Wow. It has been a while since I read a historical fiction book that left me reeling as I finished reading it. The conflicts in Dawn within Elisha’s mind as he wrestled with the orders, he had been given were overwhelming. The preface Wiesel gives, explaining how this conflict might have been his own had his life after Auschwitz been different, is now even more clear to me as I see Elisha’s battle between understanding death and murder after his experiences in the concentration camp. I think one of the most memorable points in the book for me was when the ghosts from Elisha’s past were talking to Elisha about what he was about to do and why they were visible to him then. The young boy said, “You are the sum total of all that we have been…In a way we are the ones to execute John Dawson” (Wiesel 187). Elisha then reflects on how even “those who have formed him” (Wiesel 187), or at least their legacies, were going to be influenced by his action. This was a really interesting concept to me, which I thought about for a while as I finished the book. We are not who we are by chance, nor are we wholly autonomous in our actions. I honestly was surprised that recognizing how the result of the legacy of those who poured into Elisha was going to result in murder didn’t stop Elisha from carrying out his act. However, I think this may be why Elisha considers himself to be dead after he kills John Dawson. The man which Elisha’s faith, family, and friends had formed him to be did not survive that act. He couldn’t. I think I too, with John Dawson, greatly pity Elisha. He has to break former convictions to follow other convictions. This must have been an immensely heavy burden as it seems that a loss of identity ensued, and this nearly broke my heart out of the brokenness of humanity and history. Evil in this world can bring about such darkness to the point that it may seem that only darkness can fight back the darkness, not light. Could light have fought for Elisha? Would light have prevailed over the darkness?
“There’s night now and there will be night tomorrow, and the day, the week, the century after.” (Wiesel 191)
I commented on Jamie and Rachael's posts.
I commented on Jamie and Rachael's posts.
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In my Mission and Message of Jesus class, we are currently reading through Matthew and I just recently came across a verse that somewhat ties in to your post. Matthew 6:22-23 says, "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"
That final sentence is what I can relate the most. I think that most of the light inside of Elisha has gone dark. Because of this, I don't think the light could have prevailed over the darkness, because Elisha's inner light has become inner darkness.