the book night by elie wiesel essay

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The Story of ‘Night’

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By Rachel Donadio

• Jan. 20, 2008

This fall, Elie Wiesel’s “Night” was removed from the New York Times best-seller list, where it had spent an impressive 80 weeks after Oprah Winfrey picked it for her book club. The Times’s news survey department, which compiles the list, decided the Holocaust memoir wasn’t a new best seller but a classic like “Animal Farm” or “To Kill a Mockingbird,” which sell hundreds of thousands of copies a year largely through course adoptions. Indeed, since it appeared in 1960, “Night” has sold an estimated 10 million copies — three million of them since Winfrey chose the book in January 2006 (and traveled with Wiesel to Auschwitz).

But “Night” had taken a long route to the best-seller list. In the late 1950s, long before the advent of Holocaust memoirs and Holocaust studies, Wiesel’s account of his time at Auschwitz and Buchenwald was turned down by more than 15 publishers before the small firm Hill & Wang finally accepted it. How “Night” became an evergreen is more than a publishing phenomenon. It is also a case study in how a book helped created a genre, how a writer became an icon and how the Holocaust was absorbed into the American experience.

Raised in an Orthodox family in Sighet, Transylvania, Wiesel was liberated from Buchenwald at age 16. In unsentimental detail, “Night” recounts daily life in the camps — the never-ending hunger, the sadistic doctors who pulled gold teeth, the Kapos who beat fellow Jews. On his first day in the camps, Wiesel was separated forever from his mother and sister. At Auschwitz, he watched his father slowly succumb to dysentery before the SS beat him to within an inch of his life. Wiesel writes honestly about his guilty relief at his father’s death. In the camps, the formerly observant boy underwent a profound crisis of faith; “Night” was one of the first books to raise the question: where was God at Auschwitz?

Working as a journalist in his mid-20s, Wiesel wrote the first version of “Night” in Yiddish as “Und di Velt Hot Geshvign” (“And the World Remained Silent”) while on assignment in Brazil. But it wasn’t until he returned to Paris and met François Mauriac, a noted Catholic novelist and journalist, that “Night” took the shape we know today. Mauriac urged Wiesel to rewrite the book in French and promised to write a preface. Still, “it was rejected by the major publishers,” Wiesel recalled in a recent interview, “although it was brought to them by François Mauriac, the greatest, greatest writer and journalist in France, a Catholic, a Nobel Prize-winner with all the credentials.” Les Éditions de Minuit brought it out in 1958, but it sold poorly.

The American response was similarly tepid. Georges Borchardt, Wiesel’s longtime literary agent and himself a Holocaust survivor, sent the French manuscript to New York publishers in 1958 and 1959, to little effect. “Nobody really wanted to talk about the Holocaust in those days,” Borchardt said. “The Diary of Anne Frank,” published in the United States in 1952, had been a huge success, but it did not take readers into the horror of the camps. Although “Night” had sophisticated literary motifs and a quiet elegance, American publishers worried it was more a testimonial than a work of literature. “It is, as you say, a horrifying and extremely moving document, and I wish I could say this was something for Scribner’s,” an editor there wrote to Borchardt. “However, we have certain misgivings as to the size of the American market for what remains, despite Mauriac’s brilliant introduction, a document.” Kurt Wolff, the head of Pantheon, also turned “Night” down. Although it had qualities “not brought out in any other book,” Pantheon had “always refrained from doing books of this kind,” meaning books about the Holocaust, he wrote to Borchardt.

Finally, in 1959, Arthur Wang of Hill & Wang agreed to take on “Night.” The first reviews were positive. Gertrude Samuels, writing in the Book Review, called it a “slim volume of terrifying power.” Alfred Kazin, writing in The Reporter, said Wiesel’s account of his loss of faith had a “particular poignancy.” After the Kazin review, the book “got great reviews all over America, but it didn’t influence the sales,” Wiesel said.

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Home — Essay Samples — History — Holocaust — Night By Elie Wiesel: An Analysis of Surviving at All Costs

Night by Elie Wiesel: an Analysis of Surviving at All Costs

• Categories: Elie Wiesel Holocaust

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Published: Mar 8, 2024

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by Elie Wiesel

Night essay questions.

Using examples from the text, what does Wiesel convey about human nature in the concentration camps? Where does he (if at all) draw the line between humanity and barbarism?

