The Father-son relationship
Elie Wiesel's story focuses on the strength and bond of the relationship with his father. Their relationship is constantly tested through the needs for survival and sanity. Eliezer is constantly tempted to leave his father behind in order to be on his own and to increase his chances for survival. This idea becomes a driving force throughout his journey. There are many situations where Eliezer witnesses family members betraying one another, which only does more to solidify his faithfulness to his father. Their relationship is able persevere through all their struggles.
Faith
As we progress through Elie's narrative, his faith in god and religion is doubted. Each horrible situation and occurrence has Elie questioning why he even believes in the god. Where is he now when all of these people are suffering everyday? His faith is brought up consistently throughout the novel and as readers we see as Elie grows weaker, so does his faith.
Inhumanity
As standard for any genocide novel, the theme of inhumanity is undeniable. We read unmistakably horrific accounts of human cruelty, most of the time making it hard to believe this ever happened. We are asked to think of a place where everything you think you know about humanity is wrong. Elie's chilling and moving experiences requires us to take this journey with him and attempt to understand the disturbing truths of one of the most horrific genocides in our world's history.