How Does Eliezer's Relationship With His Father Change Throughout Night

Shresht Rawat
Mrs. Susa
MYP Honors English 10 - Block 3
19 March 2023
How Elie’s relationship with his Father Changes Throughout Night The holocaust was a brutal genocide where millions of Jews suffered which is perfectly depicted in Eliezer Wiesel’s “Night”. In Wiesel’s book, many connections are shown between friends and family. The most important relationship that gets developed in “Night” is between Elie and his father. Elie and his father’s relationship goes through many changes, some for the better, and some for worse. Before arriving at Auschwitz, Elie and his father never shared a strong bond that a typical father and son would have. That changes in the concentration camp as Elie now finds himself depending on his father as he is the

Franek, a seemingly nice and pleasant man, notices that one of Elie’s teeth is made of gold. He becomes filled with greed and tells Elie to give up his gold teeth. Despite Elie rejecting his offer Franek persistently demands the gold tooth. Franek knows that Elie cares deeply for his father, so he decides to use Elie’s father as a way of getting Elie’s gold tooth. Franek takes advantage of Elie’s father's incompetence to walk in step and beats him on a daily basis because of it. Elie, wanting to keep his gold tooth, attempts to keep it by teaching his father how to walk in step, but despite Elie’s best efforts no matter what he did his father continues to be tormented. After not making any progress in two weeks of trying to teach his father how to properly march, Elie eventually “had to give in. That day, Franek burst into savage laughter” (56). Franek had always been kind to Elie and occasionally even gave him food, so when Franek suddenly turns on him he feels betrayed and learns there are not many people you can trust in the place he is at. One of the people he believes he can trust is his father, who up to this point he could always rely on in times of need. Elie and his father now have to endure the harsh conditions of the camp while Franek tortures them on a daily basis. Elie sacrificed

Elie has to endure being split from his family, being taken away from his home, and then being forced to work until he’s at the brink of death. Although Elie has never been close to his father, that all changes as he is suddenly put in these cruel environments. Eventually Elie’s care for his father grows so much that his only reason to keep working is because of him. This backfires on him as when time goes on his father only grows weaker, both physically and mentally. Elie goes out of his way to help his father thrive instead of himself, and even goes as far as to share the little rations he has with his father. Despite all of Elie’s efforts to keep him alive, his father eventually passes away leaving Elie alone. Although Elie felt awful about his father’s death he also felt the freedom of not having to worry about anyone else but himself. The relationship between father and son in Eliezer Wiesel’s book “Night” shows that the loss of a bond can be just as bad as the loss of a loved