Early on, Eliezer indicates that it does not take much for a complete breakdown of civility to ensue. Even as the Jews are deported from Sighet, Eliezer reveals, couples began to openly copulate in the train car. As more and more time is spent in the camps, Eliezer describes a situation in which man turns into beast. This is best exemplified in which the guards throw bread into the train car and fighting ensues, to the point at which hunger is more important to the body that relationships are to the mind, and a man kills his own father for the piece of bread. As Eliezer describes: "Men were hurling themselves against each other, trampling, tearing at and mauling each other. Beasts of prey unleashed, animal hate in their eyes. An extraordinary vitality possessed them, sharpening their teeth and nails" (pg. 101). Eliezer does not shy away from describing himself as a beast: "I fought my way to the coffee cauldron like a wild beast" (pg. 106).

Discuss Eliezer’s struggle with faith throughout the book. What is his relationship with God in the beginning, and what is it by the end of his time in the concentration camps?

At the beginning, Eliezer is very devout, and he devotes his studies to mystic teaching and to prayer. While he never fully carries a disbelief in God, throughout this time in the concentration camps he comes to resent God, and to mistrust him. Rather than deny his existence, Eliezer instead turns to interrogating God's motives. He foreshadows this transformation at the start of the book, saying, "In the beginning there was faith—which is childish; trust—which is vain; and illusion—which is dangerous." (Forward). After time spent in the camps, Eliezer questions God: "What are You, my God? I thought angrily. How do You compare to this stricken mass gathered to affirm to You their faith, their anger, their defiance? What does Your grandeur mean, Master of the Universe, in the face of all this cowardice, this decay, and this misery? Why do you go on troubling these poor people's wounded minds, their ailing bodies?" (pg. 66.)

Throughout the piece, Eliezer sometimes separates his mind and his body. When are some examples of this, and what does he convey by describing himself in these ways?

The strongest example of when Eliezer separates himself from his body is during the death march in the snow, in which he describes his body as something that merely anchors him, acting against his desire to be free of pain and suffering. As he states: "I was putting one foot in front of the other, like a machine. I was dragging this emaciated body that was still such a weight. If only I could have shed it! Though I tried to put it out of my mind, I couldn't help thinking that there were two of us: my body and I. And I hated that body" (pg. 85). Another moment that conveys this separation of mind and body is when both his mind and his body are afraid of a blow to the head similar to the one that a guard had dealt his father: "I didn't move. I was afraid, my body was afraid of another blow, this time to my head" (pg. 111).

Though there are many images of prisoners struggling to live, there are also more unnerving ones of prisoners becoming so apathetic that their will to die is stronger. To what does Eliezer attribute this apathy, and how does he describe prisoner’s “will to live"?

Eliezer frequently attributes death of the prisoners not only to dire circumstances and the struggle for survival, but also to moments of apathy in which prisoners simply give up. More often than not, Eliezer attributes the loss of the will to live to two principal factors: the complete disbelief in God, and the knowledge that one's family has perished. The earliest evidence of this is the incident of Akiba Drumer, in which Eliezer lies to him and tells him that his family is well:

"'The only thing that keeps me alive,' [Drumer] kept saying, 'is to know that Reizel and the little ones are still alive. Were it not for them, I would give up.' One evening, he came to see us, his face radiant. 'A transport just arrived from Antwerp. I shall go to see them tomorrow. Surely they will have news …' He left. We never saw him again. He had been given the news. The real news"(pg. 45). When Eliezer believes that his father, who looks weakened and frozen after the march, may be dead, he says, "Suddenly, the evidence overwhelmed me: there was no longer any reason to live, any reason to fight" (pg. 99).

Discuss Eliezer and his father’s evolving relationship throughout the piece. At one point is there a role reversal—when does this happen, and how does Eliezer cope with it?

Throughout Night, Weisel describes how the trials of the concentration camp effectively switch the roles of father and son over time. The father-and-son relationship is first strained when Eliezer immediately understands the immediacy of the deportation threat and asks his father to "sell everything, liquidate everything, and to leave." Before even being deported, Eliezer's father refuses to get an immigration pass to Palestine, citing his age: "I am too old my son...too old to start a new life...too old to start from scratch in a distant land" (pg. 9). At the beginning of the piece, this is where the age difference between Eliezer and his father appears to be the widest; thereafter, the hardships narrow this chasm until, by the end of the piece, there is almost a complete temporal switch.

