No God

 

In chapter 5 of Night, Ellie faces one of the biggest holiday of Jews, Rosh Hashanah, in which Jews celebrate the new year and pray for the god. Elie, however, doesn’t pray but just expresses his anger toward the god. He becomes remorseful and questions himself a reason why he previously believed in god, who “had created Auschwitz, Birkenau, Buna, and so many other factories of death” (67). Having brutal experiences in the concentration camp, Elie no longer believes in god and determines that man is more powerful than god. After the service, Elie finds his father leaning against the wall; he goes to his father and kisses on his father’s hand. Elie feels tear on his hand, but he doesn’t know whose it is. At this moment, Elie and his father “understood each other so clearly”(69) more than they ever did because they both knew the reason of tear: despair. Previously, Elie and his father, as loyal Jewish people, were devoted to their religion and kept faithfulness for the god. However, being in the concentration camp and seeing their destiny of being massacred, they no longer believe in god and become mournful. This encounter between Elie and his father is highly significant because it displays sympathy of father and son who lose the biggest hope for their lives. I think that the tear is possibly from both him and his father, because not only he did but also his father lost faith for god, which used to be the reason of their existence. I believe the tear best symbolizes lose of hope because Elie and his father doubt their faith for the god and eventually lose it; they have neither the reason nor the hope to survive. Also, I think Rosh Hashanah symbolizes despair. This is because Elie and his father probably believed that they would see something different in Rosh Hashanah as it is extremely significant and special day for Jews. However, nothing came except the conviction that there is no god. Since both Elie and his father understand how painful it is to lose faith for god as Jew, they “understood each other so clearly” at this time than they ever did.

                                  selection that occured in Rosh Hashanah

bibliography

http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday2.htm
 -provided information of Rosh Hashanah

http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005189
 -provided detailed information of concerntraion camps in Auschwitz, Birkenau, and Buna
Book
 -plot and quotes