FAE

//NIGHT// PREREADING ACTIVITY

Imagine yourself in the following situation: You and your family have been driven from your home. Now separated from them, you are suddenly alone. Shoved into a train like cattle, you are surrounded by screaming women, weeping children, silent old men, and ruthless soldiers. There is no food, no water, horror, and madness everywhere. Having arrived at your destination, you smell the stench of burning flesh: babies, children like yourself. Men and boys are hanged daily. There is only soup and perhaps a few morsels of stale bread to eat. You work until exhausted and are beaten for not marching in step. The gold in your teeth is extracted without anesthesia. Frozen and broken bodies surround you. Weekly you must run like a madman to escape being selected to die in the gas chambers or to burn in the crematory. You can’t even wonder if it will end, and you know that God has deserted you. You try to survive each day and lie through each night!

1. Do you believe something like this could ever happen to you? Why or why not? I would never think that something like this could ever happen again. though back then, people never thought it would happen, but it did. I believe that this will never happen, because we have never forgotten the Holocaust.  2. What would be your first reaction to this horrifying experience? My first reaction would terror. I would be very scared. i also think it would be disbelief, I could never imagine something like that ever happening.  3. What means might you use to deal with what is happening (example: would you lie, cheat, steal) In order to deal with this ordeal, i would do anything it took. i would lie, cheat, steal, anything, anything to save my life and others around me.

4. Do you think it would be better to give up and die or try to survive? I would try to survive as long as I could. on the other hand, if I came about knowing that I was to be tortured, or put in gas chambers, I would either try to escape, or die some other way.  5. Inhumanity means being inhumanly cruel and brutal. Do you think the world could ever allow this kind of inhumanity to happen again? The world knows about what happened during the Holocaust. I believe that they know, that what happened was terrible, and would never allow that to happen. I believe that it would be impossible for something like that to happen again.  6. What kind of punishment do you feel would be suitable for this kind of inhumanity? I feel that more killing is not the answer. I feel that the appropriate punishment for this kind of inhumanity would be a life sentence to jail.

7. Do you think this kind of inhumanity could exist in our day and age? This cold not happen because we were told never to forget the Holocaust, and we never have. This would be impossible because people know that wrongs of that time. 

Reading Guide

The following questions are thought questions that relate to various themes and ideas in the reading. Use these questions to guide your reading and better understanding of the novel. Be prepared to share your responses in class discussion or in a writing assignment. Please answer all questions in COMPLETE SENTENCES.

__Chapter 1, pages 1-22__ 1.Why does Elizer Pray, and why does he cry when he prays? Elie cries when he prays because he feels that he should. He feels the need to cry. 2. Why don’t people believe Moche’s stories? The people don’t believe the stories because they couldn’t believe that something like that could happen. They had thought that Moche had lost his mind. 3. Cite examples of how the Jews gradually lost their freedom. The Jews were raided for all of their valuable possessions, and then were forced to live in ghettos, and they had to keep the un-just laws made by the German soldiers.

__Chapter 2, pages 23-28__ 4. What does Madame Shachter’s nightmares about a fire foreshadow? The nightmares foreshadow the ovens and crematoria of Birkenau, Auschwitz II. 5. Where does the train finally stop? The train finally stops at Auschwitz II, Birkenau.  __Chapter 3, pages 29-46__ 6. When questioned by an SS officer, why does Elie lie about his occupation and Age? Elie lies because the inmate told him to. This was done so that Elie could have a chance of living. 7. Why does Elie disbelieve what his own eyes show him? Elie doesn’t believe what he sees because he never ever thought what would happen. 8. Why is Elie now reluctant to pray? Elie is reluctant to pray because he is wondering why people should sanctify God’s name, while God is letting this happen to his people.

__Chapter 4, pages 47-65__

9. Why is Elie summoned to the dentist? Elie is summoned to the dentist because they were checking for gold crowns in his mouth. The gold crowns would be used for profit.

10. How does Elie react to his father’s beating? Elie, when seeing his father being beaten, his first reaction was wondering if weather or not he should hide, so he wouldnt get beaten himself, adn his secind reaction was anger towards his father, for being in the path of the angry soldier.