While there are indeed some instances in which Weisel's father looks out for his son (including giving him extra rations of bread) by the end, Eliezer begins to take on more and more responsibility for his father, until the pressure of having his father rely on him becomes almost unbearable. After the march through the snow, Eliezer's father develops dysentery and relies completely on his son for survival. The last word on his father's lips is "Eliezer." Eliezer feels numb to his father's death and feels guilty for being somehow grateful for his father's passing:"I did not weep, and it pained me that I could not weep. But I was out of tears. And deep inside me, if I could have searched the recesses of my feeble conscience, I might have found something like: Free at last!" (pg. 112.)

Night Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Night is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

What did Eliezer mean when he said, "The whole year was Yom Kippur"?

In Elie Wiesel's memoir "Night," the phrase "The whole year was Yom Kippur" refers to the profound spiritual and existential crisis experienced by the Jewish prisoners in the concentration camps during the Holocaust. Yom Kippur is the Jewish Day...

Night, Chapter 2

From the text:

"There are eighty of you in the car," the German officer added. "If anyone goes missing, you will all be shot, like dogs."

What becomes elies main goal

In chapter three Elizer's main goal was for himself and his father to be selected for work and thus stay alive. They achieve this goal by lying to authorities and looking healthy enough to work.

Study Guide for Night

Night study guide contains a biography of Elie Wiesel, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Night
• Night Summary
• Character List

Essays for Night

Night essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Night by Elie Wiesel.

• Silent Night
• The Motivation in Night
• The Gospel According to Mark and Night: Would St. Mark Call Night a 'Religious Book'?
• NIght and the Problem of Evil
• The Changing Nature of the Relationship Between Elie and His Father in Night

Lesson Plan for Night

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to Night
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• Night Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for Night

• Introduction

• Latest Issue
• Submissions
• College Papers For Sale

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Guide to Writing an Essay on the Book Night by Elie Wiesel

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The book Night by Elie Wiesel is a unique one because it is a detailed experience of the holocaust during the nazism era. Writing an Elie Wiesel Night essay may take different approaches. To write the best essay on this book, you should follow the steps below.

Writing an Essay on Night by Elie Wiesel

1. read the book.

While Night is a book with unique features and themes, it is also enjoyable to read. Read the book like you want to enjoy it and not just because you have to write an essay on it. It is also important that you understand the details of the book. If it helps, you can go through the book more than once. At this stage, a general idea of what the book entails is more important because it lays the foundation for your writing.

2. Decide the Area/Topic for the Essay on the Book Night

There are many areas of Night by Elie Wiesel essay topics you can write about. There are equally many ways to go about writing. Do you want to write an analytical, rhetorical analysis, or argumentative essay? Knowing what type of essay, you want to write will help you decide on your topic. Once you have decided the type of essay, see if you want to discuss themes used in the book, the language, a character, or the book in general.

3. Read Again in Preparation to Write an Essay on the Book Night by Elie Wiesel

This time when you read the book, you're reading with a focus because you have identified the areas of concentration. You know if you want to focus on Ellie's belief in God or the theme of the holocaust, killing, and manslaughter. This second read will help you write Night by Elie Wiesel Essay.

4. Jot Down Important Details Concerning Your Night Book Essay

Jotting down important details is important for your essay. The notes you make will play a huge role in formulating the body of your essay. Jot down or underline every detail you find relevant to your essay. This will help make referencing easier for you when you begin to write your essay.

5. Read Other People's Essay About Night by Ellie Wiesel

This is not always a necessity but if you're having trouble writing your essay, you might want to consider this. This does not mean that you should plagiarize other people's work. It simply gives you an idea of how you should write yours.

6. Draft Out Your Essay on Night by Elie Wiesel

Now that you have taken notes on what you want your essay to contain, you should begin drafting your essay. Like other books, an essay on Night will have an introductory chapter, the body of your work, and your conclusion.

Your introductory chapter tells your readers what to expect by summarizing the body of your essay. It should also have a Night Elie Wiesel essay thesis statement. Your introduction should be catchy and brief, but informative.

The body of your essay is where you write the main details of your essay. It often comes in three to four paragraphs, with each one addressing different points.

