Question

What does Eliezer feel when he watches the Kapo beat his father?

What does this indicate about his perspective at this point in the memoir?

Answer 1

After Eliezer’s father was beaten by Idek, a Kapo, Eliezer says, "I had watched the whole scene without moving. I kept quiet. In fact, I was thinking of how to get farther away so that I would not be hit myself. What is more, any anger I felt at that moment was directed, not against the Kapo, but against my father. I was angry with him, for not knowing how to avoid Idek’s outbreak. That is what concentration camp life had made of me.

Answer 2

Elie Wiesel reacted with varying degrees of ambivalence when his father was beaten in Night. His reaction is indicative of how his emotions become numbed by imprisonment.