Night Father Son Relationship Analysis

Sometimes the strongest connections in life are formed during the worst circumstances. This is exactly what happened during the Holocaust between Elie Wiesel and his Father. In Night, a memoir written by Elie Wiesel, Wiesel recounts the appalling events him and his father were subject to at the hands of the Nazis. Amidst the atrocities happening around them Wiesel develops a bond with his father he never could have achieved without living through one of the lowest points in the world's history. Although Elie Wiesel's relationship with his father is challenged numerous times due to the atrocious events they were succumbed too, in the end this bond is what maintains Wiesel's will to live.

Family is something everyone cherishes, from the time you are born till the time you die. In the book Night by Elie Wiesel, this is shown very clearly. This book follows a young boy named Elie through his struggle with the Holocaust. Elie is a jew who lived in a small Jewish community, but when people came and began changing the way they lived Elie decided to stay with his family no matter what happened. Throughout the book, Elie is put through much more grief due to staying by his father's side. Strong family bonds can sustain people through tragedy and hardship.

In his book, Night, Elie Wiesel spoke about his experience as a young Jewish boy in the Nazi concentration camps. During this turbulent time period, Elie described the horrifying events that he lived through and how that affected the relationship with his father. Throughout the book, Elie and his father’s relationship faced many obstacles. In the beginning, Elie and his father have much respect for one another and at the end of the book, that relationship became a burden and a feeling of guilt. Their relationship took a great toll on them throughout their journey in the concentration camps.

In a couple parts of the story Elie’s dad in many ways was jeopardizing Elie’s well being. For instance, when his father was sick. “Instead of him taking the extra bread he had gotten he gave it to his dad” There was no point because his father was gonna die either way so he basically wasted it. Another example of why family isn’t always the best thing to have during a crisis. Is when the “rabbi's son left him when they were forced to run away from the Americans/ Russians”. He did this because he thought his father was dragging him down so he slipped away and left him to ultimately die alone. Which still doesn’t justify what he did, but i’m sure he did it to save his own life because his father was slowing him down. Another example would be when they were on the train the second time and a SS officer threw a piece of bread into the cart just to watch the men fight over it. While they were fighting Elie describes a point where “a man actually beats his own father for a piece of bread”(Wiesel Pg.105). These are just two of many instances throughout 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.

One of the major themes that can be found in Night, by Elie Wiesel, is one of father/son relationships. To quote a father from the book, Stein, “The only thing that keeps me alive is knowing that Reizel and the little ones are still alive.” Not all father/son relationships are as good however. Another part of the book reads, “I once saw. . . 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?’” In presenting examples like these, Wiesel communicates a message of the importance of good father/son relationships to his readers. This paper will examine father/son relationships throughout the book,

One internal conflict Elie experienced was the loss of all of his family. While he was in the concentration camps, he and his father were the only ones in his family that were left. “My hand tightened its grip on my father. All I could think of was not to lose him. Not to remain alone,” which was stated on page 30, explains how he and his father were all that were left and his father would have to be there for Elie during that time. They fought hard together through the cold nights

Elie is watching over his father and fights for him to keep going until he no longer can. It’s in the emotional moments that they come together. “We had never understood one another so clearly.” (Weisel 65) They are seeking to understand each other and through having this emotional moment together where they are both vulnerable, they become closer than they had ever been. Without them fighting to keep one another alive they had multiple opportunities where they could’ve fallen into death. “We’ll look after each other.”(Wiesel 85) They say this while they sit in the cold both needing sleep but also knowing that falling into a deep sleep means death. When his father becomes ill Eliezer fights and begs for his father to not let go. “After my father’s death, nothing could touch me anymore.” After using so much of his energy and putting it into his father, fighting for him to stay alive he feels like nothing matters because the only thing that remained through everything was his

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.

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!...

The Holocaust destroyed many relationships between family members. In this horrific time period, survival meant that one had to abandon their dearest family and friends. In Night, Elie Wiesel lived in this nightmare where the Holocaust tore up the bonds of everyone around him.. He watches separation and abandonment and experiences it as well.

The Holocaust was a very terrible time in history over six million Jews perished in concentration camps. Even though in every tragedy there are survivors. Elie Wiesel was a little boy when all of this happened. He experienced all of the terrible things that happened during this time frame. While suffering in the terrible condition of the camp Elie and his father’s relationship goes through a drastic change.

In the beginning of the book, before experiencing life threatening difficulties, Elie was much more determined to stay with his family (in order to survive). Eliezer thought that his father was what kept him going and gave him strength, he was certain that the right thing to do was to stay with his dad. In chapter 3 Wiesel states, “My hand tightened its grip on my father. All I could think of was not to lose him. Not to remain alone” (30). In these sentences, Elie explains that he and his father needed to stay together. This quote also shows what Elie’s emotions were; he was scared to suffer through the concentration camp alone. Elie also shows his need for family when he says, “Franek, the foreman, assigned me to a corner... ‘Please, sir ... I’d like to be near

Elie Wiesel’s book “Night” shows the life of a father and son going through the concentration camp of World War II. Their life long journey begins from when they are taken from their home in Sighet, they experience harsh and inhuman conditions in the camps. These conditions cause Elie and his father’s relationship to change. During their time there, Elie and his father experience a reversal in roles.

Elie Wiesel’s memoir “Night” shows many of the crimes committed by the Nazi regime during the Holocaust. In the memoir, Wiesel recalls his experiences in the Holocaust. In many of the dire situations, it is not Elie who pulls himself out of a situation, it is the presence of his father. For example during the Death March: “My father’s presence was the only thing that stops