The conclusion sums up the essay and closes the work. It addresses the aim of your work and if you have achieved it. Your conclusion must be equally as intriguing as your introduction.

7. Write Your Essay on the Book Night

Now that you have drafted out how you want your essay to be, nothing is stopping you from writing the perfect essay. You must proofread your essay after reading and make references to the book to validate your fact. This is because any kind of error makes your essay less perfect.

This article is for you if you had no idea of how to write an essay about Night by Elie Wiesel or you feel you have been going about it all wrong. The tips here are easy to implement and help you write a great essay.

©2015 Night Train.

Night by Elie Wiesel: Essay Topics & Samples

Do you need to write an essay on Elie Wiesel’s Night ? Are you feeling too overwhelmed and don’t know how to start? No worries!

In this article, we’ve gathered everything you need to create an outstanding Night essay: topics, the most insightful questions, valuable prompts, and useful examples.

Night by Elie Wiesel Essay Topics

• The transformation of Eliezer’s personality throughout the book. Describe the main character’s personality at the beginning of the book. What were the boy’s interests? How did he perceive the world living in Sighet? Examine how the concentration camp changed Eliezer’s attitude towards life.
• The significance of family ties in Night by Elie Wiesel. Analyze the relationship between Eliezer and his father . In your opinion, are family ties a powerful or a destructive force for the main character? State your position and support it with good examples.
• Night : just a title or a powerful symbol? Does night itself symbolize anything in the book? If yes, what? What role does the symbol of the night play for the comprehension of the entire story? To make your essay more dynamic, consider inserting relevant quotes from the book.
• The religious context in Night, a novel by Elie Wiesel. Investigate Eliezer’s attitude towards God . Compare and contrast his perception of divine powers in the beginning and at the end of the book. What factors influenced the transformation of the main character’s worldview?
• Did Eliezer become a stronger or a weaker person? Analyze Eliezer’s transformation . Did the obstacles he went through make him feel weaker or stronger? Present your point of view and support it with valid arguments and appropriate evidence from the text.
• Is there a life after the concentration camp?   “From the depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me” (Eliezer, Night ). How do you think Eliezer’s life will look like after the camp? Is there any chance he will be able to get back to everyday life?  
• Eliezer’s relief after his father’s death: a betrayal or a normal reaction? Why do you think Eliezer felt like he got rid of the burden after his father passed away? Should the main character be ashamed about it? Analyze how the trials Eliezer went through transformed his attitude towards his dad.
• Hell on Earth. Describe the Nazi’s inhuman actions toward the deported Jews. What were the Nazi’s intentions? After Eliezer witnessed the tourers in the concentration camp, did he lose faith in God? Or did he only started questioning God’s justice and kindness?
• The unexpected interpretation of the symbol of fire. The fire is the central symbol Elie Wiesel includes in his book. Analyze its meaning and significance. Compare and contrast the role of the fire in Night and the Bible. Why do you think the author interprets fire in quite an unusual way?
• The significance of Night by Elie Wiesel for the audience of the 21 st century. Think about the lessons the modern readers could learn from this book. Will you suggest reading it to your children? In your opinion, can Night become outdated and irrelevant one day?

Night by Elie Wiesel: Essay Samples

In case you lack the inspiration to compose your Night essay, we collected the most insightful samples. Read their summaries, choose the one you most liked, and create your outstanding piece of writing!

• Father-Son Relationships in Eliezer Wiesel’s Book “Night” Are you about to write an essay on the evolution of the relationship between Eliezer and his father? Take a look at this example! You will find an analysis of the family ties and a bunch of crucial quotes.
• Jews’ Suffering in “Night” by Elie Wiesel Literature Analysis The given essay sample explores the trials the Jews were forced to go through during the Holocaust. Also, you will find some insights into Eliezer’s struggle to maintain his faith in God. Check it out!
• Events in the Concentration Camps: “Night” by Elie Wiesel This essay gives a general overview of the events that occurred to Eliezer and his fellow Jews in several concentration camps. Also, the author focuses on the effect of hardships on the relationship between Eliezer and his father.
• Eliezer and His Father in Elie Wiesel’s Night How did Eliezer change his attitude towards his father as the plot progresses? Curious about the reasons for the main character’s personality transformation? Read this essay and grasp the answers to all of your questions!
• Elie’s Life in “Night” by Elie Wiesel The following essay will take you into a long journey of Eliezer’s life, starting from Sighet and ending in the hospital in front of the mirror. Are you ready to feel compassion towards the main character? Check this essay out!
• Elie Wiesel’s “Night” – Eliezer’s Faith in God Eliezer’s relationship with God takes a separate storyline in the book. Do you want to investigate it? Take a look at this essay!
• Family Relationship in ”Night” by Elie Wiesel At the beginning of the book, Eliezer’s family is an exemplary one in Sighet. But how do the family ties shift throughout the story? Do they weaken or strengthen? Read this sample and figure it out!
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Essays on Night By Elie Wiesel

