JORDAN

//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? No, I do not believe that because I think (and hope) that the world has learned a lesson from tragic genocides like this. 2. What would be your first reaction to this horrifying experience? I would be terrified and scard for life. A experience like this is terribly unforgetable. 3. What means might you use to deal with what is happening (example: would you lie, cheat, steal)? I would do nothing. To them I am just a jew and I would not risk my life by lying or doing anything not right in their opinion. 4. Do you think it would be better to give up and die or try to survive? If I would dnot know when or woulf the war would end I would give up and die because its hard to live through that tragic experience and ot know if it will ever end. 5. Inhumanity means being inhumanly cruel and brutal. Do you think the world could ever allow this kind of inhumanity to happen again? Yes, I think that there are many people with many feelings and for some people there are may reasons for being inhumane. 6. What kind of punishment do you feel would be suitable for this kind of inhumanity? For inhumanity the punishment would be death because there is no excuse to do something cruel or brutal. 7. Do you think this kind of inhumanity could exist in our day and age? I do think so because the world has changed from the past to now, but people and their actions/feelings can never change.

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? In the story Eliezer gets asked, “why do you pray?” and he simply answers “because I am faithful for my religion”. What Eliezer said was very powerful and general. I think he used the word faithful because at this hard time it is hard for a lot of the Jews to be faithful and I think he feels the need to pray for mercy. He also gets asked “why do you cry when you pray?” and Ellie did not really know why but he says he feels the need to. That is not a very specific answer but I think he was crying because of all the chaos. 2. Why don’t people believe Moche’s stores? In the story, people do not believe Moche’s stories because they’re in denial. They are in denial because of all the hard times that they are going through and they don’t know what to believe. The denial starts to make them think that Moche is crazy. They do not know what to believe especially because of the lies that they (Jews) are finding out. 3. Site examples of how the Jews gradually lose their freedom.

The Jews gradually lose their freedom by loosing their homes, families, possessions and their lives. After all the terrible things that the Germans have done to them they have nothing left. They lost everything that they owned and treasured.

__Chapter 2, pages 23-28__ 4. What does Madam Shachter’s nightmares about a fire foreshadow? After all the terrified Jews drove to the camp with a lady screaming “Look at the fire! Look at the Flames!” they glanced forward at the camp and saw fires burning from the gas chambers. That is when all the Jews realized what Madam Shacter was talking about. 5. Where does the train finally stop?

The train finally stops at Birkenau, which is a concentration camp. The camp mainly leads to death, instead of work.

__Chapter 3, pages 29-46__ 6. When questioned by the SS officer, why does Elie lie about his occupation and age? Ellie lied about his occupation and age while asked by the SS officer because he did not want to be pointed to death and he wanted to be with his dad. 7. Why does Elie disbelieve what his own eyes show him? Ellie was not able to believe what was going on because he never thought that the world could be that cruel and he could not believe that god did not help the Jews at that period of time. 8. Why is Elie now reluctant to pray? Ellie is reluctant to pray because he thought that god would stop the nonsense that was going on and since the chaos did not stop Ellie thought that god was evil. He started to give up on his religion and get mad at god. __Chapter 4, pages 47-65__ 9. Why is Elie summoned to the dentist? Ellie is summoned at the dentist because the dentist wants to pull out his gold crown. The opperation would hurt because they would not give Ellie any pain pills and it would be hard to eat after. Therefore Ellie does all that he can to have the dentist not pull out his gold tooth. 10. How does Elie react to his father’s beating? Ellie was very terrified and scared but he did not say anything or stand up because he was nervous for himself. 11. Why is the hanging of the “sad eyed angel” said to be one of the most profoundly moving events in the novel? The "sad eyed angel" was said to be one of the profoundly moving events in the nopvel because the audience of the terrible event was not fazed because they wanted to go to dinner and they hung a child. __Chapter 5, pages 66-84__ 12. What is selection? Selection is where the nazis came and selected the weakest so they can kill them and keep the strong for work.

