Choiceless Choices in Night Some decisions or choices may seem like there is no right answer like there is no winning in that situation. Choiceless choices are the name given to those unfortunate situations where there truly is no easy way out, only the lesser of two evils. In Elie Wiesel’s memoir, Night, Elie along with his father are faced with a multitude of choices, most of which can be classified as choiceless choices. However, many of those choices lead to Elie’s ultimate survival. For Elie, his survival can be attributed to the choices he made when faced with various choiceless choices, like choosing work or death and lying or telling the truth, as well as having his father right by his side the entire journey. Immediately after Elie and his father arrive at camp they are presented with a choiceless choice. They are told, “Here, you must work. If you don’t you will go straight to the chimney. To the crematorium. Work or crematorium- the choice is yours” (39). This is not quite a fair choice. No one is going to choose to go to the crematorium over life. However, to earn the privilege of life, the victims had to not only work but to work hard. If the Kapos caught them slacking off or thought they were a lousy worker they would simply kill them. They had the choice to work hard but weaken themselves or save their energy but risk …show more content…
He was alongside him throughout the entire venture to keep him company. Elie claims “My father’s presence was the only thing that stopped me [from killing himself]” (86). His will to live derived from his father. He felt the need to stay around to look after his father. At some points, he cared more about his father’s safety than his own. He even started giving his rations to his father when he was sick. Yes, he had a good amount of luck on his side to be a part of one in three Jews that survived the Holocaust, but it is also fair to accredit the choices he made along the