Elie Wiesel’s “Night” deserves to be listed among the most poignant and emotionally devastating novels in recent history. Rendering the turmoil and suffering of people mercilessly persecuted for their race, “Night” represents its characters with due humanism and regard for their complicated past. However, apart from the generational trauma of Jewish people, “Night,” being an autobiographic book, also focuses on its characters, depicting their journey and development (Kirsch 76). By portraying the father-son dynamics vividly and honestly, “Night” makes its characters real and relatable, therefore, allowing the reader to immerse into the novel and sympathize with the protagonists to an even greater degree.
The bond between Elie and his father demonstrated in the story serves to represent the emotional core of the book and point to the sacrifices that people had to make when being placed in the inhumane environment of a concentration camp. The specified approach to portraying the character dynamics allows humanizing the protagonists, thus, exposing the terrifying reality of Nazism and the anti-Semitic ideology that it promoted: “All I could think of was not to lose him. Not to remain alone” (Wiesel 30). Thus, the emotional connection that the characters share allow portraying them as living people and, therefore, contributes to the realism of the novel.
Moreover, Wiesel’s approach to representing the father-son dynamics, including the bond between the two and the love that they have for each other, can be interpreted as an attempt to depict the relationships between parents and children in general. Therefore, the book renders the pain that the characters experience in a very raw and distinctive manner, allowing the reader to empathize with the protagonists and the generational trauma that Jewish people have been experiencing: “The gaze of a Lazarus risen from the dead” (Wiesel 14). As a result, the connection between the father and the son in the narrative becomes more symbolic.
Furthermore, the relationship in question provides an opportunity to demonstrate amazing character development that Elie experiences in the course of the story. Specifically, when sent to the concentration camp with his father, Elie becomes excessively dependent on him, showing a strong bond yet also proving his weakness and unpreparedness for future challenges: “I remained flat on my back, asking God to make my father stop calling my name, to make him stop crying.” (Wiesel 14). The specified development indicates the emergence of a personal conflict that Elia is yet to resolve. Indeed, throughout the novel, Elie’s increasing dependency on his father and the importance of his presence in Elie’s life are described vividly. For instance, Elie stubbornly continues to give the food rationed to him solely to his father: “Stop giving your ration of bread and soup to your old father. You cannot help him anymore” (Wiesel 110). The specified portrayal of devotion, while deeply touching, also introduces a major concern for the leading character and the sanity that he needs to survive the concentration camp.
By introducing the unique dynamics between the father and the son in his autobiographic novel “Night,” Elie Wiesel enhances the believability and relatability of the characters, thus, making the story more emotionally appealing to the reader. Furthermore, the emotional core of the relationships between the father and the son, as well as the eventual resolution, provide the foil for the character growth in a unique and engaging way. The bond between the father and the son tragically interrupted after the former’s death becomes a crucial part of the character development, allowing Elie to demonstrate the progression from dependence on his father to becoming a self-sufficient man. Therefore, serving multiple purposes, the relationships between the father and the son in “Night” represent the emotional core of the narrative.
Works Cited
Kirsch, Adam. The Blessing and the Curse: The Jewish People and Their Books in the Twentieth Century. W. W. Norton & Company, 2020.
Wiesel, Eliezer. Night. Hill and Wang, 2006.