Introduction
Eliezer Wiesel’s novel, ‘Night’, presents its audience with a dark tale that explains his tormenting moments with the Nazis. ‘Night’ is a novel that is based on the Jewish holocaust that took place in the 1940s. Eliezer Wiesel, the narrator of the story, lives in Sighet, a small town that is located in Transylvania.
The events in the novel unfold at the time of Adolf Hitler’s leadership. Due to greed, Hitler wants to take over Sighet forcefully. As a result, the situation triggers violence and Eliezer and his family are moved out of the town forcefully. However, the family cannot stay together owing to anguishes and oppression. Eliezer is separated from his family members, except his father. This essay explores the association between Eliezer and his father by examining how their relationship changes throughout the novel.
The Relationship between Eliezer and His Father
The Jew’s holocaust was a time of oppression that led to disruption of human nature. The relationship between families strengthened amongst those members who were lucky to remain together during the holocaust. Eliezer and his father were among those few individuals of the same family who fortuitously managed to sail in the same ship of anguish and soreness throughout the holocaust. Throughout the holocaust of the Jew’s, the bond between Eliezer and his father is tumbled by episodes of cruelty and distress (Wiesel 37).
However, before the ordeal with the Nazis, it is clear that the relationship between the two was almost non-existent. Eliezer’s father is described as an ever-busy man who serves as a community leader. As a result, he never gets any meaningful time to spend with his son and the rest of the family.
Indeed, there is a time when Eliezer expresses grief owing to lack of a cordial connection with his father during his early years (Wiesel, 2). Nonetheless, the unfolding events of inhumanity significantly improve the relationship between them. The ordeal is full of tormenting moments that accustom all the victims to hard labour. Eliezer is afraid to lose his father. At some point, it is evident that Eliezer and his father keep each other awake, as falling asleep in the blizzard and darkness can be fatal.
However, their relationship begins to soar as Eliezer becomes disobedient to both God and his father (Wiesel 41). During the Day of Atonement, he fails to fast against the wish of his father. His father, being a religious man, laments why his son was accusing God for letting them undergo the tormenting times. Nonetheless, Eliezer still has a strong attachment to his father and stays close to watch him.
For instance, when the oppressors decide to burn the people in the cylinder owing to their bodily weakness, Eliezer becomes very worried about his father. He wonders whether his father will pass the German official’s test. Eliezer is convinced that he is going to lose his father to the tormentors.
At this point, he regards himself as an orphan. Fortunately, the high number of detainees forces the oppressors to conduct a second tier of selecting the weak people. Eliezer cannot figure out separating with his father after they have undergone all the trying times together (Wiesel 42).
Conclusion
In conclusion, the relationship between Eliezer and his father implies a strong attachment between them. Their early differences in opinions do not affect their innate affection for each other. This state of affairs enables them to endure the ordeal together amidst intimidating oppressions. The story of Eliezer and his father in the Novel ‘Night’ enables us to reflect how similar families experienced hard times in blizzard and darkness during the holocaust of the Jews.
Works Cited
Wiesel, Elie. Night, Argentina: Hill and Wang, 2006. Print