occupation by the German troops. The main character of the book is the young Jewish boy named Eliezer, who had been separated from his sisters and mother, and was delivered to the ghetto with his father. The book is very difficult for reading as it depicts very cruel events. By describing the whole row of terrible events through the young boys eyes, the author tries to disdain all the horror of this crime. The special attention in this book is given to the problem of faith and God. At first, the faith of the captivated Jewish is unquestioned. The prayer for them is such a natural process as breathing and even living. Their faith is the only force that helps desolated people to overcome difficulties.
Religion and faith are the only solaces for them. However, the further events of the Holocaust shattered their faith. It must be said that religion plays a very important role in Jewish society. Eliezer is the typical representative of his nation, and his faith in God is undeniable. God, according to his persuasion, is everywhere, it is the only creator of the universe, and he is the embodiment of this world. The existence of every human being, as well as any living creature, is impossible without this divine force. In Eliezer’s mind, God is associated with good, and as God is the creator of the world, the world has to be good too. Having seen all the cruelty of the Holocaust, suffering from starvation and humiliation, Eliezer began to doubt Gods goodness and even in his existence.
He wondered if this world and everything in it had been created by omnipotent and most merciful God, how could exist such things as concentration camps, in which the worst human evils were combined. Eliezer asks, “Why should I bless His name? The eternal, Lord of the universe, the all-powerful and terrible was silent…” Eliezer was impressed not only by the cruelty of his jailers but also by the selfishness and the brutality of the prisoners. In a course of time, Eliezer realized that he himself began to lose his humanity. He concluded that in such a cruel world, God must be cruel too, or may not exist at all.
Nevertheless, Eliezer did not lose his faith completely. All the suffering that he saw he compared with the suffering of the biblical character, Job by name, who had been tested by God in such way. Eliezer’s faith was shaken, his perception of God had changed, but it did not mean that he completely lost his faith. His faith is now associated with the questions that God to be asked. Those terrible questions caused by the Holocaust concern the nature of right and wrong.