Elie Wiesel :: essays research papers

Near the end of Elie Wiesels time in the ingress camps, Wiesel began to questionmany things. He had questioned G-d, not because he believed in him so much, but because he almost had no belief left. He also questioned himself when thoughts of going away his father came to mind. Had Wiesel left his father, life would surely have been easier for him to survive. But through bring out all these immoral thoughts going through his head, he had done well to will them. (87) His time in the Holocaust left him questioning G-d many times. Wiesel went from a religious young man to a near atheist adult by the end of his torturous time at the camps. Wiesel felt that G-d was powerless and silent during the Holocaust. G-d wasnt going to save anyone this time. The only people who were going to get out of this alive were the ones who were physically and mentally strong enough. Wiesel was lucky enough to be one of the very few who made it out to tell his story. However, he exempt watched as his moth er and sister were taken away to the crematory and his father smashd in his bed. Wiesels weakest point mentally was when he heard that Rabbi Eliahoos countersign abandoned him during the death march from Buna. He also heard that a nameless electric razor beat his father to death for a small set apart of bread. It was there an then that he gave minor consideration to getting rid of his father. It is the brutality of the entire Holocaust that led Rabbi Eliahoos son and the unnamed child to do such things to their fathers. A father/son bond is one of the strongest bonds known to man. But, for both children, their own survival came first. Eventually, Wiesel was forced to make the same winning of decision. He had taken some of his fathers food during the last couple of nights he was living because he knew that he would most likely die anyway. He gave up hope on his father just like the others.