I feel that the death of Elie’s father is something that will never leave his memory; that is why I think it's perfect to interpret this as a picture. The death of Elie’s father was shocking to me as the reader because throughout the story Elie’s father is the figure of strength. Even in the book Elie said, “I shall not describe my life during this period. It no longer mattered. Since my father’s death, nothing mattered to me anymore”(p.113). Elie’s father was the emotional rock that kept Elie from going insane. At the end of the story Elie saw his father became more of a burden. Elie still didn't let that affect him because he still cared for his father. That is why he still gave his father food and affection. In the end,
...ed Auschwitz, he was emotionally dead. The many traumatizing experiences he had been through affected Elie and his outlook on the world around him.
At the beginning of the book, Elie mentioned that his father, Shlomo, was admired and respected by all the family members. Outside the family, “The Jewish community of Sighet held him in highest esteem” (Wiesel 4). Through the first few days in the concentration camps, Elie had relied on his father’s presence and protection to get him through his daily life. He was dependent on him as evident during the initial selection when he states that “My hand ti...
Upon their arrival of Birkenau, Elie was stuck like glue to his father “I felt the pressure of my father’s hand: we were alone.” (pg. 27) He would do anything to make sure his father did not feel a burden for him “ I bit my lips so that my father did not hear my teeth chattering.” (pg. 31) For some reason, Eliezer felt that it was his responsibility to care for his father and make him as relaxed as possible. Despite that, he eventually started to drift away from his original intentions. While his father was on his deathbed he begged for water, and frequently Eliezer would deliver him some, except for one time. During this one time, his father yelled out and was told several times to be quiet. Eliezer lay on the top bunk of the bed and watched the SS men deal him a violent blow on the head. Even after, he begged again for water and Ellie just lay there until the morning when he discovered his father was taken away to the crematories. If this were to happen in the very beginning, Eliezer would have gone right to his father's side with some water to hush him
However, there were warnings by some people that Jewish people were being deported and killed. Although no one believes these warnings, Elie and his family are taken to a ghetto where they have no food. After being in the ghetto, Elie and his father were separated from Elie’s mother and sister because of selection and were placed in cattle cars where they had no room. They are taken to Auschwitz where they suffer from hunger, beatings, and humiliation from the guards which causes Elie’s father to become weak. By now Elie has lost his faith in God because of all he has been through.
Also, he remained calm when his father was harassed by the guards. In the book, Elie said “Then I had to go to sleep”(Wiesel 112) and after his father’s death, the thing he said wasn’t about his sadness. It was about his freedom. He said, “Free at last”(Wiesel 112). Elie is not the old Elie anymore.
...his acceptance. The last few final acts of acceptance, rebellion and thoughts that drive Elie as he makes his own path not knowing where it leads him while leaving behind his religion and fills it with hope of living to the next night.
Elie, who was a teenager at the time of the novel, stood by his father’s side and assisted his father through physical challenges they had to face. Wiesel writes “I decided to give my father lessons in marching in step, in keeping time” (page 55). This shows that Elie is helping his father avoid the “selection” by giving him marching lessons to help him survive the death march. Elie stayed by his father’s side even in the harshest conditions. Elie writes “my father’s presence was the only thing that stopped me. He was running next to me out of breath, out of strength, desperate. I had no right to let myself die. What would he do without me? I was his sole support” (page 86-87). This shows that Elie remained loyal to his father by staying with him no matter what. In conclusion Elie is considered a hero because of the familial commitment choice to stand by his
It also shows extreme resilience when Elie’s father passes away. Elie remains living as he did before, and he does not shed a single tear, showing that he is being resilient (Wiesel 112). For a teenager to be as resilient as Elie is through a time like this is astonishing considering anyone else probably would not have been able to keep going when they had to run past the point of exhaustion and act completely normal at a time when his father passes away. Elie Wiesel wrote the book in a way that it showed just how cruel it was, and it allowed the readers to see that this is a serious thing and that it needs to be made sure that it does not happen again. He wanted readers to take away from it exactly what happened within his story, and be fully aware of what went
Family is an important theme in Night. The relationship between Elie and his father is the most important relationship in the story (Bosmajian). Before every crucial decision Elie makes in the story, he first asks his father what he should do. Mostly due to if Elie or his father went somewhere the other would go with. For example, when Elie had surgery on his foot and was recovering in bed at Buna. The camp was ordered to evacuate because of the eminent Russian presence. The prisoners in the hospital had a choice either to stay or go with. Elie’s father could have stayed with Elie, but Elie did not want to stay because he did not believe that the Nazis would let the sick and injured behind to live (Wiesel 88).
Elie describes his father as “a cultured man, rather unsentimental. He rarely displayed his feelings, not even within his family, and was more involved with the welfare of others than with that of his own kin” (Wiesel 4). Elie’s two older sisters help in the family store but Elie’s place is identified as in the house of study. Even though his father has a store to oversee his place seems to be more of a pillar of the community. According to Wiesel, “The Jewish community of Sighet held him in highest esteem; his advice on public and even private matters was frequently sought” (Wiesel 4). Elie stays busy with his studies and his father preoccupied with community obligations the relationship between the two seems distant at
Instead of brushing this feeling off, he decided to face this feeling and wanted to help his father more by finding him some soup. This action shows that Elie is not a brute because he is still capable of feeling empathy and compassion towards his father.
...ow much more independent he has become. His reaction to his father's death also represents this loss of innocence: “I did not weep, and it pained me that I could not weep. But I was out of tears” (Wiesel 112). This scene reveals the fact that Elie has realized that there are many evils in the world. His lack of emotion and tears shows that he understands how bad the Nazis' actions are and how cruel the world can be. This realization ultimately represents his loss of innocence and maturation.
My claim is that the father and son relationship of Elie and his father had a huge impact on his life. The way Elie thinks and the things he does for his father. His relationship takes him to extreme measures supporting him like he is the number one person to live. Elie was a good kid but when it had come to his father everything went up and down for him. So his relationship with his father wasn’t a good one and it was only leading to disaster.
...bers that he has a father and he forgot about him in the mob. “I knew he was running out of strength, close to death, and yet I had abandoned him” (p.106). Elie feels guilty for leaving his father when he needed Elie the most. After he wakes up he goes looking for his father. He feels as if he is responsible for taking care of his father. Elie replaces his faith with obligation to his father to help keep him going thought out the holocaust.
Two gravediggers saw Mr. Wiesel laying on the ground and thought he was dead. Elie slapped him and hit multiple times trying to wake him up so they would not take him. “And I started to hit him harder and harder. At last, my father half opened his eyes. They were glassy. He was breathing faintly.” His father does die at the end. This foreshadows how Elie will react when his father does die.