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Examples Of Father Son Relationship In Night By Elie Wiesel

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Night by Elie Wiesel is a memoir that recounts his personal journey through the concentration camps of WWII. The cruel nature of the concentration camps would completely isolate a person and break away at everything that makes them themselves. The one constant in Elie's story is his father, even though their relationship changes dramatically. At the beginning of the story, Elie and his father have an average father-son relationship. Elie looks up to his father and holds much respect for his father. However, Elie also sees his father as cold, saying his father was "rather unsentimental. He rarely displayed his feelings, not even with his family, and was more involved with the welfare of others than with that of his own kin." (Night 4). Elie thinks that his father isn't involved with the lives of his children, and would rather take care of the community. …show more content…

Elie chooses to go with his father and the rest of the men, instead of following his sisters and mother. As they first enter the camp Elie says, "All I could think of was not to lose [his father]." (Night 30). Elie later considers giving up, intrigued by the idea of dying and getting some peace, but the thought of his father stops him. He says "I have no right to let myself die. What would he do without me? I was his sole support." (Night 87). Throughout the camps, Elie doesn't want to lose his father, not wanting to live without the last shred of humanity left in him. Elie also gives up his desire to die, because he knows his father wouldn't live without his son to help

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