In the Holocaust memoir Night by Elie Wiesel, Eliezer's mental, physical, and emotional strength are crucial to his own father’s survival. In the book, young Eliezer and his father struggle to stay alive in the Holocaust as his father is the only family he has left. The odds are consistently stacked against them as food becomes scarce, disease is rampant, and work becomes even more difficult as the days go by. Eliezer's father grows older and cannot physically keep up with the work that the work camp demands from him. Soon his father becomes fully dependent on Eliezer and soon must become his father's protector and caregiver. Even though he still fights for his own life every day, 15-year-old Eliezer must grow stronger and protect his father
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Eliezer slowly watches as his father becomes weak and breaks down. Eliezer remembers “the first time I saw [my dad] cry” (19) when they enter the trains to the concentration camp. It was so rare for him to see his father cry he even “thought it possible” (19). Eliezer never saw his father be defeated to the breaking point. This shows Eliezer in that moment how quickly his father's strength can be taken away from him. It worries Eliezer because he is very dependent on his father at this time and for his father to cry in front of him was a big indication of a depressing road ahead. Later on, Eliezer's father becomes weaker as they work in Buna. Eliezer has a gold crown on his tooth that another worker needed. Eliezer refused and “Franek knew how to handle this” (55) and started to “thrash him savagely” (55) because his father had “never served in the military and could not march in step” (55). Eliezer has started to take care of his father. The roles have started to change because as his father grows increasingly weak. Eliezer realizes that he must start taking care of his father because he can’t support himself anymore. It shows that the drive to continually get stronger for the sake of his father benefits Eliezer as he works hard to keep him and his father alive in grueling and inhumane
Eliezer slowly watches as his father becomes weak and breaks down. Eliezer remembers “the first time I saw [my dad] cry” (19) when they enter the trains to the concentration camp. It was so rare for him to see his father cry he even “thought it possible” (19). Eliezer never saw his father be defeated to the breaking point. This shows Eliezer in that moment how quickly his father's strength can be taken away from him. It worries Eliezer because he is very dependent on his father at this time and for his father to cry in front of him was a big indication of a depressing road ahead. Later on, Eliezer's father becomes weaker as they work in Buna. Eliezer has a gold crown on his tooth that another worker needed. Eliezer refused and “Franek knew how to handle this” (55) and started to “thrash him savagely” (55) because his father had “never served in the military and could not march in step” (55). Eliezer has started to take care of his father. The roles have started to change because as his father grows increasingly weak. Eliezer realizes that he must start taking care of his father because he can’t support himself anymore. It shows that the drive to continually get stronger for the sake of his father benefits Eliezer as he works hard to keep him and his father alive in grueling and inhumane