Quote 7
He [Rabbi Eliahu] had already gone through the door when I remembered that I had noticed his son running beside me. I had forgotten and so had not mentioned it to Rabbi Eliahu!
But then I remembered something else: his son had seen him losing ground, sliding back to the rear of the column. He had seen him. And he had continued to run in front, letting the distance between them become greater.
A terrible thought crossed my mind: What if he had wanted to be rid of his father? He had felt his father growing weaker and, believing that the end was near, had thought by this separation to free himself of a burden that could diminish his own chance for survival.
It was good that I had forgotten all that. And I was glad that Rabbi Eliahu continued to search for his beloved son.
And in spite of myself, a prayer formed inside me, a prayer to this God in whom I no longer believed.
"Oh God, Master of the Universe, give me the strength never to do what Rabbi Eliahu’s son has done." (6.62-66)
In the desperate situation in which the Jewish prisoners have been placed, Rabbi Eliahu’s son has lost his altruism and prefers to abandon his father to increase his own chance of survival. That Eliezer prays that he will have the strength not to abandon his father the way other sons have done shows that Eliezer, too, feels this conflict within himself.
Quote 8
My father had huddled near me, draped in his blanket, shoulders laden with snow. And what if he were dead, as well? I called out to him. No response. I would have screamed if I could have. He was not moving.
Suddenly, the evidence overwhelmed me: there was no longer any reason to live, any reason to fight. (7.3-4)
In the moment that Eliezer thinks his father is dead, Eliezer realizes it is only his father’s continuing presence that gives him the will to survive. Like Stein when he realized that his family was gone, Eliezer has no will to live when his father is dead.
Quote 9
There was shouting all around:
"Come on! Here’s another! My neighbor. He’s not moving …"
I woke from my apathy only when two men approached my father. I threw myself on his body. He was cold. I slapped him. I rubbed his hands, crying:
"Father! Father! Wake up. They are going to throw you outside …"
His body remained inert.
The two "gravediggers" had grabbed me by the neck:
"Leave him alone. Can’t you see that he’s already dead?"
"No!" I yelled. "He’s not dead! Not yet!"
And I started to hit him harder and harder. At last, my father half opened his eyes. They were glassy. He was breathing faintly.
"You see," I cried. (7.11-20)
Despite all of the signs that his father is dead, Eliezer (thankfully) doesn’t give up hope, refusing to believe his father is no longer alive, and smacks his dad until he comes to. (It’s okay to hit your dad if it saves his life.)