11. Why is the hanging of the “sad eyed angel” said to be one of the most profoundly moving events in the novel? This is the most moving part of the story because, the boy who was the "sad eyed angel" was said to have a beautiful face. This boy was blamed for a power failure, and was to be hanged. When this time came, the boy was too light for the rope and hung struggling for half an hour. the people around him said, "Oh God where is God now?" and that person was answered, "God is there, hanging in the shadow of the gallows."

__Chapter 5, pages 66-84__ 12. What is selection? selection is where the SS and the doctors evaluate the prisoners, to see if they are eligible to work, or should be killed.

__Chapter 6, pages 85-97__ 13. Why couldn’t Elie allow himself to die? elie couldnt allow himself to die because he needed to be there for his father. he knew that he was his father's only support. he needed to live for his father's sake. 14. Why does Juliek play the violin? Juliek plays the violin because he wants to play it before he dies. he is forbidden to play Beethoven because he is German. Juliek plays Beethoven because he plays it so well, Juliek plays his violin, and dies next to his violin. 15. Compare how the other boys treat their fathers with Eliezer’s treatment of his own father. The other boys leave their fathers if they are dead, and they loose them if they are weak. the boys do not care about their fathers. Elie stays with hsi father, he cares for him, he does not let him die. __Chapter 7-9 pages 98-115__ 16. Why can’t Elizer weep at his father’s death? Elie couldnt cry because tears had eluded him. he was so uses to not crying, that he couldnt even cry here. 17. When he is finally free, Elie wishes to see himself in the mirror. Why can’t he ever forget the look in the eyes of the corpse that gazes back at him? Elie will always remember his eyes, because they were so different than the eyes he remembers. they didnt seem to belong to him, and seemed to reflect all of the events that happened at the camp.

Literary Analysis Characterization/Author’s Purpose After page: 34

Elie is a Jewish child who is extremely strong in his faith. He often spent nights in the synagogue weeping and praying. He was preparing himself to be initiating into “eternity.” Then came night.

Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky. Never shall I forget those flames, which consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments, which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never.

Answer the following questions in complete sentences.

1. What does “night’ symbolize to Elie? Why do you think he selected it as the title of his memoir? Elie chose the title Night because when he was in the camps, 2. What fires does he speak of that consumed his faith forever? Why do these fires consume his faith? The fires are the first sight of killing in the Camp that Elie sees/. she sees babies thrown in the the fire, and he is loosing his faith, as if it is being burned too. this is because he wonders why his god could let this happen. he looses his faith in the fire. 3. Do you find it difficult to believe that a boy so devout in his faith could lose his faith? Why? i believe that anything could happen in that terrible camp. 4. Why does he lose his desire to live? Elie loosed his desire to live because he doesn't want to have the same fate as the others, he sees not point in living if he is going to to be tortured. 5. Elie spoke these words as an adolescent. Do you think that as an adult his feelings have changed? Why? I think that his feeling might have changed, he is now free of the camp, and things are surely different. 6. Why do you suppose Elie wrote this novel? Elie wrote this novel so people would have proof that the holocaust happened. he wrote it so people knew just how bad the camps were.

Literary Analysis: Characterization Elie explicitly recounts events that describe his relationship with his father during imprisonment in the camps. He also describes events in the relationships of other fathers and sons in the camps.

In your book there are many examples of father-son relationships. Give examples, including the page number of a father son relationship and tell what you think about that relationship, tell why you might or might not have acted in a similar way. This does not have to be done on Elie and his father. There are many other examples of father-son relationships as well. An example has been done for you.

Example: Page 39:

Relationship shown: Elie’s father is struck, but Elie does not move to help him. His father whispers that the blow does not hurt. Although Elie does not move, he feels remorse and hatred toward the gypsy. He is angry and unforgiving.

What I think: Elie is a child and probably fears that if he helps his father, he too will be beaten. His father does not blame him and does not want to see him beaten or do something he might regret; thus, he tells Elie that the blow des not hurt.

