Friday, October 22, 2010

Night: God, Y U NO HERE FOR ME? ( Eli's conflict with religion and God)

Religion most the time is something you inherit from your family. You do not know why you pray or study your religion , you just do. In the memoir, Night by Elie Wiesel, the author is faced with questioning is religion. He is does not know why or what the cause is what what he is studying for and what is the power of God. Throughout everything he has faced, he tries to question his religion and God in general, so, he can truthfully study his religion or just lose faith in everything.
In the beginning of the memoir Eli is faced with a difficult question about his religion. He had no response to the question when the men asked him, “‘Why do you pray?’ he asked me, after a moment, why did I pray. A strange question. Why did I live? Why did I breathe?”(3).  This shows that Eli does not understand the reasoning for religion. He tries to figure out why he prays and study God but he does not know, Eli praise because he was born into it. In addition, when when people grow up into a religious home then inherit the religion that is what happening with Eli. Furthermore, Eli was raised in a Jewish home, growing up knowing that pray and studying God was the right thing to do and was never explain why. Religion is never question in the family, it is just something you go like breathing or living, Eli was not raised not to do it. He had to, there was no other choice but now that he was asked that question. He starts to question the thing he do for God and why does he do it? What is it for? He starts to question and rebel in his head but he knows he has to believe and pray for God, but he will never know the answer to why he does it.
In addition, Eli starts to lose faith in the power of God and questions his justice again. For example, when Eli and his family are put in a concentration camp, he tries to ask God for help but there was no use. God did not do anything to help him and at the point he did not understand why God is not responding. His journey inside the concentration camp he starts to lose all will in practicing his religion, he starts to revolt, “For the first time I felt revolt rise up in my. 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 explains that Eli does not agree on what God is doing, he does not understand God. Also, God has done nothing for him therefore God is nothing for him to waist him time on. Eli keeps on thinking what he should do about his religion and if the power of God is even useful. He does not know what to do but question God and his use of his power if he has powerful at all.
After a couple years in the concentration camp, Eli starts to work and once in awhile pray to God but when he does turn back to God, he questions him again. For instance, “Where is He? Here He is- He is hanging her on the gallows” (62) This demonstrates that Eli still has faith in the power of God but only when he needs him. Also, when God does not follow through with what is asked of him, Eli give up. He tries to question why or where God is but why is he letting his people suffer, and is God suffering with them. Eli only questions God because there is no one else to blame for his misery, the problems he cannot solve, God is always the person to blame because Eli gave him faith to him but nothing comes out of it. Eli is still faced with his problems and still wondering where God is.
In conclusion, Eli had a conflict with God and  his religion because he is trying to firgure out the purpose. He wants to know why everything is happening but there is no help at all. So, he starts to question God throughout the memoir and wants to know the  reasoning but can never find out. He is faced with the struggled that he was born into religion with forced and can never leave it, religion will live with him no matter what even if he tries to revolt because he find a way to run back to God to blame him for his problems. In the end, Eli struggles to find his relationship with his religion but realizes that there will always be something there for him.

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