Bill Clinton L.

Baban Philo 25 NE God: Not So Silent After All

2/28/2013 BSN-4

Night is an autobiographical account of Elies firsthand experience as a victim and as a survivor during the World War II. The book revolves around his experiences with his father as captives during the World War in different concentration camps in Europe namely Auschwitz, Buna, Gleiwitz, and finally in Buchenwald. In his journeys he has witnessed the savagery that man was capable of doing: burning, use of gas chambers, hanging, starving people, and acts that defy the dignities of innocent infants being thrown to the air using them as targets for their guns. At the beginning of the book, the people of Sighet refused to believe in Moshes stories when he was abducted. Men at that time were full of pride; they couldnt believe that something bad was happening in Europe, and that men were incapable of doing inhumane actions to their own species. Hence, they were taken unprepared; many unable to escape captivity. Evil continues to lurk on when Mrs. Schachter, the woman who went mad, got beaten up by her own people just because they couldnt sleep. On the early times of Elies arrival at the concentration camp , one of the first few passages that struck me was this: "Why should I sanctify His name? The Almighty, the eternal and terrible Master of the Universe, chose to be silent. What was there to thank Him for? Those were the lines said by Elie when he and his fat her were about to be burned in the crematoria. The issue we can find in this part in his life was the inhumane methods of executing people; that in such a modern time, death by burning was still present. Evil has troubled Elie here when he was looking for God, when Elie was seeking for his existence when he was at the middle of life and death.

Gods omnipotence in this situation was questioned. How come He could not save them at such a crucial moment? Gods omnibenevolence was doubted too; to Elie , if He was such a perfectly loving God, why did He allow thousands to die. Another striking scene in Night was the hanging of the young pipel, the one with the angel-like face. The hanging of the child poisoned Elies thoughts to the point that he associates the taste of his evening soup with the taste of corpses. Days before that, he had already experienced witnessing a lot of adults getting hanged , but these did not seem to affect him. This particular hanging was different. It was wicked. To see an innocent child getting hanged for an act that he perhaps did not understand was criminal in nature, or perhaps an act that he had nothing to do or did not commit, is awful in every way. I was imagining myself in this scene and I thought that if I was there, I would not only doubt Gods silence but his sense of justice as well. At the latter part in his autobiography, he admitted that he resented helping his own father. At the beginning, Eliezers faith to God was absolute, but now, he didnt seem to be the kind lad he was earlier. Not only him, but I guess everyone he knows have changed. They all became apathetic. They had seemed to forget the essence of friendships of family. The evil that occurred to them had a huge part in their change of faith. I have mentioned, evil brings about the development of man, but that does not follow if the amount of evil being presented to man is too much for him to bear . Fortunately for Elie, he managed to view this event as a test in his life, it strengthened his faith. What kept him alive and going was his eagerness to understand Gods answers to his questions. Another issue I can relate here was when the concentration camp was being bombed and the prisoners, instead of being afraid, welcomed the bombs. And also during the death march in the snow, many of the people opted to lie down and die through the cold, by being trampled, by being shot. They viewed it as means to end

their suffering. Their value for life was lost. For death to be a daily routine, it must have numbed their sense of humanity. Is evil necessary? Can good exist without evil? The answer to the former , yes, and to the latter, no. According to Hicks in his theodicy, Evil is a necessary thing in our world, for without it, life would just be plain life. Its a life not worth living. What more can you learn in a world that is already perfect? The existence of Evil does not mean that God does not exist. Evil is actually a good thing because it brings about the development of ones faith which Eliezer failed to have early when they were captured. But the good thing was Elie was able to use his experience as a step stone . It made him better. All those events were not left windswept. The Nazis action of abducting Jews, the deaths of his loved ones, his Father, Mother, and his sister, the hangings, the thousands who died of selection, and the thousands who died from the march these were the events that brought about the development of the faith of each man who has heard of this story in our generation. It is the existence of evil that keeps us rational beings to be good. I, too, admit that after reading the autobiography, had found a more realistic view about evil. That amidst evil, there is a force that keeps us from it, a force that reminds us to remain good. That force, I believe is God. Elie may have had his answer to his questions all along, during his sufferings; we witnessed him remaining to be good. Yes he became resentful, bitter, but he did not become totally evil, there was still good in him. God was with him all those times, guiding him away from evil. I actually think he was present at the concentration camps, struggling to keep the good inside all the people there. God may not be so silent after all.