Night By Elie Wisel: A Character Analysis

Family; a blessing, or a curse? In the book Night, Elie Wiesel offers many significant themes, but the question, “is family a blessing or a curse,” is one of the most prevalent and begging themes in the novel. During the novel, Wiesel often questions if he should try and keep his father around, or if life would just be better without him in the picture. “‘Don’t let me find him! If only I could get rid of this dead weight, so that I could use all my strength to struggle for my own survival, and only worry about myself,’ I immediately felt ashamed of myself, ashamed forever,” (Wiesel, 111).

This displays the fear that the author had for his father. When reflecting over the poem, John J. Mckenna stated, “The author replaced the rather benign ‘kept’ with ‘beat’ thus making the situation more ominous, more negative” Roethke’s father worked manual labor and had a strong physique. This means that he might’ve been too rough with his son at times, but not intentionally to hurt him. That is one of the reasons Roethke feared his father slightly. Another change Roethke made to the poem was the gender of the child.

Within the novel “Things Fall Apart,” the author, Chinua Achebe, explained how a warrior named Okonkwo was a victim of himself. Okonkwo was a victim of tragic events that surrounded his life. These events eventually lead him to his fate. Okonkwo had a father who was weak, and he was a failure in the eyes of the men of the village, Umuofia. Okonkwo’s worst fear was to be the kind of man his father was, so he tried his best not to let his fear become a reality.

(7). Elie does not believe Moishe because it’s so bad, but when he sees the horrors and suffers through the Holocaust he believes that it was possible that they did that. In the novel Night by Elie Wiesel, when sees and experiences the Holocaust it causes his relationships in the book to change before and after. These are shown by his relationship with his father.

Mainly because of his father. For example, in chapter 14 and 15 of “Into The Wild” By Jon Krakauer, he discuss how simliar him and McCandlesss were alike. Krakauer and McCandless was similar in a way when it came to both of their fathers’. They both rebel against their fathers and ended up going on an adventure. A quote from Krakauer I perceive how they both felt about the expectations their fathers wanted of them; “but I was not a clone of my father… Instead, I felt oppressed by the old man’s expectations..

They are discriminated due to their ages. This type of discrimination is called ageism. In the book, people were sent to ovens, join the military, or work in the camps. Elie Wiesel lied to have a better future although he was still destined to burn in the ovens. “I’m eighteen (Wiesel 31).”

The “limit” causes his beliefs of his father to be skewed. Bayard as a child believed his father was a brave, courageous, honest man. Bayard interprets the data into his belief of his father being a hero since, “ a child can believe anything given time”. Unlike the act of acceptance, believing was easy. Him believing that his dad was an honest, honorable man was much simpler to accept than the alternative.

The end of the parable the eldest son questions the honor of his father when his father decides to celebrate the youngest son’s arrival back home. The eldest son and the father both had different reactions of when the youngest son returned, the reactions almost opposite of each other. These two different reactions may show the difference in the honor each one has for the youngest son and/or brother. The honor in the relationship between the eldest son and the father is a tricky one to decipher from this parable because the end does not explain the sons reaction to the fathers statement of “Son you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead and is alive; he was lost, and is found” (Funk).

You might think not having a father figure in your life as being not a big deal but it’s a bigger deal than you think. According to Global Post, boys who grow up without a father figure are at risk of having problems as an adult such as behavioral problems, mental problems, delinquency, and acceptance. Fight Club’s narrator, Jack is a perfect example of what an absent father can do to someone’s self-identity. In Fight Club, Palahniuk explains how the narrator has father issues and is demonstrated through his sense of self.

Mistakes Every Human Makes Generally, fathers are described as the most caring yet dominant male figure in one’s life. However, in both The Kite Runner and “Forgiving Our Father,” these fathers are portrayed in an awful light. In this context, “an awful light” highlights the wretched qualities these fathers have. For majority of his childhood, Amir had not felt much approval growing up. In Afghanistan where fathers are the heads of the family, this lack of approval devastates Amir.

The rest was for him.” ( Wiesel 106 emphasis added). This shows courage Elie has for his father. It’s almost as if helping one another is important for survival. Up until that point, Elie has been an assistance to his father.

Night by Elie Wiesel shows when humans are put in horrible situations, the acts of selfishness greatly increase. The book shows that when humans are in crisis like the Holocaust everyone is desperate to survive, so they will do anything they can to get their basic needs. The people forgot who they are as human, and how it made Elie and others act differently towards each other. Elie Wiesel, and everyone who he meets along the way want to survive this, at times they forget why they want to live. But no one wants to get defeated by the Germans.