To begin with, it is a universal truth that even the most righteous people sometimes suffer. Righteousness does not mean complete sinlessness but an upstanding life in the sight of God. The job was a wealthy and wise man who lost everything he had at one moment: his fortune was gone, he caught a skin disease, and his children were killed. Job’s friends tell him that sins caused his sufferings; yet, he refuses to accept it and claims that God still cares for him. For a moment, it seems like Job rejects the existence of God: “If I have sinned, what have I done to you; you who see everything we do?” (New International Version 7:20).
Regardless of how his mates tried to undermine his faith, Job remained unwavering about it. Job asked God multiple times why it all happened to him: “Your hands shaped me and made me. Will you now turn and destroy me?” (New International Version 10:8). As a consequence, Job still believes in the mightiness of God; yet, he keeps questioning why innocent people are subject to suffering even though they have never been sinful.
In Wiesel’s Night, the main character is Elie, whose religious views were transformed as he grew up. The young Jew’s faith was firm and unshakeable due to his spiritual upbringing. He claims that God surrounds people wherever they live and considers each event or phenomenon to be of His creation. However, once he was admitted to the concentration camp, he began struggling with preserving his faith. It happened because Elie could not believe God could ever allow such atrocities to take place. He even stated that “I’ve got more faith in Hitler than in anyone else. He’s the only one who’s kept his promises, all his promises, to the Jewish people” (Wiesel 50).
In general, both Job and Elie’s stories prove that there are inevitable sufferings for all people regardless of God’s graciousness. Moreover, there is a parallel in that both characters experienced the loss of religious views. From the point of view of faith, they can be considered life-changing events that are supposed to change a person’s way of thinking and strengthen their beliefs.
Works Cited
New International Version. BibleGateaway, 2011. Web.
Wiesel, Elie. Night. Macmillan Publishers Limited, 1956.