Wieselian’S Views On Madness And Prophecy. Madness Is Seen

Wieselian’s Views on Madness and Prophecy Madness is seen in many displays in most of Wiesel’s works. The first madman appears in his first literary work, Night. He appears as Moishe the Beadle, a poor drunken man who becomes Eliezer’s master to teach him the Kabbalah. He also appears in several works and he is often seen as a visionary who could foretell truth and future. Wiesel later met several madmen, whereby he assumed that they speak of wisdom and possess a clear vision and knowledge of life. In a seminal paper, Wiesel states that he likes madmen and he writes so that he does not go mad (Why I Write). He sees that madmen have a clear vision and a deeper understanding in life. Wiesel is interested in the mystical madness rather†¦show more content†¦The madmen in Wiesel’s works have certain distinct characteristics, but they all seem to be fallen into commonalities. These madmen have surer, saner corner on the truth than we do (McAfee Brown 1 80). They present varying degrees of madness that sometimes alternate between a despairing madness to a mystical madness or a defiance madness. It is important to know that Wiesel is a scholar of Hasidic mysticism and well-versed in rabbinic teachings. These can be seen clearly in his writings. Wiesel believes to have the answer of insanity although he raises the question of whether someone is mad to have faith during the absence of divine intervention to the Holocaust, however, he sees madness a driving force that enabled Jewish people to survive the madness throughout the centuries. Wiesel’s Sequel (Night, Dawn, Day) These three different stories can be understood as complementing one another. They all share the notion of madness like many of Wiesel’s stories. Night is autobiographical account of the author to document his Holocaust experience at the infamous Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. The story begins with descriptions of Moishe the Beadle who is loved by the village people of Sighet despite all the negative characteristics that most people nowadays associate with madmen. He was described â€Å"as awkward as a clown. He made people smile,