Health And Its Impact On The Characters Of Night

Ishaan Sharma

Ms. Susa

MYP HN English 10 - Block 3

19 March 2023

Health and its Impact on the Characters of Night

Night by Eliezer Wiesel is a story about the countless trials that the author faces during the Holocaust. He starts as an innocent young boy from Sighet. He is forced into a ghetto, and then into several concentration camps, including Auschwitz and Buna. Finally, he is liberated from his camps. He is joined in his trials by his father, Shlomo Wiesel. Through their time on this journey, the relationship between the two changes dramatically. The two traveled, were beaten, and starved together. During their time together, the relationship between the two changes dramatically. Shlomo Wiesel, initially a strong and reliable leader whom

Elie’s father is a man who is very involved in his community. He is a person who is often sought after for advice, and he is a man who is respected by the Jews of Sighet. However, this has the adverse effect of driving him away from his family emotionally. Elie recalls how “[Shlomo] rarely displayed his feelings, not even within his family, and he is more involved in the welfare of others than that of his own kin” (4). He becomes more connected with the community, but his connection with his family suffers. To Elie, his father is no longer his father; he is simply another member of the community. Shlomo Wiesel also worsens this because he is emotionally not present for his son. The time in which a child grows up is the time that is most crucial for their social development, and Elie grows into a family where his father is not involved. He learns to live more independently, and he has to learn to do the things that his father would have done for him otherwise. This all meant that Elie feels as though he has no need for Shlomo, and the divide between the two grows. Elie grew up without the same bond that many have with their fathers, and this resulted in him not being very close to his

However, the very beginning of the book demonstrates how Shlomo Wiesel was not very close with his son, despite being a strong and reliable leader. Shlomo Wiesel was once sought after for advice, yet his lack of emotions made him distant from his son. Eventually, Shlomo Wiesel was extremely weakened, but instead of pulling away, Elie becomes extremely close with his father, even to the point of receiving beatings and other punishments. Unfortunately, the strain eventually becomes too much for Elie to handle, and he snaps. This causes the bond between him and his father to break, and Elie lets go of his father. The bond between the father and son changes in tandem with each of their health. The memoir Night tells the unfortunate tale of a father and son, but it goes one step further and shows the dismal consequences that poor circumstances can have on a relationship.

Works Cited

Abramowitz, Yosef I. “Elie Wiesel transcends his status as a survivor.” Jewish Bulletin of Northern California Online, San Francisco Jewish Community Publications, Inc., 12 Jan. 1996, http://www.jewishsf.com. Accessed 2 Mar 2023

Cunningham, Lawrence S. “Elie Wiesel’s Anti-Exodus.” Responses to Elie Wiesel, edited by Harry James Cargas, Persea, 1978, pp.