Night Elie Wiesel Conflict Essay

Conflict can be described as a mental struggle that can result from opposing needs, wants, interests, or principles. In Night by Elie Wiesel, Elie faced a series of conflicts, both internal and external, during his time in the concentration camps. Three distinct conflicts Elie experiences include his internal struggle with his faith in God, his internal guilt over feeling burdened for being responsible for his father, and the external conflict he feels as he witnesses the dehumanization of the other prisoners in the camp.

At the beginning of the book, Elie has a strong relationship with God, which rapidly deteriorates throughout his time in the camps. Prior to being captured, Elie spends most of his day studying and practicing his religion.

Elie begins to realize his father can’t survive on his own and he knows it’s his responsibility to keep him alive. Elie shouts with terror, “Father! Father! Wake up. They are going to throw you outside” (Wiesel 99). It becomes clear that Elie’s father will die without the care and attention he is providing him. Eli becomes conflicted over the fact that it is becoming too difficult to keep his father alive. Elie admits he believes, “Yet at the same time I thought crept into my mind: If only I didn’t find him! If only I were relieved of this responsibility, I could use all my strength to fight for my own survival, to take care only of myself”( Wiesel 106). Elie begins to face the issue of either choosing his survival or to continue fighting to keep his father alive. Elie struggles mentally over the realization that his survival is more likely without the burden of caring for his

It hurts him to see the selfishness and savageness of other human beings as they kill and betray each other to survive. Elie watches a man’s son leave his own father behind because he knew he had a better chance of survival without him. Elie revealed, “A terrible thought crossed my mind: what if he had wanted to be rid of his father?” (Wiesel 91). Despite being burdened by his father, he still can’t imagine another human being leaving his father behind to die. Elie is also disgusted when he watches other humans violently fighting each other over small pieces of bread. Elie sadly expresses, “Men were hurling themselves against each other. Beasts of prey unleashed, animal hate in their eyes” (Wiesel.101). It was each man for himself to survive, and Elie was conflicted over this behavior while also understanding the life or death situation they all