Examples Of Strong Family Bonds In Night By Elie Wiesel

Throughout Night, the bond that Eliezer has with his father Chlomo passes through a rocky course, but eventually becomes stronger due to the isolation and ultimately the death of Chlomo. This rocky course has events that that go from being inseparable in Birkenau, to feeling as though he is a burden. In between, there are times where Elizer’s relationship is clearly falling apart and then being fixed. The camps greatly influence the father-son relationship that Elie and Chlomo have, sometimes for the better, and sometimes for worse. Originally in 1941 when the Wiesel family was living in Sighet, Eliezer took Chlomo for granted, as any child would. Little did he know that their relationship would permanently change forever.

More than once Eliezer experiences the rupture of the bond a family shares between both the

When Elie and his father first entered the camps, his father was struck and Elie did nothing to help his father: "What had happened to me? My father had just been struck, in front of me, and I had not even blinked. Only yesterday, I would have dug my nails in this criminal's flesh" (39). This shows that, although Elie did not share a close relationship with his father, he still feels that he should stand up for his fahter for the fact that they are father and son. Elie is very violent in that he would have "dug his nails in the criminals' flesh." Evidently, Elie is furious towards the offender. Unfortunately, Elie does not do anything when his father is struck because he does not want to draw attention to himself. Nevertheless, the bond between Elie and his father does strengthen: "And what if he were dead, as well? He was not moving. Suddenly the evidence overwhelmed me: there is no longer any reason to live, any reason to fight" (98-99). Elie reveals that he truly depends on his father for survival. Because he believes his father is no longer alive, he loses all hope for surviavl. Although Elie expresses anger towards his father from time to time because he is being a burden, he still feels that his survival is meaningless without his father. The strong bond that the two developed once they entered the concentration camps proves that nothing can come between them so easily.

There were also several negative father/son relationships found in the book. One such relationship is that of a young pipel, and his father. Wiesel writes, “I once saw one of them, a boy of thirteen, beat his father for not making his bed properly. As the old man quietly wept, the boy was yelling, ‘If you don’t stop crying instantly, I will no longer bring you bread. Understood?’” This is an example of how life in the concentration camp causes a boy to throw aside his relations for the sake of his own survival. A second example is that of Rabbi Elihou and his son. While Rabbi Elihou cared deeply for his son, the Rabbi’s son viewed his father as a burden and left him behind. Shortly following the passage about the Rabbi looking for for his son, Wiesel writes, “But then I remembered something else: his son had seen him losing ground, sliding back to the rear of the column… A terrible thought crossed my mind: What if he had wanted to be rid of his father?” The third example of a poor father/son relationship occurs in the cattle car. A worker throws bread into the cars causing immediate desperate fighting. An old man manages to grab a piece of bread shortly before this passage, “Stunned by the blows, the old man was crying: “Meir, my little Mier! Don’t you recognize me… You’re killing your father...I have bread... for you too…. for you to…but the other threw himself on top of him. The old man

When Elie was in Sighet he would say how his father cared more about the jewish community than his family. After they are forced into the concentration camp, left with nothing but each other; their relationship began to unfold. During the first night when Elie enters the concentration camp his mother and sisters are separated from him and his father. “The same thought buzzed all all the time in my head -not to be separated from my father.”(Wiesel 33) Eliezer grew up not relying on his father to ever be around, for him to start attaching himself to his father is a big step because Eliezer has never grown up depending on his father. In the beginning of the book the father is described as insensitive and it wasn’t until now that he starts showing that emotion. “ Come on, my boy.”(Wiesel 37) This is the first time that they show his father reciprocating the effort towards a relationship. Even by something as small as calling Elie ‘my boy’ it shows his father claiming him. There is still awkwardness within their relationship. “ We pretend for what if the other on should still be believing it.”(Weisel 43) They are still not close enough to open up to each other, neither of them talk about his mother or sisters in fear of hurting the other person. Their relationship has come a long way since the beginning. The both of them are changing considering their circumstances but a part of that change is

Eliezer and his father never wanted to be separated. But as the book goes on the father gets very sick and Eliezer has to take care of him. While they were waiting in line they watch a load of children go into the fire. After that Eliezer debates running into the electric fence but he doesn’t. Eliezer’s father soon gets very sick and the Nazis ordered him to the furnace and after Eliezer loses his father, he feels a sense of relief because he no longer needs to take care of him but also misses him

In Night by Elie Wiesel, Elie and his father’s relationship before the concentration camps consists of little emotion shared between each other; their estranged relationship leaves no room for them to show affection towards each other. In Sighet before the Holocaust, Elie’s father engages more with the citizens of the town than with his own family. Later, when Elie and his father arrive in their first concentration camp in Birkenau, they grow closer very quickly, relying on each other to continue their fight to live with the little food and harsh treatments. When Elie and his father live their lives before the Holocaust in Sighet, his father spends most of his time tending to the needs of the community and less to the needs of his family; however, when the two of them arrive in Birkenau, their relationship rapidly changes as his father plays the role of a supportive parent and Elie the helpful son.

