Elie Wiesel didn't "exist" but Sophie really didn't exist

According to philosopher Jean Paul Sartre, “man is condemned to be free,” (Gaarder 793). In Sophie’s World, this idea helps Sophie learn that we are free to make our own choices, but we are condemned to the consequences of these choices because we did not create ourselves. We are also condemned to be free because we are the only existing thing that is responsible for our actions, even though we did not ask for this life or our existence. I have decided to discuss the connection between Existentialism in Sophie’s World and Elie Wiesel’s, Night. Thank you Gabriella Sweezey.

An existential threat deals with human existence. As demonstrated in Night, Elie Wiesel shares his personal experiences during the Holocaust with the character, Eliezer. Eliezer is a jewish teenager struggling to discover himself, retain faith in God, and survive this horrible time for the Jewish people. He begins to question the meaning of life and the purpose of praying. Sophie and Eliezer are both taught the studies of mysticism. When Eliezer is taught that God is everywhere, his belief and faith in the goodness of the world are corrupted when he witnesses the killing of innocent lives. “Sartre says that man feels alien in a world without meaning. When he describes man’s “alienation,” he is echoing the central ideas of Hegel and Marx,” (Gaarder 810). Sartre believes that people attempt to escape meaningless suffering even when the effort causes them more pain, alienation, or death. In order for Jews to survive the Holocaust, they were forced to abandon or betray friends and family. In addition to Sartre, Nietzsche believed that “God is dead,” (Gaarder 809). Sartre and Nietzsche’s philosophy projects are revealed when Eliezer begins to take charge of his own destiny instead of trusting the will of God.

Another principle of existentialism is that human nature is not predetermined or quantifiable. Everything Eliezer is taught about humanity is being contradicted in the concentration camps. He witnesses family members killing each other because of their intensifying fear of death. Eliezer’s consciousness comes to an understanding that his existence is meaningless or absurd when he states, “We had transcended everything-death, fatigue, our natural needs. We were stronger than cold and hunger, stronger than guns and the desire to die, doomed and rootless, nothing but numbers, we were the only men on earth,” (Wiesel 87). Existentialism developed during World War II to deal with this devastating and life-changing event. In Sophie’s World and Night share the concept of existentialism by the philosophers, Sartre, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Sartre.

Works Cited

Gaarder, Jostein. Sophie's World. New York: H. Aschehoug & Co. (W. Nygaard), 1994.

Wiesel, Elie. Night. New York : Hill and Wang, 2006.