The only thing you sometimes have control over is perspective. You don't have control over your situation. But you have a choice about how you view it” (Pine, n.d.). This quote demonstrates how a person’s perspective could change all aspects of their situation, whether good or bad. The novel Night and the movie “Life is Beautiful,” are perfect examples of this; both portray different perspectives on how life can be viewed during difficult circumstances. In both stories, neither family chose to experience life in the Holocaust, so they had to deal with what was given to them and try to make the best of it. Additionally, each story focuses on the relationship between a father and son, and their experiences within the Holocaust. Ultimately, each …show more content…
The novel, Night and “Life is Beautiful” are practically opposite when it comes to these relationships. In Night, Elie takes care of his father, while in “Life is Beautiful,” Guido takes care of Joshua. In Birkenau, Elie yelled, “‘Father! Get up! Right now! You will kill yourself… Father… You cannot stay here’” (Wiesel, 2006, p. 105). At this moment, Elie is yelling at his father, but only to save s life. Elie’s father felt that he could no longer go on and wanted to give up; he just wanted to die. Elie would not let his father lie down in the snow and sleep because he knew that meant death. Elie’s relationship with his father had grown so much during the concentration camps. Before, he was not close to him, but they were separated from the rest of the family and helped each other survive. Towards the end when Elie’s father was giving up on life, Elie continued to look after his father. In contrast, the protector role was swapped between father and son. Now, Guido is taking care of his son rather than the son taking care of his father, as in Night. Throughout the concentration camp, Guido protected Joshua’s innocence by turning everything into a game (“Life is Beautiful,” 2000). Joshua had no idea what was happening in the outside world. All he knew was that he was living through a game, hoping to win the big tank at the end. Guido continued to take care of is son by making sure he had bread and water. Lastly, he also knew that the children were taken away so he protected Joshua from the Nazis and made his stay hidden inside. After all, each story demonstrated the relationship between a father and his son, and the different changes in each relationship lead to various perspectives observed by the