__Chapter 6, pages 85-97__ 13. Why couldn’t Elie allow himself to die? Ellie could not let himself die because he did not want to give up on himself and his father. 14. Why does Juliek play the violin? Juliek plays the violin to cope and to help pthers cope. 15. Compare how the other boys treat their fathers with Eliezer’s treatment of his own father. Elie treats his father with much respect and much effort. But, boys these days treat there fathers with very little respect and they are not as thoughtful to their fathers as they were back then. __Chapter 7-9 pages 98-115__ 16. Why can’t Elizer weep at his father’s death? Elie cannot weep at his fathers death because he realizes that he is haooy that that huge delliema is over and he is now free from protecting his father and caring for him. 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 is very stunned that he is not as sad that he father has died but he is confused.

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? To Ellie, night describes all the terrible things that are going on. It basically stands for scary. Ellie chose it for his title of the memoir because the word "night" symbolizes all the terrifying things that are going on. 2. What fires does he speak of that consumed his faith forever? Why do these fires consume his faith? The fire that Ellie speaks of are the chimnneys, ovens, etc. They consume his faith forever because they take scare him forever and after he saw those terrifying things he could never be the same. Just like veterans from wars. 3. Do you find it difficult to believe that a boy so devout in his faith could lose his faith? Why? I do find thaty difficult because faith is very powerful and giving up something that important has to mean that Ellie is mad at his religion for what is going on. 4. Why does he lose his desire to live? Ellie looses hios desire to live because the camps are such torture that he would rather be dead than work and get beat all day. 5. Elie spoke these words as an adolescent. Do you think that as an adult his feelings have changed? Why? Yes, I do think that his adult feelings has changed because he has been through so much that his feelings are not as sensitive and high matninced as they used to be. 6. Why do you suppose Elie wrote this novel? I think that Elie wrote this novel to expose to people how terrifying the holocaust is and it should never be forgotten.

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:Elies father advises Elie to save his bread so he may not stave.

What I think:It was a very thoughtful comment and it showed how father cares about how Elie feels.

I would’ve done:I would of told Elie the same thing and made sure that he listened to me.

2. Page 49-50

Relationship shown:Elie requested to be near his father even if it was for the worst.

What I think:If was a very wise idea but the father should move towards the kid if they needed to be that close.

I would’ve done:I would of done the same thing but I would of had my father request to be near me so we could be in the better black.

3. Page 55-56

Relationship shown:Elie tried his best to teach his father how to march so he would not be tormented.

What I think:I think that it was the right thing to do but he put a little too much pressure on his dad.

I would’ve done:I would warned my father so he could try his best infront of the Kapos.

4. Page 90-91

Relationship shown:The Rabis son ran away from his father so that he would not need to worry about him anymore and he could be free.

What I think:It was a very selfish act and you do ot do that if you really love somebody.

I would’ve done:I would of stayed with my father because I would never do that to someone that I love.

5. Page 101

Relationship shown:The son killed his father for a piece of bread.

What I think:You do not kill somebody you love and you do not cause action in something so little.

I would’ve done:I would of let my father have the bread so that he could live even if it means that I would die.

6. Page 112

Relationship shown:Elie did not cry after finding out about his fathers death because he felt free from taking care of his father and free from worry.

What I think:It is hard not to cry at something so tragic and if you do not cry then that means that you do not care or you are happy.

I would’ve done:I would of cried hysterically because loosing a family member is very tragic.

__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 meaning of thuis passage is ironic because they were only marching dor a few minuites and they discovered another camp. That showed how may camps there were. 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) It is ironic because you do die from it. The star tells if you are a jew and that means that the nazis will either kill you or work you to 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) It is ironic because the electric wires are actually ment 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 51) This passage is ironic because hitler does not keep his promises to jews, at all.

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 quote is inhumane because even though what is going on is not even possible, its happening. 2. “Work makes you free.” (page 40) This quote is inhumane because people are not forced to work, but they now are. 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 quote is inhumane because normal humans are very afraid of death but these people has been through so much that they are now not. 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 quote is inhumane because humans cry when they watch people died or they themselves get murdered but in this case, they did not.