First, the theme family is portrayed by staying with family until extenuating circumstances make it impossible to be together. In Night, a quote that illustrates sticking together is, “If you wish, go there. I shall stay here with your mother and the little one…Naturally, we refused to be separated.” (pg 171) In this example, rather than going to a safe shelter with his former maid, Eliezer put himself in

Throughout the novel, we can understand that in the beginning, the relationship between Elie and his father was not the best because Elie believed his father cared more about the Jewish community than him. However, by the time the father and the son only had each other, they were depending on each other. Elie was only living for his father because he knew his father would not survive without him. They were both helping each other in a ways surviving. For example, Elie gave his father lessons in marching step, to help him survive (55). Also, Elie became less and less emphatic toward his dad during the concentration camp days. The Nazi sabotages the wonderful bond a father and a son had together. Elie could see his own father get beaten up and even than; he had no emotion or anger (39). Once his father got beat up with an iron bar, and Elie did nothing to help him, he just stood there (54). Even thought he had no emotion, even when his father past away, Elie said “I did not weep, and it pained me that I could not weep. But I was out of tears. And deep inside me, if I could have searched the recesses of my feeble conscience, I might have found something like: Free at last!...

Night by Elie Wiesel is a short book about Wiesel's experiences in the Auschwitz sub-camps. The theme developed by Wiesel throughout the text is the idea of loss and dehumanization, which are prevalent during the entire book. Wiesel writes this book from his own perspective, but he alters the character slightly to distance himself from the horrible events that occurred. The book is organized into parts, each with differing times which in turn cover the five years of his experiences. This essay will describe the relationship between Eliezer and his father, Schlomo. The relationship development aspects I will discuss occurred at the fire pits of Birkenau, the constant beating of Schlomo at Buna, and finally, Schlomo's death in Buchenwald.

“Eliezer experiments with the possibility of becoming an adult while his father gradually slips away, all the while giving his son what space he can to let him try out a new role” (Sanderson). “Eliezer's march toward a pseudo-adulthood continues, while his father seems to be regressing. (Sanderson). Elie’s father starts to get sick and is becoming an annoyance for Elie. When Chlomo sinks into a snow bank during a forced march to the next death camp, too sick to move, Eliezer begs his father to stand up and continue moving” (Sanderson). Elie also felt no remorse for his father as he was being beaten by a S.S guard. “At first my father simply doubled the blows…I felt angry at that moment… Why couldn’t he avoid Idek’s wrath?” (Wiesel 54). Even when his father was being beaten for not marching right he still became annoyed with is dad. He also gave up his soup with a heavy heart. “I gave him what’s left of my soup.” I was aware that I did it groggily” (Wiesel

Most people believe that family helps build you up and make you stronger, even through tragic events; this isn’t always true. In Elie Wiesel’s book, Night, he explains the hardships he and his father, Shlomo, experienced while in concentration camps. In the book, Elie and his dad went through many tough situations together: starvation, beatings, and health issues. As more and more horrific events occurred, Eliezer's relationship with his father began to fade. As Shlomo grew weaker physically, Eliezer grew weaker emotionally; the intense trauma numbed his heart. Because of these many difficulties, Eliezer was shaped into an independent young man who no longer relied on his family but on his own strength for survival.

Then, throughout the middle of the novel, the strength of family bonds of the Jews is tested. After the run, a Rabbi asks Elie if he had seen his son, Elie tells him that he had not. Then Elie realizes that he had seen his son on the run, but he does not tell the Rabbi because his son left him behind on purpose. The text states, “He had felt his father growing weaker… by this separation to free himself of a burden that could diminish his own chance for survival” (Wiesel 91). This is where the reader begins to see the toll that the concentration camps are having on the families. Elie includes this to show, that now, family members see each other as burdens rather than a blessing. Later in the novel, family members go as far as taking a life. One old man

But further on in the novel, they drift further and further apart. At some point in the novel, Elie starts to feel that his father is a bit of a burden. Elie and his father experience a reversal in roles, where Elie takes on the fatherly role and his father takes on the child role. After their run to Gleiwitz, Elie noticed how his father had changed from the time they arrived at the camps, “He had become childlike, weak, frightened, vulnerable” page 105. When they are finally at Buchenwald, Elie and his father spend an entire night apart. When Elie wakes the next morning, he frantically goes looking for him, as a father would look for his lost son. When he locates his father, he notices that his father was just sitting their like a lost child, waiting to be found. Elie says, “Father! I’ve been looking for so long….where were you? Did you sleep? How are you feeling?” pg.106.

In the holocaust 6 million jews died because of Hitler’s hate. In the novel night by Elie Wiesel father/son relationship is shown throw out the story by using symbolism,tone and irony literary device . One little thing Elie did for his father is thought him to march.