I would’ve done: This seems to be a relationship where the father is protective of the son who is young and frightened. I would have acted in the same way if I were the father, thinking that I need to protect my child.

1. Page 43-44

Relationship shown: stein is asking about his family. he wants to know if they are well. he also tells Elie's father to take good care of Elie. What I think: I think that Stein wants to think that his family is OK, and Elie wants him to think that too. Stein also wants Elie's father and Elie to survive. I would’ve done: I wouldve done the same thing. 2. Page 49-50

Relationship shown: What they were getting jobs, Elie asked if his father could work next to him. What I think: i think that Elie was trying so hard to stay with his father, he was lucky that it was allowed. I would’ve done: I would've done the same thing, i would have asked to stay with my family. 3. Page 55-56

Relationship shown: Elie is trying to teach his father to march, os he does'nt get beaten. What I think: i think that this was very smart, Elie is very resourceful in his tactics. I would’ve done: I would have done the same thing, but perhaps i would have taught him a bit better, and with different methods. 4. Page 90-91

Relationship shown: Elie and his father take turns watching over each other, so they dont fall asleep in the snow. What I think: I think that this is very smart. they are showing great care for each other. I would’ve done: I would have done the same thing, i wold watch over my family, in turns, to ensure their life. 5. Page 101

Relationship shown: sons are fighting their fathers, over a crust of bread.they even kill their fathers. What I think: I think that this is terrible. i realize the hunger, but why kill for it? I would’ve done: I wouldve, if i had gotten some bread, i wold have shared it with my father, or i would have stayed out of the situation entirely. 6. Page 112

Relationship shown: Elies father was taken to the cremetoria, nobody cried or said any prayers. What I think: i think that this is sooo sad! i think it was better, so Elie and hsi father didnt have to suffer. I would’ve done: i wouldnt really know what to do. maybe i would say a prayer.

__Night__ Irony

Read each passage below. Explain what is //ironic// about the meaning of the passage.

1. “but we had been marching for only a few moments when we saw the barbed wire of another camp. An iron door with this inscription on it: ‘Work is liberty!’ “ (page 40) This is ironic because they are prisoners, being forced to work, so work does not make you free. 2. “Some of the prominent members of the community came…to ask him what he thought of the situation. My father did not consider it so grim…’The yellow star? Oh well, what of it? You don’t die of it…’ ” (page 11) this is ironic because he says nobody dies of a yellow star, but millions were killed because of the yellow star. 3. “On we went between the electric wires. At each step, a white place card with a death’s head on it stared us in the face. A caption: ‘Warning, Danger of Death.’ ” (page 40) This is ironic because theere i warnings of death from the wires, but you are walking into a camp made to kill people. 4. I’ve got more faith in Hitler than anyone else. He’s the only one who’s kept his promises, all his promises, to the Jewish people.” (page 81) This is ironic because the man is saying that the people, like the resistance, say that they will be liberated, but they are not, only Hitler keeps his promises, even though they are promises of death.

Inhumanity

//Night// is filled with thoughts and comments that reflect inhumanity of World War II. Explain what each of the following excerpts from the novel mean.

1. “The world? The world is not concerned with us. Today anything is allowed. Anything is possible, even these crematories.” (page 33) this is inhumane because nobody should believe that crematories are possible, but to these people, they are. 2. “Work makes you free.” (page 40) this is inhumanity because people are prisoners forced to work, and they are saying that work makes you free, a cruel empty promise. 3. “we were not afraid. And yet, if a bomb had fallen on the blocks, it alone would have claimed hundreds of victims on the spot. But we were not longer afraid of death; at any rate, not of that death. Every bomb that exploded filled us with joy and gave us new confidence in life.” (page 60) This is inhumane because people sholdnt want bombs to fall, they are glad that bombs are destroying the camps, even if it takes lives. 4. “I witnessed other hangings. I never saw a single one of the victims weep. For a long time those dried up bodies had forgotten the bitter taste of tears.” (page 63) This si inhumanity because people were going through living hell, and they were not allowed to cry, they are so tortured that they can no longer muster tears to their eyes.