BEN

//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 believe something like this can happen to me. I believe it can and there is still hatred in the world people still hate other people therefore this can happen again and probably will to me or someone else in my family down from me. 2. What would be your first reaction to this horrifying experience? I was actually not shocked because I've heard it before but i was a little shocked because it was so inhumane. 3. What means might you use to deal with what is happening (example: would you lie, cheat, steal)? I would lie about age religion nationality etc. 4. Do you think it would be better to give up and die or try to survive? I think if it went on for about 2 months I would just give up because there is no use trying after that. 5. Inhumanity means being inhumanly cruel and brutal. Do you think the world could ever allow this kind of inhumanity to happen again? Yes and no they will let it go on reluctantly and will give a fair fight but I have to think hatred will prevail. 6. What kind of punishment do you feel would be suitable for this kind of inhumanity? Each person must be beaten by each inmate for as long as they stayed at the camp. 7. Do you think this kind of inhumanity could exist in our day and age? it can because there is still hated in the world

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 Eliezer pray and why does he cry when he prays? He prays to be closer to god and he dosen't know why he cries while he prays. 2. Why don’t people believe Moche’s stores? Because people don't believe anyone can be so cruel to do that. 3. Site examples of how the Jews gradually lose their freedom. They lost valuables then freedom then homes. __Chapter 2, pages 23-28__ 4. What does Madam Shachter’s nightmares about a fire foreshadow? They foreshadow that they might actually be in danger. 5. Where does the train finally stop? The death camp. __Chapter 3, pages 29-46__ 6. When questioned by the SS officer, why does Elie lie about his occupation and age? Eliezer lied about his age and occupation because he did not want to get shot on sight or wanted to stay alive longer. 7. Why does Elie disbelieve what his own eyes show him? Elie disbelieved his eyes because he saw dead babies dumped into a hole then burned. 8. Why is Elie now reluctant to pray? Elie is reluctant to pray because he has lost his faith from what he saw while entering the death camp. __Chapter 4, pages 47-65__ 9. Why is Elie summoned to the dentist? Elie is summoned to the dentist because he had a gold crown in his tooth. 10. How does Elie react to his father’s beating? Elie was too shocked to react to the beating. 11. Why is the hanging of the “sad eyed angel” said to be one of the most profoundly moving events in the novel? The hanging of the sad eyed angels was the most profoundly moving events in the novel because it was a person who started crawling for food got shot and then was hung __Chapter 5, pages 66-84__ 12. What is selection? Selection in death camps are that people have to select a certian amount of people to kill and they select who dies with a test.

__Chapter 6, pages 85-97__ 13. Why couldn’t Elie allow himself to die? Elie couldent die because he had to take care of his dad. 14. Why does Juliek play the violin? Juliek plays the violin because he has a talent and he thaught he was going to make it. 15. Compare how the other boys treat their fathers with Eliezer’s treatment of his own father. Comparing how Ellie treats his dad to the others is he treats his dad wit more care than the others. __Chapter 7-9 pages 98-115__ 16. Why can’t Elizer weep at his father’s death? Elizer cant cry because he litarally cant because he is out of tears. 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 cant forget the eyes because they were one of a dead man almost and it was what he had become 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? It symbolizes the hard time s he had in the camps in the night and it was the most memorable part of the whole story. 2. What fires does he speak of that consumed his faith forever? Why do these fires consume his faith? The fires of the crematoriums consumed his faith forever. He will not be able to be live in god ever again after that inhumanity. 3. Do you find it difficult to believe that a boy so devout in his faith could lose his faith? Why? No because the things he saw can change anyones mind. 4. Why does he lose his desire to live? Because he just coulden't live without his family or coulden't stand the images he had seen. 5. Elie spoke these words as an adolescent. Do you think that as an adult his feelings have changed? Why? His feelings cant change he cant go back and make every thing different. 6. Why do you suppose Elie wrote this novel? he wanted to show how hard it was to live like that and all the things he did.

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: Ellie and his dad meating a long lost relitive

What I think:I think they handled it well very well

I would’ve done: I would of done the same thing for him

2. Page 49-50

Relationship shown: Idek meeting Ellie

What I think: Idek is mean to every one and is very harsh

I would’ve done: I would of done the same as Elie.

3. Page 55-56

Relationship shown: Ellie and his father in a relation about the crown

What I think: Ellie should give up the crown and try to eat

I would’ve done: I would of given up the crown

4. Page 90-91

Relationship shown: Rabbi trying to find his son

What I think: That the rabbi has a right to be upset.

I would’ve done: I would of helped as best i can to help

5. Page 101

Relationship shown: The man who brought extra rations for the other people

What I think: The people should not of jumped on him

I would’ve done: I would of tried to help the man who fell.

6. Page 112

Relationship shown: the father being gone and dead and Ellie not being able to cry.

What I think: I think that he was so messed that he ran out of tears.

I would’ve done: I would of cried and cried.

__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) The irony in work is liberty is if your working your not free. You can never be free while working. 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) The irony in you dont die of the yellow star is that your yellow star means your jewish and being gewish is death. 3. “On we went between the electric wires. At each step, a white placard with a death’s head on it stared us in the face. A caption: ‘Warning, Danger of Death.’ ” (page 40) The irony behind danger of death is that your always fearful of death and because theyre at a death camp. 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 51) The irony behind Hitler making all his promises to jews is people make promises to people that need them.

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) Anything is possible even these crematories is inhuman because the crematoriums are inhuman and people are letting it happen. 2. “Work makes you free.” (page 40) Work makes you free is inhuman because it just means you work until you die. 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) But we were no longer afraid of death is inhuman because they hurt them so bad that they don't fear death 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) I had witnessed other hangings is inhuman because they hang alot of people and they cant cry.