Life brings on many hardships and losses, many of which can feel like the end of the world. Both Night, and Their Eyes Were Watching God had great loss for the main character, which they had to endure for the remainder of the book. Both books had death of a main character, which changed the main characters outlook on the world.
In Night, Elie Wiesel lost his father. He became diseased with dysentery, and then was hit by an SS officer as he called out for more water. This blow cracked his skull, and he was dead by the next morning. Elie was sad, but "did not weep, and it pained me [Elie] that I could not weep." (Wiesel, 106) He could not weep, for if he looked "in the depths of my being.... I [Elie] might perhaps have found something like–Free at last!" (Wiesel, 106) He felt this, for he Eli no longer had to care for his father, which had been a large burden when in a concentration camp.
Janie felt a sorry, but in a different way when Tea Cake, her husband, was murdered. Janie had to put Tea Cake down, for he had become rabid, from a dog bite. Tea Cake was about to shoot her with a pistol, when Janie shot him with a rifle. This pained her beyond belief, but it was her life or his. She felt it an eternity, but "thanked him wordlessly for giving her the chance for loving service." (Hurston, 184)
Janie loved Tea Cake very much, and him being gone pained her a great deal. This pain was more genuine, and heartfelt, than when Elie lost his father. Elie had sorry, but also a small amount of relief in his father's death, unlike Janie who had nothing but sorry for the loss of her loving husband.
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