After My Father's Death Nothing Could Touch Me Again Analysis

When Elie writes that he feels free after his father’s death, he means that his father was no longer his responsibility and he had nothing restraining him from giving into death. Since they were moved into the ghettos, their family tried their hardest to stay together because they knew that they were all each other had. Now that all of Elie’s family members are dead, he no longer has anything/anyone to hold onto, nor to worry about losing or abandoning. Now, Elie “free” to “surrender to death,” or commit suicide without any regret or any regard for anyone else’s life.

In saying, “After my father’ death, nothing could touch me anymore,” Elie means that his father was his final reason to continue living. After his father’s death, he has no

reason to live and he is spiritually, emotionally, and, somewhat, physically dead. Therefore, nothing can affect him anymore. The statement suggests that Elie surrendered in the fight of being “Elie.” His father was the only life left in him. He no longer cared about his faith, his family, nor himself. Instead, Elie desired death of his body and his identity.

I think that identity is an issue for Wiesel because he went through a sinister, traumatic event and saw hellish acts that he will never be able to forget. When people speak of their identity, they usually speak of their nationality/race, hometown, their experiences, their families, and their religion. All of these aspects have been disgraced in Elie’s life. Elie was demonized for his Jewish ethnicity, his hometown of Sighet was invaded and he was forced to live in a ghetto instead, he experienced mass genocide first-handedly, his family was killed, and his faith in God was challenged and greatly weakened. It may have been hard for him to claim/accept such tragedy and hardship as a part of his identity. He would now be known as “Elie Wiesel, Holocaust Survivor,” instead of whatever title he originally wanted to pursue. The mass genocide would always be associated with his name. Even though he received a Nobel Peace Prize and has done many remarkable things, the Holocaust will never be erased from his past.