Night by Elie Wiesel
Throughout the book Night by Elie Wiesel, the relationship between Elie and his father changes drastically for many reasons. At the beginning of the book Elie and his father seem very close and his father doesn’t really show emotion. At the end or nearing the end of the book Elie and his father seem farther apart or even detached from each other. Elie and his father’s relationship is similar to the relationship between the Rabbi and his son but it is also very different. The relationship between Elie and his father changes very much for in a positive way for Elie throughout the memoir. First, at the beginning of the memoir Elie and his father are very close and his father shows almost no emotion whatsoever. Elie and his father are part of the Jewish community and Elie is dubiously studying his faith at a shtibl. Elie is interested in studying the Kabbalah but his father doesn’t necessarily approve but leaves him in a sort of Socratic way of thinking about God. Elie believes that the answers are in you and that you have to ask god the right questions to truly understand the answers and his dad agrees. His father is more absorbed in helping others and being a part of the Jewish community. Overall the relationship between Elie and his father seems very close in the beginning of the memoir. Next, Elie and his father begin to drift apart throughout the memoir. Elie and his father slowly lose their love for each other throughout the memoir because being dehumanized for that long takes away a person’s capacity to love. Also, being under that much physical stress, limited food, and horrible living conditions puts a strong wear on the soul and faith of a person. After a person’s faith and humanity is taken away there is not much to live for so the thought of that may cause the loss of love and destruction of a relationship. His father is beginning to become unbearably intolerable near the end of the book and Elie knows his father is nearing the end of his life so he is