Table of Contents

When tasked with crafting a comprehensive literature review on the poignant book “Night” by Elie Wiesel, seeking assistance from StudyMoose can prove immensely beneficial. The book’s themes of survival, humanity, and the Holocaust hold profound significance, requiring a thoughtful analysis that captures its essence. StudyMoose’s adept experts are adept at swiftly crafting literature reviews that delve into the nuances of the narrative, providing insightful perspectives and thorough research. With their help, you can navigate the complexities of Wiesel’s work, gaining a deeper understanding and presenting a well-structured review that resonates with readers.

About Night By Elie Wiesel Book

The Night By Elie Wiesel was written as a memoir by the author Elie Wiesel. He described the terrifying events and recorded his memories of when he and his family were taken from their home to Auschwitz concentration camps in 1944.

The book was published in 1960; it portrays the writer’s experience as a young kid in concentration camps in Auschwitz and Buchenwald in Nazi Germany. The writer shares his memories in a scattered and sparse narrative; it shows how brutal, horrifying and torturous it is for him even to recall those memories and present them in the form of a book.

The book was translated into other languages. It ranks as one of the bases for Holocaust literature. It was first published in Yiddish in Argentina; later, it was translated into French, and finally, in 1960, published in New York. It is unclear how long the original Yiddish manuscript was, but its translation from Yiddish to French transformed an angry historical interpretation into a work of art. The night by Elie Wiesel essay explains all the aspects of the book and how it transformed the narrative.

Book Summary:

Night by Elie Wiesel theme essay starts with the narrator, a Jewish teenager, portraying his memories. He with his family lives in Sighet, Hungarian Transylvania; he studies the Torah and Cabbala. His teacher Moishe the beadle, got deported; on his return, he told them about the horrifying tale of the Gestapo (German secret police force), how they took charge of the train and started butchering the passengers by taking them into the woods.

No one believed Moshie in the first place, but when the Nazis occupied Germany, all the Jews of the writer’s town were taken to ghettos, from where they were taken to Birkenau, the gateway to Auschwitz. Upon their arrival, the writer and his father are separated from his mother and sisters. Then after passing the criteria of their evaluation, whether they are fit for work or should be killed, they are brought to Auschwitz.

They are stripped, disinfected, shaved, and treated with unbearable cruelty upon their arrival. The writer is put to work in an electrical fitting factory under severe slave-labor conditions; they are malnourished and decimated after frequent selection. This brutality and cruelty make Jews take solace in each other’s company, where they dream of a separate Jewish state, religion, and caring for each other.

The prisoners in concentration camps are forced to watch the hanging of those who rebel or disobey; even children are hanged brutally. A strong fear of death prevails in the camps where sons are turned against their fathers for survival; these conditions make Elizier, the writer, lose Faith in humanity and God. He undergoes foot surgery in the camps when he hears about the advancement of the Russian forces. Eliezer and other prisoners are forced to run in extreme weather conditions to reach the Gleiwitz concentration camp. More than half of the prisoners die due to harsh weather conditions.

After a torturous journey on cattle carts, the writer and his father survive due to mutual support when they reach Buchenwald, another concentration camp. However, later in Buchenwald writer’s father dies due to dysentery and physical abuse, and Eliezer survives the camps with an empty soul when American Army liberates the camp on 11th April 1945.

Night By Elie Wiesel quotes:

The quotes are a good way to start the night by Elie Wiesel essay introduction; they provide the best hook statement and engage the reader’s attention. Here are some famous quotes from Night by Elie Wiesel.

