Eliezer and His Father Over the Course

¶ … Eliezer and his father

Over the course of the novel Night by Elie Wiesel, the narrator Eliezer's relationship with his father shifts from that of a conventional father-son relationship to a relationship in which Eliezer eventually becomes the stronger of the two men. Eliezer quickly becomes a man because of the historical circumstances to which he is subjected. Growing up in a concentration camp he soon learns that his father is far from infallible -- physically, emotionally, and intellectually. At first the son looks to his father for guidance during their confinement in the ghetto and during their initial tenure in the camp. Then he grows impatient with his father's physical weakness, and finally takes the more active, dominant role in the relationship because of his youth and greater physical strength.

Night opens in a Nazi-occupied ghetto in Eastern Europe. Eliezer's father is a source of strength for the other residents, because of his faith and wisdom. His son looks up to him. However, Eliezer's independence of mind is manifest even in the beginning chapters, as he studies Kabala against his father's wishes. He also urges his father to relocate the family to Palestine, which his father refuses to do, as the man is reluctant to leave his homeland. His father is unable to perceive the horror of what awaits in Auschwitz, and Eliezer later blames his father, on some level, for this failure. Unlike his father, Eliezer is incapable of saying Kaddish for the dead when he first sees the crematoriums. The longer the boy remains in Auschwitz, the more of a skeptic his father's faith Eliezer becomes.

Still, when Eliezer is initially brought to Auschwitz he is overjoyed to remain with his father, who represents a source of stability and security, especially since Eliezer has been taken away from his mother and sisters. Eliezer and his father initially work side-by-side. As the cruelty of the camp begins to penetrate his soul, Eliezer grows to resent his father's weakness and the man's inability to endure the work and the beatings of the head Kapo. Still, Eliezer remains with his father out of a sense of filial loyalty, even when his father only narrowly escapes one of the 'selections' of the less well prisoners. His relationship with his father represents his ties with compassionate humanity in the boy's mind.

In a march to Buchenwald through the snow, Eliezer witnesses several betrayals of fathers by sons, including one boy who outruns his older father and a son who kills his father over the little bread that is thrown to the inmates when they are on a train (the son is beaten to death by the other passengers after he beats his father). Eliezer's father is near death, but he is able to keep his son awake, and prevents him from falling asleep and likely freezing to death in the snow. This is the last time Eliezer's father will be able to act like a parent over the course of the novel. By the time father and son arrive at the new concentration camp, Eliezer's father is near death. Eliezer is reproached by another inmate for sharing his food and drink with his father, and told instead to concentrate on saving his own life.