Father And Son Relationships In Night And Life Is Beautiful

"For what you see and hear depends a good deal on where you are standing: it also depends on what sort of person you are" (Lewis, 1955). This quote by C.S. Lewis (1955) focuses on the power of perception in one's life. In Elie Wiesel's (2006) novel Night, there is a specific perspective of the Holocaust, and in the film "Life is Beautiful" (2000), the perspective is completely different. Although the experiences within each story are quite different, both share the prominent topic of a father/son relationship throughout the Holocaust. However, the father and son were not the only characters who set the entire mood; the Jewish prisoners also added to each story. These different perspectives define each story, as well as the characters within. In the novel Night and in the novel "Life is Beautiful," the Holocaust is experienced both similarly and differently

The Holocaust is the setting behind it all, but the father and son are what make the stories what they are. In Night, Eliezer and his father stick together at all costs so that they do not go through the concentration camp alone. Since they were immediately separated from the rest of the family, they were all they had. Elie's father eventually got sick, so he took care of his father, gave him food, and did his best to preserve and protect him. Eventually, however, Elie no longer cared to keep him alive and wished his father would die. In "Life is Beautiful," this was not the case whatsoever. It does also start the Holocaust experience with the son and father sticking together, yet the relationship's journey is quite different. From beginning to end, Guido and Joshua were showing each other true love. Up until Guido's death in the camp, he made sure to keep his son safe. In conclusion, both pairs stick together throughout the Holocaust, but the developments of each of the relationships take different