What Is The Relationship Between Night By Elie Wiesel's Father Son Relationship?

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Atrocious endeavors often impact the associations between people, which are then placed side by side to analyze the similarities and differences amid them. The vicissitudes in personalities towards others creates either a separation or bridge between individuals. The memoir, Night, written by Elie Wiesel focuses on the shift in his correlation between himself and his father while comparing it to various bonds. Juxtaposing many relationships in the novel, Elie’s father-son bond changes through the torture on the way to concentration camps, the challenges of receiving limited supplies, and the struggles of surviving the arduous obstacles he encounters.
While Elie witnesses the Gypsy beating his father in Auschwitz, where Jews are chosen to die …show more content…

The purpose of Wiesel describing the difficulties of food shortage is to expound how the connection between him and his father remains secure when hindrances arise. While the Blockälteste presents Elie with frank, survival suggestions his tie with his father is doubted; for instance, Elie contemplates, “…I thought deep down, not daring to admit it to myself. Too late to save your old father…You could have two rations of bread, two rations of soup… It was only a fraction of a second, but it left me feeling guilty. I ran to get some soup and brought it to my father” (Wiesel 111). In contrast to hardships causing separation within a social link, the scarcity of nutrients within the concentration camps brings Elie and his father closer together. Their love becomes greater as Elie tends to his father’s needs by “get[ting him] some soup.” Disregarding the Blockälteste’s advice of taking “two rations of bread” and “two rations of soup” for himself instead of sharing with his weakened father showcases Elie’s affection and care towards his father. Furthermore, Elie’s nurturing performance contradicts the scene when pieces of bread are thrown into the cattle cars, and an old man’s son murders his father to eat the bread for himself. Unlike Elie, starvation corrupts the old man’s son and transforms him into selfish, violent savage. …show more content…

As Wiesel enlightens about the advantages and disadvantages of having company during the Holocaust he debates between abandoning his father and continuing to care for him. Realizing that surviving would be easier if Elie is free from caring for his father he considers deserting him; to illustrate, Elie reflects, “If only I didn't find him! If only I were relieved of this responsibility, I could use all my strength to fight for my own survival, to take care only of myself…Instantly, I felt ashamed, ashamed of myself forever” (Wiesel 106). Evidently, Elie’s father becomes a burden reducing Elie’s chance of survival through the Holocaust. Secretly, Elie wishes to be “relieved of this responsibility” of worrying about his father’s wellbeing, which contributes to the downfall of their nexus and reveals Elie’s inner darkness plus his conceit. “To take care only of [him]self” convinces Elie that surviving on his own would be simpler despite losing his father. Likewise, during the blizzard, Rabbi Eliahu’s son forsakes his father after Rabbi Eliahu grows fatigued and drifts to the rear of the procession. On the other hand, Elie’s connection with his father withstands the urge of desertion because of the solid appreciation they have for one another and the reliance on each other for support and motivation they built together. Even though family is

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