Night Blog

In the book Night by Elie Wiesel, Elie goes through numerous changes with religion, humanity, and respect toward others. This is due to the passing his time within the ghetto and the concentration camps that mortally affect him. In the beginning of Night, we are introduced to his character. We can see he is extremely pious and deeply believes in the way of God being a worldwide guardian. On the very first page of the book, Elie talks to his father about learning more about his religion and mastering it, “One day I asked my father to find me a master to guide me in my studies of the cabbala” ( 1 ). Elie is passionate about his religion in the beginning. However, that is one the things that change immensely throughout the book.

When Elie is walking into the crematory, he and other people are praying for their lives. However, Elie says, “For the first time, I felt revolt rise up in me. Why should I bless His name? The Eternal, Lord of the  Universe, the All-Powerful and Terrible, was silent. What had I to thank him for?” (31). This is one of the drastic changes in Elie, he calls his God terrible. And questions God's position as a Lord over man. Elie would never question his religion as he would only pursue it. So this were a huge change in character for Elie. As he comes to realization that his God is a God silenced to Elie’s pain.

Another large change in Elie in the book is his relationship and respect toward his father. Elie and his father go through a lot of tough events that mentally and physically change them. So, this causes the change in their relationship as father and son to man and boy. In the beginning Elie was very attached to his father and wanted to remain with him no matter the disaster. When Elie and his father are doing the marching for military service, Elie’s father fails. “My father had not done military services and he never succeeded marching in step...This was Franek’s chance to torment my father and to thrash him savagely.. I decide to give my father lessons myself, to teach him to change step” (53). Elie at this point in the story still very much cares for his father, and wants to still help him. This is Elie not wanting to lose him and truly wanting his dad to make out of this, fearing his dad cannot go through this himself.

Elie goes through a lot of huge development in from then to the end of the story. He had constantly helped his father and still his dad had suffered the worst. Elie felt guilty of his father's constant failure, feeling he were responsible for his father. However, Elie still believed his father could make it and made a stronger and more powerful bond with his dad. As he took care of his father, his father used to take care of Elie. Elie demonstrated his feelings when nursing his father. “...They said that we were sick, that we would die soon, and that it would be a waste of food ...I Can't Go on…I gave him what was left of my soup” (102). He displayed true change in character, after first feeling pity for his father of his miserableness. To being selfish and worrying about survival of the fittest. Then, finally realizing that he must put himself behind to help his father. Elie has developed emotionally, and physically throughout the story and become a weighted character. These to changes in him truly display this.


Wiesel, Elie. Night Elie Wiesel. Logan, IA: Perfection Learning Corp., 1995. Print.