The Analysis of the Book Night by Elie Wiesel Essay Example

Throughout all of the book Night by Elie Wiesel, something is always changing. Whether this is the laws for Jews, who Elie is talking to, or Elie’s belief in God. It seems nothing in the book stays the same, except Elie’s relationship with his father. Elie is always helping and being helped by his father. Elie and his father are the only constant thing in either of their lives. This goes to show that family is the strongest and most important force in life.

In the beginning of Night, Elie was living in his home in Sighet with his father, mother, and three sisters. The laws against Jews were beginning to become very prominent. Elie and his family had already been forced into ghettos and were then in the middle of transports. In the book, Elie writes “Naturally, we refused to be separated,”(20). At the time of this quote, Elie is being offered a chance to go with his family’s former maid into hiding. His mother and younger sister would not be able to come so Elie and his older sisters decide not to leave. In this situation, it can be seen that family is the strongest force in Elie’s life because he is choosing it over a chance at a better life. When Elie does this he is giving up the chance at not going to a concentration camp because of how much he loves his family.

Throughout most of the book Night, Elie is living in the concentration camp with his father. In the middle of the book, Elie’s father is being beaten for his inability to walk in step. Elie tries to teach him how to but the other prisoners respond with “Look at the little officer, teaching the old man to march...Hey, little general, how many rations of bread does the old man give you for this?”(55). Despite comments like these, Elie still tries to teach his father to march.  This shows that even when everyone was against it family was still the most important force in Elie’s life. Elie was willing to put up with the other prisoner's comments and his dad’s lack of progress because he loved his dad and wanted to help stop his pain.

At the end of Night, just months before the liberation of the camp, Elie’s father died of an infectious disease. Elie was left openly grieving over his father’s death. The book states “I remained in Buchenwald until April 11. I shall not describe my life during that period. It no longer mattered. Since my father’s death, nothing mattered to me anymore,”(113). During this quote, Elie is describing how he no longer felt the torture of the Nazis because he was so tortured by his father’s death. Elie is so distraught and mournful over the loss of a family member that he no longer sees the worth in life. This quote shows that family is the strongest and most important force in life because Elie lost his will for life over the loss of his family.

In the book Night by Elie Wiesel, it seems as though everything is constantly changing, except Elie’s love for his family. Throughout the entire book, Elie is always helping and being helped by his father. Elie’s time in the concentration camps is clearly impacted by his father’s presence. Elie ends up in the camps because he wants to stay with his family, taunted because he wants to help his father, and barely alive because of his grief over his father’s passing. Through Elie’s thoughts and actions the theme of Night is clearly revealed. Family is the strongest and most important force in life.