explain how father/son roles had been reversed in the case of elie and his father.

In this section the father-son role is reversed, and Eliezer is forced to take care of his father. Overcome with cold and fatigue, Eliezer's father simply wants to lie down and rest in the snow, even though to do so means an almost certain death. He no longer cares about living, and like a child, begs to simply be left alone to sleep: "'Don't shout, sonŠ.Take pity on your old fatherŠ.Leave me to rest hereŠ.Just for a bit, I'm so tiredŠat the end of my strengthŠ' He had become like a child, weak, timid, vulnerable." Eliezer's father has given up and no longer wants the responsibility of trying to stay alive. As his son, Eliezer takes on this responsibility for him, but it is not one that he is sure he can handle.