As a Jew who survived the horrors of the Holocaust and life in a concentration camp, Elie Wiesel continuosly weaves these circumstances into his writings. In his works, he struggles to answer nearly impossible questions: why was it the fate of the Jews to die and why did they seem to accept that fate without a fight? "The Fifth Son" is a philosophical testament that seeks the answers to those questions, but also imaginatively examines the bond between father and son.