The Power of Silence in Elie Wiesel’s Memoir Night

Silence is power. How one chooses to use that power can impact the lives of many. In the memoir Night, in Wiesel’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech and in the article The Theme of Silence by Simon P. Sibelman, the shattering of Elie’s faith in himself, mankind, and God caused by silence is expressed. As a prisoner of the Holocaust, Elie struggled with his own silence, the silence of the world, and most importantly, the silence of God. The result of this silence ultimately shaped the man Elie became. 

Initially, faced with the harsh reality of the treatment of the Jews in the concentration camps, Elie learned that silence offered him the greatest chance for survival. The fear of persecution and violence lead Elie to choose silence at times when he would have normally spoken out. Elie’s continuous struggle with not speaking out caused him to lose faith in himself which shattered his pride. For example, when Elie’s father, Chlomo was brutally beaten by the guards, Elie chose silence rather than to help. He felt the guilt of that silence asking himself, “What had happened to me? My father had just been struck, in front of me, and I had not even blinked. I had watched and kept silent”. He struggled with his silence but realized it had become his survival mechanism. The ability to communicate is an essential part of life but the silence dehumanized him as a person. Even after he was freed from the Holocaust, his voice was forever silenced. 

In the article, The Theme of Silence, Simon P. Sibelman claimed that “this loss of identity effectively silences the image that constitutes human essence” (Sibelman 48). Sibelman explained how, in choosing silence, Elie and other Jewish people in the camps were deprived of their humanity which forever silenced their cries. Silence has its place but often an opinion has to or must be voiced. Otherwise, the aggressor will continue to wreak havoc, as Elie Wiesel expressed during his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, “Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented”. Although his faith in himself had been shattered, later in life Elie swore never to remain silent again and to always make his voice heard. During the Holocaust, the world knew of the terrible crimes committed by the Nazis. Yet the majority chose to remain silent. Upon his arrival at Auschwitz, one of the first sights that he would never forget was the pile of dead babies burning in the crematoria. Elie was in total disbelief that people knew of such atrocities, yet chose to do nothing. He was so dumbfounded, he thought to himself, “Was I still alive? Was I awake? How was it possible that men, women, and children were being burned alive and that the world kept silent” (Wiesel 32). Elie began to think that Jewish people must be worthless to mankind. Otherwise, how could they allow the Nazis to massacre millions of Jews? His faith and hope slowly shattered. He felt defeated, worthless and abandoned. He still had doubts and stated to his father that he could not believe the world would not take action. His father responded, “The world? The world is not interested in us. Today, everything is possible, even the crematoria” (Wiesel 33). Elie realized that as a result of the world’s inaction, Hitler and the First Reich’s power over the Jews would only become stronger. 

Even though the Allied forces eventually defeated the Nazis and liberated the Jews, the world’s choice to remain silent ultimately silenced the Jewish population for many years to come. As Simon P. Sibelman stated, “Though the allied broadcasts offer a degree of hope, Wiesel underlies the text with a bitter irony: The utter silence of the Allies concerning the fate of Europe’s Jewish population” (Sibelman 49). Elie had lost all hope of being liberated by others. Silence had again shattered Elie’s faith but this time in mankind. The main aspect of Elie’s life that was affected by the silence was his relationship with God, a figure he worshipped. This figure who was once his Savior was absent. Elie wondered how, in all of God’s praise and power, He could let an event like the Holocaust occur. Elie looked to God for compassion or some sign that would bring an end to the suffering or help make sense of what was happening. But there was only silence. Elie was so perplexed by God’s silence that he noticed “for the first time I [Elie] felt anger rising from within me. Why should I sanctify His [God] name? The Almighty, the eternal and terrible Master of the Universe, chose to be silent. What was there to thank Him for?” (Wiesel 33). Elie’s harsh words only magnified his level of frustration with God’s silence. Elie had once viewed God as a symbol of peace and unity. He had admired Him and he wanted to devote his life to God, but now he questioned his faith because of God’s silence. Elie’s disillusionment with God’s abandonment of the Jews was further evidenced when he and many other Jews were forced to watch the hanging of a young pipel. Elie heard grown men crying out to God for help. The Jews held onto some hope that God would answer their calls and save them. But God was silent. Evidence of God’s abandonment is scripted as, “Where is merciful God? Where is he ?” (Wiesel 64) and, “Behind me, I heard the same man asking: For God’s sake, where is God? And from within me, I heard a voice answer: Where is he? This is where ─hanging here from this gallows” (Wiesel 68). Elie’s relationship with God was now broken. God’s silence had shattered his faith. He made the hard decision to shift his focus from God to his own survival. On the holy day of Rosh Hashanah, Elie decided not to fast and instead to eat his rations in order to survive. In the article The Theme of Silence, Sibelman explains how God’s silence impacted Elie’s choice to eat instead of fasting, “The overwhelming silence of God generates a spiritual revolt within Eliezer, so that on Rosh Hashanah, he refuses to pray or to bless God’s name”. For Elie, this was a turning point. He could not care for a God who did not care for him. God was an important figure to Elie but as the horrors continued, and God remained silent, Elie’s relationship with God was eventually shattered. 

In conclusion, the impact silence had on shattering Elie’s faith in himself, mankind and God is depicted in the book Night, in the author’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech and in the article The Theme of Silence by Simon P. Sibelman. In the silent wasteland of the Holocaust, Elie suffered the loss of his belief in himself, in mankind, and in God. In the end, Wiesel realized the power of silence was deciding how to use it. He recognized later on in life that someone needed to tell the world what had happened. This is why he wrote Night. He was silent no more.