Memoir Night Relationships

This essay is devoted to a theme of relations between fathers and children and their transformation under extreme circumstances. Eliezer Wiesel, a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate and a holocaust survivor, wrote the book “Night”. The book tells about the experiences in the concentration camp in Auschwitz and the relationship between Elie and his father before the holocaust and when they were in the concentration camp. The essay aims to analyze the transformation of their relationship.

At the beginning of the Memoir Night Elie and his father’s relationship is not very good. It does not reflect a healthy relationship between a father and a son. Elie describes his father as a cultured man, unsentimental,

Elie protects and helps his father as well as he does not sacrifice him for his own survival as so many sons have done to their fathers. However as days pass by, he starts to feel some resentment toward his father especially when he is unable to protect himself from the bestiality of the SS instead of pitying him. In addition to that, toward the end of their way to Buchenwald his father becomes weak and cannot move, maybe because of fatigue or loss of hope. He leaves his father and sleeps deeply, when he wakes up, he could not find him and searches for him half-heartedly because a thought tells him maybe he could increase his chance of survival if he was alone. Fortunately, he finds him, ”Father! I’ve been looking for you so long…Where were you? Did you sleep? How are you feeling?” (p.106). He still cares about his father, and guilt eats him for his behavior, especially when he considers eating the food instead of sharing it with his father. Eliezer is slowly becoming estranged from his father due to the harsh situation but he stands by his father, who suffers from dysentery. Finally, his father passes on, and he feels a sign of relief and does not cry. However, the experience at the camp and their deep concern for one another develops overtime helps them to survive, and not to fall into the temptation of self preservation that makes a son turn against his father and kill