Night By Eli Wiesel

Authored by Elie Wiesel, Night is a personal narrative set during the Holocaust in 1942. Commemorating the thousands of Jews who were maliciously killed in the genocide, and those who survived, Eli Wiesel describes his personal encounter of the prosecution/prejudice he confronted from the Nazi's. In particular, the power of perseverance, the concept of never giving up, and the existence of God(leading to the strength of faith) are all illustrated through Wiesel's struggle to regroup with his family and survive throughout the novel. For example, in the last chapter in the novel Eli pushes himself to complete his forced labor, keeping faith that one day Allie forces would save him or he would continue to attempt escape. After completing his grueling labor, he lies along several diseased Jews who could not survive the harsh conditions or lack of food. His continuous faith ultimately allows him to prolong death, and later be one of the few survivors in the concentration camp rescued by Allie forces.“Where is God? Where is He?” someone behind me asked. ..For more than half an hour [the child in the noose] stayed there, struggling between life and death, dying in slow agony under our eyes. And we had to look him full in the face. He was still alive when I passed in front of him. "His tongue was still red, his eyes were not yet glazed.Behind me, I heard the same man asking:“Where is God now?”And I heard a voice within me answer him:“Where is He? Here He is—He is hanging here on this gallows. . . .And, in spite of myself, a prayer rose in my heart, to that God in whom I no longer believed".
my rating: an excellent portrayal of the horrors of the holocaust. Eli Wiesel's first person approach allows the reader to visualize gruesome scenes.
Do you think faith prolongs defeat?
Do you think, personally, that you can transition from "hell" or absolute chaos to a more peaceful ,one like Wiesel?