Download Done Reflection on Night

Tala Done
English II Honors – 4th period
October 26, 2011
The quote, “I've got more faith in Hitler than in anyone else. He is the only one who's
kept his promises, all his promises, to the Jewish people” expresses a bitter irony. In the hospital
at Auschwitz, Wiesel met a man consumed with this kind of despair. The speaker, a Jew, says he
has "more faith in Hitler than in anyone else" because Hitler's promises are the only ones he can
be sure of. The irony is that Hitler's promises are all concerned with doom for the Jewish people;
still, his promises can be counted on, in a world where nothing else is certain. Indeed, in a
moment of what seems to the outsider as a perverse logic, one camp victim later admitted to
Wiesel that although there had been too many false prophets, with their illusory glad tidings of
Russian liberations, Hitler was a prophet. The speaker is in effect saying that he can rest assured
that Hitler will follow through with what he says; if he says that the Jews are to be exterminated,
then that is what will happen. In a world gone mad, the promises of others cannot be depended
upon. Others may promise hope, but their words are empty; only Hitler seems to have the power
at this time to make his promises come true. One of the most stunning elements that is revealed
through Eliezer's narrative is how the Holocaust was a time of inverted value systems. One such
example was how there was little in way of human connection and solidarity in the death camps
and in the Holocaust, in general. The traditional value system, and optimistic view, was that
individuals could form resistance and could form alliances against the powers that be. However,
this was not the case in the narrative presented through Eliezer's experiences. There is also a
theme of negation of promise. This view is enhanced by the idea that God or spiritual powers of
redemption were notably absent in the Holocaust and that there was an experience that helped to
form a sense of betrayal in those who endured and suffered through the experience. The quote
reflects this, suggesting that the only promises that were kept were the ones that spelled pain and
suffering for the victims of the Holocaust.
Tala Done
English II Honors – 4th period
October 26, 2011
The character speaks with dry cynicism; he does not really have faith in Hitler. His
statement actually reveals much bitterness and deep disappointment, because it seems to him that
God has abandoned the Jewish people, or just never existed at all. Many other Jews in the story
feel the same way; their faith in God has been broken, and they no longer trust anybody, not even
other Jews in some cases. A re-wording of the character's statement might be, "At least you can
depend on Hitler – even if that means depending on him to torture and kill innocent people.
With Hitler, there is no doubt or confusion about how he feels and what he's going to do. God,
on the other hand, has promised the Jews many things, but He has failed to come through." It
was not easy for Wiesel to doubt in God, or he would not have held on to his faith with such
tenacity. But sooner or later, the seeming meaninglessness of the suffering his people endured
had to burst into the consciousness of his seemingly indomitable Jewish faith. All around
Wiesel, the number of faithful were dropping. As hard as they tried to hold on, Wiesel's people
were finding it hard to believe in God and what He was allowing to happen.