And Yet the Silence...

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Even though we finished Silence, I still see the theme of silence throughout Night. However, the silence found in Night is different than the silence found in Silence. Rodrigues mentions that the people are silent in order to keep themselves safe. Elie, on the other hand, seems to repeat that the people are silent because they don't know what to say or they feel like whatever they say is a lie. They are constantly reassuring themselves with empty words and false hope. To me, the silence in Night is more devastating than the silence in Silence as it pertains to humans. Their cries to God are devastatingly similar though. To be honest, having read them both back to back broke my heart. I know the Lord has a plan and that He's sovereign over everything--even when everything sucks, but it still makes me want to shake my fist and ask "why." Why were there truckloads of babies being thrown into a fire? What did they do? How did they deserve that sort of torture?  But you know what, it's just an awful reminder of sin and how sin has broken this world. Oh goodness how it makes me long for Jesus to return.

I commented on Ethan and Sophia's.

Comments

  1. Ty GoramMarch 19, 2018 at 9:14 PM

    I have to agree with you completely, the silence in Night is way worse and just overall has more impact than the silence in Silence. Silence can be such an awful thing, and these books both show that so well.

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  2. AnonymousMarch 19, 2018 at 10:19 PM

    This book just places you in a depressing state of mind thinking about what went on during that time and what happens in life period. You mentioned how you longed for Jesus to return. How do you think it would feel if you lost your hope and believed that he would never return? That's what this book makes me feel.

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  3. Will BradyMarch 19, 2018 at 11:03 PM

    The silence in Night is different from the silence in Silence, and yer studying both like this has made me aware of a third silence… The reader’s. We’re not in any of the situations Rodrigues or Wiesel were in (God help it to stay that way), but we know that these things happen. Everyone mentions the truckloads of fewer than six dead babies at the concentration camp, but not everyone is so quick to pass judgment on the American people who’ve amassed well over forty million baby corpses since Roe vs. Wade. It’s easy to look the other way when someone aborts a child long after s/he’s developed pain receptors and brain waves, especially if you like the conveniences of abortion yourself. On a more direct level, think of the old bully from middle school—the one people were afraid to tattle on because they knew he’d come for them next.

    And then persecution—we know it happens in some countries today, systematic Christian hunting. But do we ever talk about it or make a public issue out of it? Do we try to find a solution or, God forbid, go there ourselves to help? Or are we content with chilling in bed “sending thoughts and prayers”? It’s easy to ignore hard things, controversial things, and things that cause conflict. Why shouldn’t we when silence is so easy an option?

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  4. Brenna StringfellowMarch 19, 2018 at 11:59 PM

    Honestly I felt the same way. Reading these stories back to back really just broke my heart. I do feel there is some relation to Silence, but the Jews and Elie were treated so much worse I feel than the Japanese. I do not know if it is because I have become more emotionally attached to the characters in Night or what but regardless it breaks my heart that this was at one point a reality.

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  5. Phillip VoMarch 20, 2018 at 12:56 AM

    So much of the evil happening around them they still somehow believed was brought upon them... very sad indeed, a silence of unspeakable tragedy. This book really gives you a view for those who are unable to speak for themselves and how there will always be a need for justice and goodness in the midst of horrific evil.

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