Throughout history, there have been times of grief, and hatred. One vary major time, like this, was that during the holocaust. Moshe, was one Jewish patron who escaped the mass murders by the Nazis. He was shot in the leg, and taken for being dead. As he told his story, he spread the word of what was to come. As the village of Elie Wiesel was emptied of all Jews, by the Hungarian police, hope remained. "Who knows? Perhaps we are being deported for our own good."(18) During this time, families were forced to leave their homes, with very little notice. Even during these times, the citizens of Wiesel's town still had hope that what was happening was for the better.
Throughout hard times, the difference between strong and week willed people begin to show more significantly. As in Night, when everyone was forced out of their houses, to be deported, they still had hope and strength. Most people would crumble under circumstances and strenuous as these, and resort to wailing and sobbing. But not for Elie and his village. They kept themselves with extreme courage, and stayed strong even when faced with eviction from their own house! Elie, was a devout Jew, and studied the Torah. His believe in God, and that he would be kept safe, kept his hopes up.
As in Freedom at Midnight, belief's in God can be a huge preserver of trust and faith in an otherwise helpless situation. When the Hindu men were about to shoot their wives so they would not be raped by the Muslim attacking them, they yelled "God is trust." (Collins) To keep tranquil their wives, that they were about to shoot, they all recited the mantra "God is trust" over and over. Such is the power of God, and religion: in both books, characters relied on religion to stay calm at their darkest hour.
Collins, Larry, and Dominique Lapierre. Freedom at Midnight. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1975. Print.
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