Elie Wiesel's Night chronicled the terrifying voyage of a young Jew named Eliezer. Eliezer tells his story in a first-person, autobiographical voice, and, as a result, the reader is presented with an intimate, personal account of the Holocaust through direct, descriptive language. I enjoyed everything about Night, from Eliezer's struggle with his faith to the father-son bond evident throughout the novel. I found the most troubling part of the book was the overwhelming silence, which I will describe, comes in two varieties. In my opinion, Night was an extraordinary story for its scholarly, spiritual, and theological intensity.
             The aspect of Night I found most interesting was Eliezer's struggle with his faith in God. It appeared that at the beginning of the book, Eliezer's faith in God was unwavering. When asked why he prayed to God, he answered as though it was the most ridiculous question he had ever heard: "Why did I pray? . . . Why did I live? Why did I breathe?" (Wiesel 6). It seemed as though his belief in an omnipotent, benevolent God was unconditional, but this unfaltering faith was shaken by his frightening experiences during the Holocaust.
             While reading the book, I reached some theological conclusions about Eliezer's relationship with God. Eliezer was raised to believe that all things on Earth echoed God's piety and might. His convictions were rooted in the notion that God was omnipresent and that his goodness knows no bounds. Because God was good and because God was everywhere in the world, Eliezer was lead to the conclusion that the world must be good as well. Unfortunately, Elizer's assurance in the goodness of the world was irreparably shaken by the brutality and wickedness he suffered and sees others suffer during the Holocaust. Eliezer was eventually led to believe that if the world was so vile and cruel, then God either must be vile and cruel or must not exist...