I find Elie's changing relationship with God throughout the
book interesting. One thing that I found notable is that so far in the story,
he has not questioned God's existence. He feels anger towards God, and refuses
to pray as an act of rebellion towards Him, who he now doubts as a
"merciful" divine entity. However, throughout all the suffering he
witnesses and suffering he endures, he still does not question the existence of
God. I don't know if this is because religion had such a big role in the Jewish
culture, and specifically in Elie's life, and so Elie hasn't even thought of
the possibility that God does not exist. Either way, I find his
"faith" in God astonishing (I say "faith" in quotes because
he has lost trust and confidence in God, which is the definition of faith in
the non-biblical sense, but he still holds onto his "faith" in God in
the sense that he still believes in His existence). You cannot be angry at
someone or something that you do not believe is real, therefore Elie’s anger with
God shows he still believes in His existence. This is what stood out to me in this chapter because I find it incredible that after everything he has gone through, the worst feeling he has towards his God is anger, rather than non-belief.
Cami, that's an interesting point you've made about how Eliezer hasn't given up his faith in God and decided that He is nonexistent. It's true that you can't be angry with someone or something that's nonexistent, and I think it's interesting that Eliezer hasn't started questioning God after everything that he's experienced and witnessed up to this point. Although, considering how devout he was at the beginning of the book, I imagine that giving up on God isn't something that would come easily or quickly for Eliezer. I think if it does happen, if he really loses all faith and believes God doesn't exist, it is going to be something that takes a long time. It's going to be something that is extremely difficult for him to decide. I'm guessing that if we do see him get to this point it will probably be closer to the end of the book.
ReplyDeleteWow Cami I had not thought about that. He never once questions the existence of God. He says he has lost his faith but yet seems to address God when he experiences something bad in the camp. Even when he says he is angry that he would let something like this happen he is not saying he doesn't believe in him but is addressing God. He says he has lost his faith but I think he hasn't.
ReplyDeleteI've been following his relationship with God throughout the novel as well, and while he is continually becoming angrier with God and resilient to the idea of praising him, he never wavers in his belief. Personally, if I was in his position, I think I may have lost all faith that a God even exists. The fact that he is upset but continues to believe in a higher power probably speaks to his strong Jewish upbringing and the fact that he was taught from the time he was born that it is not a question whether God exists or not. I am interested to see how this plays out because I believe at some point he may declare that he is no longer a believer.
ReplyDeleteI never connected the idea of him resenting God and him not believing in God. It's completely obvious that he gets angry with God for not interveinning and helping the Jews but the thing is that even though he gets angry with Him, he still believes that He is there go get angry at. I also can't wait to see how long it will take, if ever, until he completely stops believing.
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