Theme Of Family In Night By Elie Wiesel

Family; a blessing, or a curse? In the book Night, Elie Wiesel offers many significant themes, but the question, “is family a blessing or a curse,” is one of the most prevalent and begging themes in the novel. During the novel, Wiesel often questions if he should try and keep his father around, or if life would just be better without him in the picture. “‘Don’t let me find him! 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,’ I immediately felt ashamed of myself, ashamed forever,” (Wiesel, 111). This is just one example of the internal conflict going on endlessly within himself. When thinking of family, there are good times and bad times. When experiencing the moments that are extremely difficult for Elie and his father, he often thinks how great life would be if he could just get rid of his father’s dead weight. One evening when Elie’s father is very ill, the had of the block approaches Elie and tells him, “‘Don’t forget your in a concentration camp. Here, every man has to fight for himself and not think of anyone else. Even of his father. Here there are no fathers, no brothers, no friends. Everyone lives and dies for himself alone. I’ll give you a soul piece of advice-don’t give your ration of bread and soup to your old father, There’s nothing you can do for him. And you’re killing yourself. Instead, you ought to be having his ration.’ I listened to him without interrupting.