" Night" : the Progression of Eliezer Relationship with his Father

Chaim Potok’s The Chosen explores two father son relationships, one between the Malters and one between the Saunders. In the final chapter of the book, Danny and Reb Saunders finally come to an understanding of each other, but not without the help of Reuven. Although they are a strong family, the Saunders need an outside force to help them communicate and solve Danny’s problems overall. The last chapter covers the need for suffering and pain and shows how Danny grows with Reuven’s help. Despite the conflict of intellect versus religion for him, Danny assumes that his father’s harsh upbringing is not in a cruel way, but is a part of his training as tzaddik.

Jus... ... middle of paper ... ...n his brother’s life the theme in Sonny’s Blues would’ve have been altered. Overall, what was vital to the narrator, in this time of turmoil and frustration, was to nurture the relationship with his brother Sonny, not only because of the love he had for him but also for the obligation he had as a brother and the commitment he had toward his mother. In conclusion, Sonny’s Blues depicts the love of a brother through the narrator, who at the beginning was disengaged, unsupportive, and emotionally distant. However, the turning point was when Grace died. This triggered a great turmoil of feelings that overflowed the narrator leading him to a major and impacting change.

When he gets separated from them, he makes sure they are doing fine, and puts himself in positions to gain better treatment of his few friends. Even after the war Vladek is still the same family driven man he was before. He wants his son Art to live with him so they are close together, and he takes Mala back just for the company. Vladek doesn’t want his son to leave, since he knows he might not ever see him again due to his health. This is the same type of feeling he felt in the camps, when he saw his family get torn apart.

In the Italian movie Life is Beautiful, the main character Guido, played by Roberto Benigni, prioritizes his son and wife’s well being over his own. A prime example of a time when Guido’s unconditional love was instrumental to his survival occurs when he resigned himself to an inevitable end while working in the anvil factory, until he recognizes that his survival is vital to his son’s (Benigni). Although his sense of self-sacrifice seems to contradict the notion of self-preservation, Guido’s motive to endure the atrocities of the concentration camp was so he could continue to care for his son, otherwise he would have given into the overwhelming feeling of hopelessness and embraced death as an end to his

One should fight against going out quietly and believing you could have done better. Men who live their life with passion and zeal also realize at the end that maybe they spent too much time grieving or worrying unnecessarily about things that they could not change and perhaps they should have tried to attain even more from... ... middle of paper ... ... ‘curses’ him or ‘blesses him’ as long as he can elicit a strong emotion from him (“Gentle” 17). In essence he is trying to put off his own pain at dealing with his fathers death and therefore wants his father to hang on as long as possible, by not giving up his life ‘gently’ without a fight. Dylan Thomas would experience reassurance of his father’s love and approval if his father fought against death valiantly in order to spend more time with him (“Gentle” 4). He would also admire his father’s courage and spirit if his father refused to give up his life easily.

At one point in the book, Elie considers running for the electric fence to avoid the long agonizing death he thought was inevitable. However, Elie thinks of how he could not leave his father to be alone and he decides against it. In a sense, his father is his motivation to keep fighting for his life. Elie found purpose through his undying love and compassion for his father. When driven by emotions and given a purpose one can survive even in the worst of conditions.

So I could be with you. Okay” (10-11). McCarthy points out that the man’s love for his son is what makes the man want to survive in the post-apocalyptic world. In the novel, before attempting suicide, the man’s wife criticizes him for using the boy as a reason to survive. The wife tells the man “The only thing I can tell you is that you wont survive for youself” (57).

Eliezer reflects on a time in the camp which is all that he could think about was not to lose his father in the camp. Eliezer also requires his father’s protection during their stay in the concentration camps. Unintentionally demanding this protection, Eliezer remembers, “I kept walking, my father holding my hand” (Night 29). Eliezer continues to show his need for his father’s presence. Eliezer’s actions and thoughts reflect his dependence on his father in the camp.

However, this bond can potentially evolve into more of a dynamic fitting relationship. In The Road The Man and his son have to depend on one another because they each hold a piece of each other. The Man holds his sons sense of adulthood while the son posses his father’s innocence. This reliance between the father and son create a relationship where they need each other in order to stay alive. “The boy was all that stood between him and death.” (McCarthy 29) It is evident that without a reason to live, in this case his son, The Man has no motivation to continue living his life.

As he and his father invert roles, and Elie becomes the bread-winning patriarch of the bunch, obligated to tending and making sure his father is fed properly, Elie’s loss of innocence and childhood evaporate with his restoration of faith in humanity. He learns that among the prisoners, fending for their own individual weight is the only way to survive. Separate from Elie and his father’s relationship throughout, fathers and sons collide, and friends betray other friends. But Elie’s own weight comes from his father, and yet when he refuses to betray him also, Elie’s own bravery reveals itself, making him the key survivor out of all of them. While he chooses to battle out his conscience to decipher these decisions to survive for his family or for he himself, he gains courage, and the courage to oblige to his faith.