Brent Coyne
Mr. Bal
Honors English 10
1 April, 2015
Family is a Key Component of Survival
Most of the time what gets people through hardships or traumatic experiences is bonds with other people or bonds with certain beliefs. Elie Wiesel in his novel Night, a novel about Wiesel’s life during Holocaust, displayed many of these bonds. Wiesel documented people’s bonds with their Jewish faith to stay alive for the majority of those who suffered through the holocaust were Jews. He told of bonds to oneself to stay alive although quite selfish. Finally, Wiesel utilized the close relationships between family members to argue that family bonds give individuals a reason to live. Wiesel first proves that family bonds help individuals survive by showing the father son relationship between Elie’s father and himself. This is seen throughout the entire novel. It is seen when they reassure each other that Elie’s mom and Tzipora, his sister, will be alright as they are separated. They are being sent to certain death but Elie and his father try and comfort each other so that they do not breakdown and basically die at the loss of their family members. Another instance of the family bond saving one of their lives is when they were on the train cars going to Buchenwald. The Nazi’s had just shouted to drop all the dead into the snow. Two men came to take Elie’s father for he looked dead, but Elie saved him saying “’No’ I cried ‘he isn’t dead! Not yet!’… He was breathing weakly. ‘You see…’” (Wiesel 94). This clearly shows that because of Elie’s family bond with his father made him save his father’s life by shouting to the two men to leave his dad. A final instance of the connection between Elie and his father is shortly after Elie’s father dies. While grieving Elie said “I have nothing to say of my life during this period. It no longer mattered. After my father’s death nothing could touch me anymore” (Wiesel 107). After Elie lost his one true motivation to live he had no reason to do so anymore as evidence from this quote. Once his bond was destroyed so was his chance to survive. Had the Americans not come to liberate the camp Elie would have surely died without his dad. Elie’s bond with his father in addition to the Stein of Antwerp’s bond with his family both support the idea that family bonds give people a reason to live. Stein of Antwerp was Elie’s relative from Belgium. He told them that he did not know the fate of his family because he was deported earlier than them. Stein told Elie that “’ The only thing that keeps me alive,’ he used to say,’ is that Reizel (his wife) and the children are still alive…’” (Wiesel 42). Stein having said this clearly shows that he would not be alive if it was not for his relationship to his family. He would have surely been dead at this point. Knowing this Elie lies to him saying that he had heard form Stein’s family and said they were alright. Later at that camp another group of Jews came from Antwerp. Stein went to see if his family was there. Elie then accounted that “We were to see him again. He had had news. Real news” (Wiesel 42). This new was obviously news that him family was now gone. The reason why they never saw him again was because Stein had just lost his family thus losing his connection between them thus providing him no reason to keep going or to stay alive as he said. Not only did Stein’s relationship with his family prove that family bonds give one a reason to live but the bond between Tibi and Yossi also provide reason. Tibi and Yossi were brothers from Czechoslovakia who had been in a Zionist youth organization. They immediately bonded with Elie and became friends. They eventually told Ellie that their “…parents had been exterminated at Birkenau. They (Tibi and Yossi) lived, body and soul, for each other” (Wiesel 48). Despite not having any family bonds from their parents Tibi and Yossi still had a reason to live. They lived for each other which Elie clearly stated in his quote. Perhaps if only Tibi had survived or only Yossi had survived extermination at Birkenau either one of them would not have survived. They would not have survived it this way because they had no family connection. However, because they had each other and they were both brothers they were able to have a reason to keep going on and keep living. Neither one could give up on the other because they knew that they depended on each other. Tibi and Yossi were able to stay alive for so long because of the family relationship they shared with each other. Weisel employed the beneficial relationships amid family members to dispute that family connections give individual persons a rational to try and survive. Throughout the novel many scenarios are provide to show how close bonds between family members can help them to live. One instance is the father- son bond between Elie’s father and Elie. Another is that of Stein of Antwerp’s bond with his family which caused him to have hope so that he may live. Finally was the brotherly bond between Tibi and Yossi to stay alive for one another. Through the novel those who had a family bond had more of a reason to live and more of a chance of surviving. As proved family is a key component for the survival of an individual.