There are many problems people face on a daily basis. These conflicts can range from person against person to person against the supernatural. In the novel Night, Elie Wiesel struggles with his relationship with his father. He has conflicting feelings about him, but in the end he realizes the amount of love he has for him.
Elie has his moments in which he believes his father is in the way. For instance, when they are caught in the blizzard, Elie wanted to just give up and die but he realized that his father was stopping him from doing that, “My father's presence was the only thing that stopped me... He was running at my side, out of breath, at the end of his strength, as his wit's end. I had no right to let myself die. What would he do without me? I was his only support,” (82). Elie was ready to give up, but the presence of his father kept him alive. At that very moment he thought that his father should have let him die, but then he realizes that if he died his father would also die. Elie was the only one keeping his father alive. He could not bare the fact of letting himself and his father dying. The love he had deep down for him kicked in and they both survived. Towards the end of the story when Elie is yet again trying to keep his father a live a thought runs through his head, “'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' Immediately I felt ashamed of myself, ashamed forever,” (101). Elie felt that it was pointless to keep his father alive. He was tired of it and wanted to only worry about himself, but as soon as he thought this, he regretted it He realized that he loved his father too much to let him go, he could never live with that thought. He knew that he meant too much so he continued to assist him.
Elie witnesses how his father is treated and how badly in shape he is in. Elie attempts to do something but it is ineffective, but when they returned to the camp and his father was beat he did nothing at all, “ I did not move. What had happened to me? My father had just been struck before my very eyes... I had look and said nothing... Had I changed so much then? So quickly? Now remorse began to gnaw at me. I thought only: I shall never forgive them for that,” (37). Elie had witnessed his father being beaten and he just stood there motionless. It was simply because he had fear; he did not know what to do. He thought of his father as strong man, but when he was in need Elie was no where to be found. He proved to himself and his father that he was just as defenseless as his father was. Later on the story Elie's father tells him that he has been beaten by his neighbors, “Eliezer... Eliezer... tell them not to hit me... I haven't done anything... Why do they keep hitting me?” (104). Yet again Elie witnesses his father being treated like trash, yet this time he actually does something. He confronts his father's neighbors, but to no results. He might not have been able to stop his father from being tortures, but he proved to himself that he was willing to fight for his father till the very end.
By the end of the story, his father is struggling to stay alive, he is weak, but Elie refuses to let him die. He tries everything to keep him alive, “I knew that he must not drink. But he pleaded with me for so long that I gave in. Water was the worst poison he could have, but what else could I do for him? With water, without water, it would be all over soon anyway,” (104). He knew that water was not the best thing for his father, but it was all he could give to his father. Even though there was not much more he could, he just could not let him die. They had been through too much. Elie had finally taped into the true love he had for father, but it was too late, he was already dying.
Thought the entire story Elie and his father have a rocky relationship. Elie overcome the negative thoughts he had and focused on keeping him alive as long as he could. He gave every bit of his heart and soul into him. He proved that nothing was going to stop him from showing the true love he had for his father.
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