This understanding is at the centre of the novel as Elie struggle to make sense of his experiences and what role God played or didn’t play in them. He talks about the universe, its mysteries, and God’s importance in trying to make sense of it. He is the first character introduced in the novel and is noted as being committed to Judaism and Jewish mysticism. Due in part to Moishe’s PTSD, no one in the community takes him seriously. He escapes from the Gestapo in Poland and returns to tell the villagers what happened to him. He is usually reserved but develops a friendship with Elie in their village. A quote from Night by EliezelĮlie’s mentor and a man who’s described as hesitant and dreamy. By the end of the novel, the sick, emaciated Wiesel who comes out of the camp is entirely different from the healthy child who went in. Starting out as a self-described spoiled child to a kind, and becoming a generous young man who gives up his gold crown to spare his father from a beating. While in Auschwitz he goes through a transformation.

This allowed the author, as he described, to distance himself slightly from the story.Įliezer struggles with his faith and his family throughout the novel. He questions justice and the world he’s living in, something that haunted Wiesel throughout his life. Although Eliezer is meant to be Elie Wiesel, there are a few differences between them. His personal account of the Holocaust is what makes this story so harrowing and hard to forget. He’s a thoughtful teenager who tells the story from a first-person perspective. Eliezer is the main character of Night and a stand-in for the author, Elie Wiesel, himself.

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