Response To Elie Wiesel's Night

1119 Words5 Pages
“The family is a haven in a heartless world.” — Unknown These words are perhaps among the truest to have ever been said; to Elie Wiesel, I would imagine they would be even more true. He survived the Holocaust largely because of the reprieve of family. His father was right there beside him most of the way, and this helped him to survive the ordeal, even though his father was not so lucky. Some would say that Elie would have been wise to “unburden” himself early on and only worry for his own survival. However, I believe that Eliezer would have been wrong to abandon his father any sooner than he did, because it would have cost him the emotional support of his father’s presence, his reason to fight for survival, and the chance for personal…show more content…
His bond with his father becomes the soundtrack of Night, echoing through each turned page. For this reason, I have selected one song—one passage—from this soundtrack to analyse in order to avoid confusion whilst I present my points. This passage…show more content…
There is an aura of fear behind it, as Eliezer believes his father is going to die. This, to him, would be more than simply the loss of another family member. It would be the loss of the last remaining thing that gives him hope and a reprieve from the constant hell his life has become— the last vestige of his life before the Holocaust. It could be argued that it was this bond to his father, and by extension, to his life prior, that gave him the hope he needed to stay alive. This is most obvious when Elie writes ,“How good it would be to die right here!” This outburst of emotion demonstrates a terrible fear of losing his father. Besides the glaringly obvious reason for this fear, there is another reason that becomes clearer the father into the book one reads. As things become more and more hopeless, Eliezer’s father serves more and more often to provide Eliezer with something to care about other than his own suffering. By focusing on his father’s well-being, Eliezer finds a purpose for himself, and does not allow himself to give up—as long as his father is alive, he has a reason to keep fighting for his own

More about Response To Elie Wiesel's Night

Open Document