Night by Elie Wiesel is a story about the experience of two men, a son and his father who appeared in the Nazi German concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald in 1944–1945. The story depicts many themes and dwells upon various topics, however, one of the most important themes is the change of the relationships between a father and his son. This change becomes possible because of the change of the son’s relation to God, to the whole situation, to people, to personal life.
Having appeared in a concentration camp, two men, Elie Wiesel, and his father tried to help each other. Being younger and healthier, Elie wanted to assist his father in everything. However, hard conditions, hostile environment and aggressive attitude from different sides make Elie change his attitude to his father. This change was not immediate and lasted for a long time. Moreover, this change in relationships was assisted by the changes in beliefs. Avni ideally describes the situation which has happened in the story, “it is a story of survival and of death: survival of the young narrator himself, but the death of the world as he knew it” (Avni 129). It is the destiny which made two men change their attitude to each other, it is the destiny which made son become to consider his father a burden.
Reading the book, the following author’s words sink deep into one’s mind:
Never shall I forget that night… that smoke… the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under the silent sky… those flames that consumed my faith forever… the nocturnal silence… those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes… (Wiesel 68).
These words describe the feelings Elie experienced, the time he had to suffer and the situations he had to endure. Suffering for too long, being the support to his father for a lengthy period of time Elie got tired. He also wants to live, therefore, when his father falls down, Elie runs, to stay alive. He understands that this is the last minute of his father’s life. However, he is so tired, he does not want to assist his father anymore. If such situation appeared at the beginning of the book, Elie would do everything he could to help his father, however, at the end of the book, he looks at it and thinks that his father’s death will reveal his life.
Koestler-Grack called Elie Wiesel’s story, “a voice for humanity” (Koestler-Grack 12). Elie loved his father. However, he understood that to remain alive himself, he had to remain careless. Much time and effort were spent on helping and assisting his father, that at the end of the book, Elie just could not endure it anymore. The change in the relationships between Elie and his father occurred when Elie began to understand that God does not exist when looking at the cruelty of the surrounding world Elie began to doubt close relationships and their necessity. Having considered his father as a burden and having left him to die, Elie understands that this is wrong.
However, his personal life has become more important for him and the life of his father was too difficult for him to endure than his death. When his father dies, he cannot cry; the cruelty of the environment changed Elie’s attitude to everything he praised before.
Works Cited
Avni, Ora. “Beyond Psychoanalysis: Elie Wiesel’s Night in Historical Perspective.” In Harold Bloom. Night – Elie Wiesel. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2009. (129-145). Print.
Koestler-Grack, Rachel A. Elie Wiesel: Witness for Humanity. New York: Gareth Stevens, 2009. Print.
Wiesel, Elie. Night. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2012. Print.