“Night” by Elie Wiesel: Eliezer’s and His Father Relationship

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A change is as good as a rest, and when its time comes, it becomes inevitable. Eliezer, the main character in Night, encounters change on several occasions. The most significant change he encounters is that of his relationship with his father. In fact, the relationship between Eliezer and his father keeps on changing drastically throughout the novel as the situations in which they are subject change. This essay describes how the relationship between Eliezer and his father changes throughout the novel.

Explain how Eliezer’s Relations with his Father Changes throughout the Novel

Eliezer and his father did not have an intimate relationship before they were separated from their family members. Actually, Eliezer was independent of his father because his father concentrated more on his fellow Jewish members than his own family. Eliezer describes his father as a patriarch who “… was concerned more with others than his own family” (Wiesel 2). This shows that the relationship between the two was not healthy, and the father-son bond was wide. Thus, initially, the two were independent of each other.

However, after deportation, Eliezer becomes dependent on his father for support and guidance in the concentration camp. Actually, as the two wait for their fate in the first camp, Eliezer clings to his father’s hand because he does not want to be separated from him. Eliezer argues, “My hand tightened its grip on my father. All I could think of was not to lose him. Not to remain alone” (Wiesel 3). Their relations changed from independent persons to dependent persons.

While in the camp, Eliezer depended on his father for guidance, and his father depended on his son for protection. Eliezer would not do anything without his father’s approval or reassurance that he would be with him. They develop a unique dependence that is expected in a father-son relationship. In the camp, they traveled together for fear that they may be separated (Kremer 67).

Eliezer did not want to separate from his father because they had developed a strong father-son relationship. In fact, Eliezer confirms his desire to remain with his father by saying, “I want to stay with my father” (Wiesel 48). As the two continue to stay in the camp, their relationship changes to peer-like to ensure they continue helping each other. When his father is chosen, Eliezer acts like his friend, and he creates a diversion by causing a commotion so that his father and the other captives can switch lines.

During their dreadful moments in the camps, Eliezer and his father learned how to take care of each other and vowed to protect each other. The awful experiences they went through at the concentration camps taught them how to love and care for each other. Eliezer gave his father the moral support he needed, and his father also did the same to his son. For instance, when Eliezer decides to sleep, his father tenderly tells him “Don’t be afraid son, sleep… I ‘will look after you myself” (Wiesel 85). Actually, their relationship grows stronger as they continue staying in the concentration camps.

Conclusion

At the concentration camps, Eliezer changed his past theories about his father and began respecting and loving him as a parent. Their love and relationship grew stronger as they continued to stay in the camps. In fact, it sounds funny that something awful can change people’s relationships for the better. The change experienced in their relationship is the ultimate power that saves them from self-centeredness and insensitivity that results from the need for self-protection.

Works Cited

Kremer, Lillian. “Elie Wiesel”, in Holocaust Literature: An Encyclopedia of Writers and Their Work. Boston: Taylor & Francis, 2002. Print

Wiesel, Elie. Night. New York: Hill and Wang, 2006. Print.