Chattahoochee River
Monday, January 19, 2015
Chapter 3 - Auschwitz
When reading this chapter, I really tried to pay attention to Wiesel's struggle with his own religion and beliefs. Due to all the atrocities that he's witnessing while he and his father are going through the "selection" he admits he will "never forget those moments that murdered my God..." However, he still finds himself muttering a prayer to himself. I think that this attempts to show the reader the struggle that even the most pious Jew faced when they were forced to a concentration camp. The things that were occurring where so horrific and ungodly that it was hard for the majorities to remain hopefully.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I agree because the atrocities were truly testing the faith of many of the Jews. Their optimism and their faith and how both of these are being tested reminds me of Voltaire's Candide. Their are so many terrible things happening to the Jews, like in Candide, that are testing their beliefs. It seems that Wiesel begins to doubt his religion, yet he continues to pray without being able to stop himself.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a very interesting observation. At the beginning of the book Wiesel focuses on his Jewish studies and his journey go farther in his religious teachings. When he finally got to the camp and all the elders were praying and he didn't believe that God would help them. Although he doubts his faith he still continues to pray because I believe he knows how important it is to his father. His father is all he has left.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that Elie is now questioning his faith due to the circumstances he is now facing. It was an obvious transformation to me. He goes from focusing mostly on religion and wanting nothing more than to be a devout Jew, to contemplating suicide. That is quite a shift.
ReplyDelete