Father Son Relationships In Night And Life Is Beautiful

Aristotle wrote, “It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light” (Aristotle, 2017). The Holocaust was one of the darkest times humanity has ever seen. A machination brewed by an extraordinarily perverse man that resulted in the deaths of millions, and robbed millions more of their faith and hope. Families were torn apart, towns were destroyed, and humanity lost, all to satisfy one man’s extreme racism and psychotic agenda. If however, one only chooses to focus on the darkness, they might overlook the light, specifically in the two stories of boys who survived against all odds and shared their tales years after defying death. Rubino Salmoni and Eliezer Wiesel tell their Holocaust memories not to revel in the dark moments,

In both stories, the fathers sacrifice their well-being and own personal interest so that their sons can live as best they can. In Night (2006), Elie’s father gives up his rations of food more than once for Elie. He also ensures that Ellie has someone there for him to lean on and be there for him, a support group more or less. This is extremely significant because although Elie did not realize it, his father was the main source of his will to live and the only anchor to whatever humanity remained in him. Similarly, in “Life is Beautiful” (2000), Joshua’s dad also gives up some of his rations for Joshua. In addition, Guido, Joshua’s dad, protects Joshua when the other children tell him of the horrible things the Nazi’s are doing inside the camp. The children spoke of people being thrown in ovens, and then their ashes being used to make soap and buttons. Guido became Joshua’s aegis by turning to humor to make him think those horrific stories are not possible, and therefore protecting his blissful ignorance, Both stories contrast when it comes to the son-father relationship however. In “Life is Beautiful” (2000), Joshua continues to have a strong relationship with his father, until he dies, at which point he gives full credit to his father as the one who got him through the Holocaust.

Elie and Joshua both experienced the Holocaust to its fullest extent. Interestingly though, they did not view it in the same way. In Night (2006), Elie paints the picture of how he changed based on how he viewed the Holocaust. Elie understood the horrible things that were going on around him long before he arrived in the concentration camps. However, once he was in the concentration camps, he began to understand the extremity of his situation. Elie lost faith in God, his father, and even his own life. To no surprise, his perspective on the Holocaust was that it was a dark horrible time. Oppositely, Joshua’s experience of the Holocaust in “Life is Beautiful” (2000), parallels more to a difficult game thanks to his father, Guido. Joshua had a completely different perspective on the Holocaust because his dad protected his innocence and ignorance. During Joshua's experience of the Holocaust, his father beguiled him constantly to make him believe that everyone was actually in a game. Guido designed rules for his chimerical game that would ensure Joshua was safe and also to prevent him from witnessing the horrors occurring right before his eyes. By making up rules to explain reasons why things were happening, Guido caused Joshua’s perspective on the Holocaust to be immensely different from everyone else’s. Both Joshua and Guido experienced the same Holocaust, but