Aafreen Bhanji

ELA 30-2

Lit Exploration- CCPU

December 19, 2019

The Actions of Others can Influence the Beliefs of Individuals

What is your opinion of the idea that our beliefs are influenced by the actions of others?

An individual has different beliefs than others around them. Other people’s actions may change what a person believes in and it may alter how they view the world. This can be seen in the novel, Night by Elie Wiesel, which is a memoir that describes Elie’s experience in a concentration camp during the Holocaust. It describes how after he was taken into the concentration camp, his beliefs and views on the world changed. This idea can also be found in the excerpt from The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch which talks about the experience he had at camp during the first Apollo moon landing. I experienced this when my grandma passed away.  When an individual has to go through an obstacle in life that is based on other people’s actions, they may change their beliefs, resulting in them overcoming the obstacle and feeling lost or regaining their beliefs in the world. 

In the novel, Night by Elie Wiesel, it describes how the main character, Elie, changes his beliefs when he gets taken into a concentration camp during the holocaust. In the beginning of the novel, Elie has a very strong relationship with his faith and beliefs. His beliefs are influenced by Moishe the Beadle, a citizen that escapes from the concentration camps and comes back to warn everyone about what is to come. Moishe the Beadle teaches Elie about the Jewish faith and helps Elie gain trust in his faith. When individuals find a mentor, they can strengthen their beliefs with the help of that individual. Near the middle of the novel, when Elie and his father are in the concentration camp, Elie starts to lose his faith and belief in God. He blames God for not helping him in this time of need and contradicts his actions. Individuals that go through tragic experiences, can alter their faith and what they believe in. At the end of the novel, Elie manages to survive going through the concentration camp but through that, he lost his faith in God and his beliefs changed because of the actions of the Nazis. This shows that throughout the novel, Elie went from having faith and positive beliefs in God, to starting to lose faith, and finally he lost all faith in God and his beliefs changed drastically. When an individual that has beliefs and faith that get changed or diminished because of the actions of others, it can result in individuals losing their identity due to the loss of their faith and the alteration of their beliefs.

In the excerpt from The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, it explains how when Randy was younger, the actions of his camp directors and his father shaped his beliefs. During the first Apollo moon landing, he was at camp and just before they were going to step onto the moon, the camp directors turned off the television and sent everyone to bed. The thought that rushed in his head was, “my species has gotten off of our planet and landed in a new world for the first time, and you think bedtime matters?” He was not pleased with what his camp directors did. When he got home a few weeks later though, he found out that his father had taken a photo of their television as soon as Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. His father preserved the memory in order to fuel his child’s dreams. This shows that by his father taking that photo, it inspired Randy to not give up on his dreams and made him believe in hard work and dedication. After that experience, he also believes in fueling his kids dreams and not putting them down when they wanted to dream. The actions of his father influenced him to do the same to his children. When individuals get influenced by others to do good, they can pass on those beliefs onto their children. 

I experienced a questioning of my beliefs when my grandmother passed away three years ago. It was a very sudden and tragic experience and made me think about what my beliefs actually were. My grandmother was not sick, she was perfectly fine. She just fell down at home one night, and that was it. I couldn’t understand why this happened and how it happened. I began to lose faith and question God as to why he took an innocent soul away from the world. Obviously it was no one’s fault that she passed away but I didn’t understand that at the time and I really detached from my faith and beliefs. Then my dad told me and explained to me that, “God takes away people for a reason and no one knows the reason except God. He knows what he is doing and you should have faith in him because maybe he needed Nani for a reason. Maybe he had another purpose for her in heaven. She will always be here to watch over you. You have nothing to worry about.” These words helped me regain my faith and beliefs in God and made me realize what I was so confused about earlier. Because of my father’s actions, I was able to regain my beliefs and make sense of the sudden event that had just occurred. When individuals go through an event where they question their faith, they may turn to someone they trust and use their advice to regain their beliefs and faith. 

When individuals experience an event that makes them question their beliefs, they may lose their beliefs completely, or regain their beliefs after the experience is over. Elie lost his beliefs and faith in God and didn’t regain them after staying in a concentration camp. Randy Pausch’s beliefs were influenced by his father and made him understand that having dreams is good and we shouldn’t restrict anyone. I regained my beliefs in God when my father helped me understand why my grandma suddenly passed away. Having beliefs is good, but when they get tampered with and altered, it can lead an individual to feel lost or to feel stronger in their faith and beliefs.