Throughout the book Night, Elie Wiesel struggles against himself in his relationship with his father. Although he sees his father as an obstacle towards getting to his survival, love and care overcomes it.
When Elie is on his way to the concentration camp, he starts to realize how much his father means to him. He does not count on losing him or leaving his side. He started to be as close as he could with his father to make sure he does not leave his side, “My father’s presence was the only thing that stopped me… He was running at my side, out of breath, at the end of his strength, at his wit’s end. I had no right to let myself die. What would he do without me? I was his only support,” (82). Elie realizes that without him by his side, there would be no one to care for or protect his father. The question he asks himself is “What would he do without me? I was his only support”. Leaving his father without anyone to be there for him will result in no major support for Elie’s father. Elie realizes that there is no possible way that he could leave his father and just go on by himself. He is not that type of person and the immense amount of love that Elie has for his father is what makes him not leave his side for anything.
Towards the end of the book, Elie shows how much he was willing to do for his father. He demonstrates all of the love and respect he has for him. Elie discovers the great relationship he has with his father,
“Here, every man has to fight for he and not think of anyone else… don’t give your ration of bread and soup to your old father. There’s nothing you can do for him. And you’re killing yourself. I listened to him without interruption. He was right, I thought in the most secret region of my heart, but I dared not admit it. It’s too late to save your old father, I said to myself. You ought to behaving two rations of bread, two rations of soup… only a fraction of a second, but I felt guilty. I ran to find a little soup to give my father,” (105).
Here is where Elie truly shows how much he cares about his father. The fact that he does not care that he is killing himself and how he knows he could be having two rations of soup and bread shows that Elie would give up his life for his father. On the inside, Elie knows that in some way, the man is right about his father nearing death, but there was no way that he was going to let that happen on his part. Love for his father is what overcomes the words spoken by this man. Although Elie admits to being wrong by even thinking of doing what the man said, he does not go down that path and he knows that what he did for his father was the right thing to do. Following his heart is the best decision that Elie could have made.
Once they made their way back to the concentration camp, Elie and his father’s relationship starts to grow again. In one occasion, Elie’s father was hit. Due to this, Elie recognizes the love he still has for his father and how he always will have that love for him. He sees this event happen, but he is just stunned to think that someone just did that to his father, “I did not move. What had happened to me? My father had just been struck before my very eyes…I had look and said nothing…Had I changed so much then? So quickly? Now remorse began to gnaw at me. I thought only: I shall never forgive them for that,” (37). Elie starts to wonder how much care he has for his father. Even if he just sees his dad as a normal dad and nothing more, when he is hurt, Elie cares. The feelings that he has of protection for his dad are not so easily hidden. Though Elie thinks that he has changed and grown because of the concentration camp, it does not interfere with those strong feelings he developed for his father. In the end, “I shall never forgive them for that,” (37), a show that whoever does anything bad to his father affects him and for that reason, Elie is not able to forgive that person. Even if the concentration camp has been keeping Elie and his father down, they are still able to continue with the strong relationship they had built.
The concentration camp is what helps strengthen the relationship between Elie and his father. The concentration camp is all about survival and the belief that every man for themselves, but the love and care that Elie feels for his father overcomes those thoughts of abandoning him. In conclusion, the relationship between Elie and his father grows throughout the time they spend together imprisoned in the concentration camp.
