Night+Essay+alexis+stewart

 Alexis Stewart

 World Literature

 November 11, 2011

The Ambitious Son

 “I tightened my grip on my father’s hand, the old familiar fear not to lose him” (30). Elie Wiesel and his father were dehumanized due to Hitler’s Final Solution: mass destruction of the Jewish race. At the time Jewish children feared the thought of losing their parents because witnessed the brutality being done to other Jews. Once you’ve been separated from your family, you are placed into concentration camps where it was every man for himself. This was known in history as the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel author of __Night__ had a decision to abandon his father or be by his side. When all hope was lost, he decided to stay by his father’s side. Though they were both victims of this planned persecution, Elie chose not to abandon his father for many reasons. Elie knew that all they had were each other. He had faith that they would be freed from the concentration camps, and most of all was Elie could not live with the guilt of abandoning his father. As a person it is very selfish to abandon someone close to you in order to tend for your own needs, this is why Elie did not his father.

 Though Elie and his father were placed in difficult situations, Elie chose not to abandon his father because all they had were each other. In the story, Elie and his family were rounded up and placed into ghettos. The ghettos were created to separate Jews from the rest of Europe. After the ghettos, Elie and his family were transported and placed into cattle carts for ten days. Once they reached the assembly line to determine their fate, Elie and his father became separated from his mother and sister. Elie said, “I already felt my father’s hand press against mine: we were alone” (29). Basically, Elie and his father realized their illusion of being reunited as a family was shattered. It was in that moment they realized all they had was each other. As a result, Elie chose not to abandon his father.

 Furthermore, Elie’s faith in his father kept him from abandoning his father when he needed him the most. At this point in the book, Elie and his father were at their weakest. In __Night__, the United States bombed the Auschwitz concentration camp which caused the prisoner to be relocated. The Jews had to run for hours to reach another camp. Elie and his father ran through snow storms, had no water, food, or breaks. Mr. Wiesel was not fit to continue the journey, but Elie was not going to give up on his father. Elie hollered, “Father get up! Right now! You will kill yourself” (105).This quote depicts how Elie was not going to give up on his father after they had come so far. Thus, Elie knew that freedom was not too far away for him and his father. What is the point of abandoning someone if faith exists and there is hope of something more?

 In addition, Elie felt guilty about the thought of abandoning his father. He did not like how other Jewish sons had abandoned their fathers’ and made a personal commitment to not leave his father’s side. In the story, a Blockalteste told Elie to stop caring for his father because he could not help him anymore. The Blockalteste said that the concentration camp was a place where every man is for himself. “It was only a fraction of a second that Elie had thought about leaving his father, but it left him feeling guilty” and caused him to not abandon his father (111). In other words, Elie knew that he could not flee his father and leave him to suffer. This is how guilt kept Elie from abandoning his father.

 Though caring for another man in a concentration camp was suicidal, Elie’s guilt kept him from abandoning his father. Over time, Elie developed a close bond with his father after being separated from his family. Elie finally overcame the illusion of being reunited with his mother and sister after learning about what was being done in the extermination camps. Elie also witnessed the emotional strain caused by being abandoned by someone close to a person. Therefore, Elie made the choice to not abandon his father.