From the book: THE LAST TRUE STORY I'LL EVER TELL BY JOHN CRAWFORD - Essay Example

Night is the true story of Elie Wiesel. The teenager survived the ghettos and concentration camp. His interactions with the people around him raised and lowered his spirits. Auschwitz and Buchenwald was Elie’s hell, but it was not his personal hell. Elie shared this hell with others like God, his father, Juliek, the French girl he worked next too, Rabbi Eliahou, and the Rabbi’s son. Elie throughout the book had a strong will to survive, but he was human as well. The interactions between Elie and others and how it affected his attitude will be examined.

The first major interaction that determined Elie’s fate was with God. Before going to Auschwitz Elie was devout. Upon his arrival at Auschwitz, Elie lost his faith in God. He relates “Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things” (Wiesel 23). This was a good thing for Elie. He became so hardened against God that he was determined to survive. The teenager was not going down without a fight.Another interaction that kept Elie alive was his father.

Elie and his father’s roles were reversed. Since Elie was younger and stronger, he began to take care of his weakened father. His father was a reason to survive. If Elie died, surely his father would die without his care. Rabbi Eliahou, a friend from home, also had his son with him. They were together much like Elie and his father. Elie said they were together “always near each other, for suffering, for blows, for the ration of bread, for prayer” (Wiesel 32). However when Rabbi Eliahou lost his son on the death march, Elie did not have the heart to tell him his son had left him behind (Wiesel 32).

Elie thought:he had wanted to get rid of his weak father! . [He] had sought this separation in order to get rid of the burden, to free himself from an encumbrance . give me strength never to do what Rabbi Eliahous son has done. (Wiesel 33). Elie never did leave his father. In fact, Elie fought to keep his father alive. When his father was thought dead, men tried to take him away. Elie prevented this by crying “Father! Father! Wake up. Theyre trying to throw you out of the carriage” (Wiesel 34).

After his father died, Elie was even more determined to survive. The French girl and Juliek were Jews he met in Auschwitz. While interacting with them, Elie really did not have the strength to care about them. He was too busy worrying about his father and his own life. Elie remembered them, but their fate did not matter. The only thing that matter to Elie was his survival. Elie’s interactions with the people he encountered in Night helped him survive. Whether raising or dashing his spirits, all he interacted with helped him survive.

His father and the others made him have the will to live. Work CitedWiesel, Elie. Night. New York: Bantam, 1982.