Does one ever considered what people in concentration camps go through? Does one ever truly understand the horror of the night? In Night and Life is Beautiful one delves into life as a Jew in Europe during Hitler’s reign. In Night one follows Elie’s and his father, Shlomo’s journey through life in a concentration camp. In Life is Beautiful one follows the journey of Guido who is a crazy Jewish waiter who has a son named Joshua whom he protects from the world around him. Night, by Elie Wiesel, and Life is Beautiful, directed by Roberto Benigni, encompass the need for father/son bonds in horrific situations and the denial that comes with prejudice and discrimination.
Shlomo and Guido both know their father/son bonds will be tested in the concentration camp. Shlomo gives Elie his bread rations to keep him alive while in the camp. Elie’s father is trying to keep Elie alive and Elie still has not come to terms with the fact that he can no longer act like a spoiled child. This causes some problems when Elie refuses to eat the soup provided. “Days went by. In the mornings: black coffee. At midday: soup. By the third day [Elie is] eagerly eating any kind of soup” because in the concentration camp, one cannot choose what one eats (Wiesel 43). Shlomo gives Elie his rations of bread, when he needs the nourishment just as much as Elie does. This blatantly shows the strength of the bond forged by hardship and suffering. Guido’s bond with his son is shown similarly to that of Elie and Shlomo’s. The similarities can be seen when Guido sneaks Joshua into a German dinner party, but is shown differently when he protects him from knowing the truth of why they are truly there. Guido is a waiter and while he is in the camp a German officer he knew from before asked him to wait tables at a dinner party. Guido then has the brilliant idea to sneak Joshua into the party for a much needed meal. However, Joshua has to pretend to be a German child otherwise he would end up in serious trouble. The dinner is important because it shows just how much Guido cares about his son and how far he is willing to go to get Joshua what he needs to survive. Guido even makes up a game to preserve his son’s innocence. When they first arrive in camp a German officer comes into their cabin and asks if anyone speaks German, Guido immediately offers to translate for him. Guido cannot actually understand German however, he just used it as the opportunity he needed to perpetuate the lie he is telling his son. Guido translated that they had “to score one thousand points. If [he does] that, [then he can] take home a tank with a big gun.\There are three ways [he can lose] points. One, turning into a big crybaby. Two, telling [them he wants] to see [his] mommy. Three, saying [he is] hungry and want something to eat’” and Guido managed to keep up the whole facade without Joshua every figuring out the truth (Benigni). By doing this he protected his youthful innocence and preserved their father/son bond. These two examples show how similar and yet different the two relationships between father and son are. Elie’s and Joshua’s fathers both provide them with extra food, however, Shlomo gave his own food to Elie whereas Joshua is taken to a German dinner party. While this is a slight difference the largest difference is when Guido created and executed a huge lie involving everyone just to keep his son from knowing the true reason they are in the camp. While these father/son bonds are their similarities and differences both clearly show how much they loved one another and how far they are willing to go to keep the other alive.
Night and Life is Beautiful illustrate how people are in denial of the world around them and how far humanity is willing to go to turn a blind eye on reality. When the Jews in Elie’s home town of Sighet first get word of the Nazis moving their way, they full heartedly believe that the Americans and Russians would stop them in time; however, they are not that lucky. When the Hungarian police arrive nothing is changed at first, except all the valuables are collected. The first change comes when the Jews are required to where the yellow star. People around town approached Shlomo on the issue of what to do about the star and he replied ‘The yellow star? So what? It’s not lethal...’" and he is right that the star is not lethal, however, it is the implications of the star that is deadly (Wiesel 11). The star distinguishes the Jews from the Germans, thus literally painting a target on their backs. The next big change is when the Ghettos first arrived. When the Ghettos were built the Jews still believe nothing is wrong and that nothing worse could possibly happen to them. This is similar to the denial Guido shows because people put up signs saying no Jews or dogs and Guido still tells himself and his son that nothing is wrong, it is all a big game to him. Guido is in denial of how powerful the Germans are. He would say “‘what could they possibly do to me? The worst they can do is paint me yellow and write Jewish waiter’” and he believed that he is safe at home even though the signs are everywhere that he is not welcome in Italy (Benigni). These two stories are similar because the signs that the Germans were coming where everywhere and they refused to see them. In Night Shlomo is on the city council and knows exactly what is going on but still he does not tell anyone what is happening to them. In Life is Beautiful Guido sees the signs in the shops and the writing on the horse and his store showing him he is unwanted in the city, still he stays. This shows how denial played a major role in their lives and prejudice/discrimination is another key factor in the stories.
Night and Life is Beautiful both represent the hatred of the Jews by the Germans. Elie and his father are treated like swine when they are force to travel in cattle cars so close together they cannot move. At this point in the story people have already been forced from their homes to live in Ghettos and people have been marching to the cars for a couple days. Elie and his family are in the last group to leave Sighet. It has been three days of people leaving in cattle cars and “the next morning, [Elie, his family, and everyone else left in town] walked toward the station, where a convoy of cattle cars [are] waiting. The Hungarian police made [them] climb into the cars, eighty persons in each one” (Wiesel 22). This is significant because they still do not know where they are going or what is going to happen to them. Joshua and his father face similar conditions while heading towards the concentration camp. Guido is still pretending the whole thing is a game and is always acting out. When they are being taken to the camp all the Jews rounded up are crammed into cattle cars till their packed, no room to sit down. These two situations are similar because they both have to do with being treated poorly however in Life is Beautiful it is more comedies than harsh. In Night, Elie, or any of the other Jews, could never have acted out or been yelling at the police because they would have shot on site. In Life is Beautiful however he is acting out, shouting, and being obnoxious. This represents the theme prejudice/discrimination because it represents how the Germans hated the Jews and treated them poorly.
In conclusion, the bonds forged by time and hardship, the denial of hatred towards their families and people, and the prejudice they have to face and overcome is shown in the book Night by Elie Wiesel, and the movie Life is Beautiful directed by Roberto Benigni. The more time that is spent in the camp the stronger the bonds between families become. In some cases the camp tears families apart, sons abandoned fathers to better their chances of survival, and clothing was stolen from the dead. The Germans felt empowered over the Jews, they believed they have the right to judge the Jews for the way they lived. The Jews felt safe and denial is how they coped. Even today people still turn a blind eye to people in crisis. Why do people feel it is normal to see someone in pain or in trouble?