• In the beginning, there was Faith – which is childish; trust – which is vain; and illusion – which is dangerous.
• Human suffering anywhere concerns men and women everywhere.
• I pray to the God within me that He will give me the strength to ask Him the right questions.
• It is all about memory, its sources, magnitude, and consequences.
• There’s a long road of suffering ahead of you. But don’t lose courage.
• Those who kept silent yesterday will remain silent tomorrow.

Essay Structure on Night by Elie Wiesel

The essay structure on Night by Elie Wiesel is the same as other essays, but there are various things that one must consider and follow while writing an essay. Before you start working on a book essay, read it properly and create an outline for efficient execution; Night by Elie Wiesel essay questions is also one good way to support your argument.

Introduction:

The introduction of the essay provides an overview of the essay and the writer’s perspective to the readers. Therefore it must be well written and includes engaging, relevant statements, a short brief on the topic, and a thesis statement. One can read example essays on night by Elie Wiesel if they want more clarification.

The essay’s body paragraphs have detailed information, facts, quotes, research references, and the writer’s explanation to support and strengthen their argument. Keep the paragraph connected by using transitioning sentences at the end of each paragraph.

Conclusion:

The conclusion gives you the final verdict and findings of a writer concisely. The conclusion starts with the thesis statement or writer’s argument, then explains their finding and gives his final opinion in an open statement.

6 Tips to Consider While Writing An essay about Night By Elie Wiesel

If you are writing an essay on Night by Elie Wiesel, the following tips will help you craft a well-structured and balanced piece of writing, read them, and follow them properly; your essay writing process will be easy.

Read the Book Thoroughly:

The first and foremost important requisite for writing a good essay about Night by Elie Wiesel is to read the book properly and completely. Reading it gives you an edge in adding relevant information to cover every aspect of your topic. Therefore while writing an essay on a book, the first step is to read it properly.

Find a Compelling Topic:

After reading the whole book and knowing all aspects of it, having all the information makes it easier for you to decide or find a compelling topic for your essay. If you still don’t know how to do it, follow the following techniques or ways.

• Start writing after reading the book properly and finishing it. Now proofread it again and assess which topics best suit the explanation you presented in the essay. Whatever comes to your mind can be a good, compelling topic for your essay.
• Your essay’s thesis statement can also be a good, compelling topic, extract its main theme and make it your essay topic.

Create the Outline:

Creating an outline for your essay brings a toll on you. Before you start writing your essay, outline all the possible information or facts you want to put in your writing, prioritize the information, and make an order in which they are required. After then, start writing; it helps you with your focus and topic relevance and saves time. Do brainstorming and put effort into collecting all the information.

Write the Thesis Statement:

The thesis statement explains the theme or main argument of your essay. In the case of this book, multiple themes or arguments comprise a thesis statement, and it varies due to the thought process and perceptions of different people. Hope, courage, and resilience can make a person stronger and pushes it through any circumstances.

Include a Lesson or Moral:

A good writer or a good piece of academic writing always contains a lesson or moral for its readers or audience. While writing an essay, you should also take care of this fact and add a lesson or moral that justifies and goes with the theme of your essay.

In this book, there are multiple lessons that one can include in their essay; from the start of the memoir, Elie emphasizes the importance of freedom, a place where anyone can live in harmony. He lifts the curtains from the dark realities of human behavior, how power and authority change one human behavior to another. Hope, courage, Faith, and resilience can make you pass through any harsh reality.

Conclusion Proofread your Work:

Proofreading after completing your essay allows you to view your essay from the readers’ perspective and helps remove any grammatical mistakes and errors in your essay. Make it your priority to proofread your writing once you have done it.

The conclusion starts with your essay theme or topic or thesis statement; it can be different according to one thought process. After that comes your findings, and in the end, your verdict about the topic in the light of your findings; make it short, relevant, and avoid using any new information.

What Is The Theme Of Night By Elie Wiesel?

The book unfolds different aspects and explores different themes, from the struggle to maintain Faith, Silence, connection with God, the Inhumanity of humans, and the importance of relationships in one’s life, especially during hard times.

What Is The Setting Of Night By Elie Wiesel?

The memoir sets during the Second World War, the starting section begins with Sighet, Transylvania, and the last part sets in different parts where the train led deportees towards Auschwitz.

Who Is The Narrator Of Night By Elie Wiesel?

