Relationships In Night By Elie Wiesel

At the very beginning of Night, we do not see much of Elie and his father interacting, as Elie is always busy studying the Talmud and Kabbalah. His father seemed like a regular guy, until his family is moved out of the ghettos. After that, his father’s strength declines steadily through the book, and we watch as Elie struggles to stay with his father, his only link to his life of the past. The relationship between him and his father could not have developed the way it did if they had not gone through such horrible things side-by-side.
When Elie’s community was moved to the ghettos, his father acted as a harbinger, passing on any news he could find, and keeping the crowd calm, “Sleep peacefully, children. Nothing will happen until the day after tomorrow, Tuesday” (Wiesel 18). The image of a proud leader that Elie had of his father is tainted when they began to march to the first camp, as his father began to cry. It is when he and his father are separated from his sisters and mother that Elie realized how essential his father is - if his father is gone, he has nothing.

Their roles are beginning to switch at this point; Elie is seen as more of a leader figure, while his father stumbles behind him. Elie cared deeply about his father at this point in time, and he “...decided to give my father lessons in marching step, in keeping time. We began practicing in front of our block. I would command, ‘Left, right!’ and my father would try” (Wiesel 55). His father was the only thing that kept him going - had he not been with him, Elie would have given in by now - he had already lost his faith. His father’s life was the only thing that kept Elie strong. His love for his father prevented him from becoming self-obsessed. This point in the novel, when Elie and his father work together, was the highest point of their relationship. They worked together - always - to solve