Sunday, November 23, 2014

How can the novel, Night, by Elie Wiesel, be connected to the theme of being a "Just Person"?How can social justice, stewardship, liberation...

Elie Wiesel lived the Holocaust experience in the most nightmarish manner.  In the book Night he bears witness to the atrocities of the Jewish Ghettos, the concentration camps, and his own responses as a human and son during his ordeal.  For Wiesel there was no social justice.  He had done nothing wrong, his father had done nothing wrong, nor had his sister and mother, and they still ended up having such horrible injustices bestowed upon them.  In reference to theology Wiesel lost his faith in God after seeing the constant abuses around him and hearing no answer from God and receiving no help or resolution from God during his ordeal.  He could not understand how God could allow it all to happen.  He called out to him and then he shut the door on faith. 


I am the offspring of Holocaust survivors and to me looking at Wiesel and his becoming a just person one needs to look at the book as a testament to social in-justice.  Wiesel could have locked away his life and not shared it with others.  He chose instead to share his story and by doing so found some justification for the horrible experiences he had endured.  At times he did not feel like a just person as he even left his father outside when he could not find him.  His father was becoming delirious and a burden for him.  Right before his father's death his father was moaning for Wiesel but He did not go to his father for fear of retribution in the form of being hit or worse by a guard.  His father was carried out during the night.


Night is darkness brought to light.  In bringing the atrocities to light Eli Wiesel has become a "just person."  He has made his experience become a beacon to show others what should never happen again.  His book became his mantra.

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