The narrator is the author himself, who explains his memoir about all hardships and their effects on his physical and mental health during his stay in Auschwitz and how they transformed him.

What Does Night By Elie Wiesel Teach Us?

The Night teaches us many lessons; it demonstrates how bravery, faith, hope, and courage impact human life; everyone has these traits, but only a few know how to use them.

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FAQ about Night By Elie Wiesel

Night by Elie Wiesel: Eliezer’s Changing Relationship With His Father Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

Relationship of respect and obedience

Relationship of love and dependence, relationship of anger and frustration, wesley sees his father as a burden, works cited.

In the novel, the relationship between Eliezer and his father before and after Hitler deports them is observed to be strong. However, the experiences that they go through together at the Nazi death camp transform that relationship. This essay will explore the relationship between Eliezer and his father and how it changes throughout the novel.

At the beginning of the story, the relationship existing between Eliezer and his father is held together by a bond of mutual understanding and respect. In Sighet, his father is seen as a respected member belonging to the community of the Jews (Jablon 317).

Even though he refuses to take the mentorship role over his son’s training of mysticism, Eliezer still regards him with utmost respect not only because of his position in the Jewish community but because it was expected of him to follow the example of other Orthodox Jewish families (Frunza 99).

At Birkenau, Elie and his father are separated from the rest of their family members. He began to feel the loss and gripped with fear of losing his father, the forthcoming experiences and need for protection; he clings to his father (Spector 40).

At some point in the story, his father weeps at the thought of what Elie will go through at the death camp, and the expression of emotions by his father assures him of love (Bauer 22). When Eli is taken to Block 17 after separation with his father, he worries about his well being and continues offering support. They rely on each other for strength to working and survival (Misco 10).

While in the concentration camps, the oppressions make keeping a good relationship between Elie and his father cumbersome. His father narrowly escapes death after being beaten thoroughly by a 13-year-old in the presence of Elie for failing to make his bed properly (Frunza 99). Also, his father receives beatings from a gypsy and Idek the camp overseer (Spector 40).

Unable to help and faced with embarrassment and frustrations, he directs his anger at his father (Jablon 317). Even though he cares for him, he does not understand why his father is always at fault and why he can’t defend himself (Hospital 360). His attitude towards his father begins to change.

Even though the bond between Elie and his father is strong, at some point in the story, he sees his father as a burden. During the first selection, Elie’ gets upset when his father fails to pass the test, and this forces him to work extra hard for both of them to survive (Misco 10). Additionally, his father is almost thrown out of the cattle cars for fear that he is dead. Elie is forced to slap his father to wake up (Bauer 22).

Additionally, he has to fight and kill a person grabbing food from his father on the train (Hospital 360). From these, Elie sees his father as a burden and despite the adversity growing between them and his struggles to keep the relationship. These events cause a change in attitude towards his father, and at one point he leaves his father to die during an air raid (Jablon 317).

Bauer, Markus. “Coming to Terms with the Past: Romania” History Today, 57.2 (2007): 21-23. Research Library, ProQuest. Web.

Frunza, Sandu. “Ethics, religion, and memory in Elie Wiesel’s night” Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies 9.26 (2010): 94-113. ProQuest Religion, ProQuest. Web.

Hospital, Clifford. “Towards maturity in inter-faith dialogue” Cross Currents 57.3 (2007): 356-365. ProQuest Religion, ProQuest. Web.

Jablon, Rachel Leah. “Witnessing as Shivah; Memoir as Yizkor: The Formulation of Holocaust Survivor Literature as Gemilut Khasadim ” Journal of Popular Culture 38.2 (2004): 306-324. Research Library, ProQuest. Web.

Misco, Thomas.”Nobody told us about what happened”: the current state of Holocaust education in Romania.” International Education, 38.1 (2008): 6-21. Research Library, ProQuest. Web.

Spector, Karen. “God on the Gallows: Reading the Holocaust through Narratives of Redemption ” Research in the Teaching of English 42.1 (2007): 7-55. Research Library, ProQuest. Web.

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IvyPanda . 2018. "Night by Elie Wiesel: Eliezer's Changing Relationship With His Father." October 10, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-relationship-between-eliezer-and-his-father/.

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IvyPanda . "Night by Elie Wiesel: Eliezer's Changing Relationship With His Father." October 10, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-relationship-between-eliezer-and-his-father/.