Tolerance In Elie Wiesel's Night

The Consequence of Tolerance In the novel Night by Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, multiple examples of oppression and expulsion of a group are utilized to show the consequences of inner turmoil regarding the good of humanity and the justice of God. The profound use of anecdotes on his experience in the camps extend the importance of his purpose in emphasizing the impact of this tumultuous event. To begin, throughout the novel, one concept greatly explored is the growing infestation of doubt in one’s faith. Initially, as the Jews of Sighet were relocated into ghettos and deported, people found optimism in believing that their death was not eminent; that they would survive this war without serious conflict. Wiesel writes how “several days passed” and “life had returned to normal. A wind of calmness and reassurance blew through [the] houses” ( Wiesel 16). This quote displays a period of ignorant bliss before doubt settled in the minds of the Jews, representing the calm before the storm. Moreover, in the novel Wiesel foreshadowed his own religious degradation. To elaborate, he described the manner in which Akiba Drumer, a fellow prisoner, lost all motivation in his own ability to survive. Wiesel wrote that if only “he could have gone on believing in God” he would found the strength to continue, but he had “felt

This is especially important to the sequence of events in the novel because it demonstrates an insight into what would eventually plague Wiesel and the rest of the faithful