How do Elie's experiences during the Holocaust change him as a person?
Elie definitely goes through tons of changes. Many of them affected his personality, morals, and faith. His physical appearance was also changed because of the poor conditions in the camps. Before the Holocaust Elie is a very religious and innocent child. However, during and after the Holocaust we see Elie become a emotionless man who strives for survival. Wiesel says “Our first act as free men was to throw ourselves onto the provisions. We thought only of that. Not of revenge, not of our families. Nothing but bread”(109) In the beginning of the book Elie is a well fed and normal kid with a love for his family and had no enemies. Now he only cares about filling his starving stomach and his survival.
Beliefs
In the beginning of the book Elie is a very pious boy and does everything he can to learn more about his religion. Wiesel says “We talked like this nearly every evening. We used to stay in the synagogue after all the faithful have left, sitting in the gloom, where a few half-burned candles still gave a flickering light” (3). This is the part when he explains his time with Moshe the Beadle and shows so much interest Ginto his religion. He takes the time and effort to study and gets help from Moshe because he wants to know as much as he can. Then as the book goes on there is a huge change of his perspective on his religion. Wiesel says “But these men here, whom You have betrayed, whom You have allowed to be tortured, butchered, gassed, burned, what do they do? They pray before You! They praise Your name!” (64). Here he realizes that God is silent. He believes that he is just letting all of this happen. Elie is now understanding the negative that God has done.
Morality
Elie’s morales aren't explicitly shown in the book, however it is easy to find them within it. Most of his morals come in while he’s already in the concentration camps with his father. Wiesel says “A terrible thought loomed up in my mind: he had wanted to get rid of his father! He had felt that his father was growing weak, he had believed that the end was near and had sought this separation in order to get rid of the burden, to free himself from an encumbrance which could lessen his own chances of survival” (87). This is when he realizes that the son of Rabbi Eliahou wanted to leave his father to better his chances of survival. That destroys one of his morals to protect his family.
Wiesel, Elie. Night, Elie Wiesel. New York: Spark Publishing, 2014. Print
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