BRADY

//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?

2. What would be your first reaction to this horrifying experience?

3. What means might you use to deal with what is happening (example: would you lie, cheat, steal)?

4. Do you think it would be better to give up and die or try to survive?

5. Inhumanity means being inhumanly cruel and brutal. Do you think the world could ever allow this kind of inhumanity to happen again?

6. What kind of punishment do you feel would be suitable for this kind of inhumanity?

7. Do you think this kind of inhumanity could exist in our day and age?

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 oProxy-Connection: keep-aliProxy-Connection: keep-alive Cache-Control: max-age=0 Cache-Control: max-age=0 20the 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. Elie is not sure why cries or why he prays. 2. Why don’t people believe Moche’s stores? People don't believe Moche's stories because they can't accept the facts and they think the war is coming to an end. 3. Site examples of how the Jews gradually lose their freedom. All Jews have to give up their valuables. All Jews can’t go to school. All Jews must move to the ghettos. __Chapter 2, pages 23-28__ 4. What does Madam Shachter’s nightmares about a fire foreshadow?

Madam Shachter’s nightmares foreshadow death and burning. 5. Where does the train finally stop?

The train finally stops at Auschwitz in Poland. __Chapter 3, pages 29-46__ 6. When questioned by the SS officer, why does Elie lie about his occupation and age?

Elie lies about his age and occupation because an inmate told him to and he believes it will help him survive. 7. Why does Elie disbelieve what his own eyes show him?

Elie doesn’t believe what his eyes show him because he doesn’t think that this much inhumanity could possibly exist. 8. Why is Elie now reluctant to pray? Elie is reluctant to pray because he doesn’t appreciate that God is not attempting to help. __Chapter 4, pages 47-65__ 9. Why is Elie summoned to the dentist? Elie is summoned to the dentist to get his golden cap removed from one of his teeth. 10. How does Elie react to his father’s beating? Elie stays quiet and gets an urge to run away to escape Idek. Elie also gets the feeling of madness because his father didn't get out of Idek's way. 11. Why is the hanging of the “sad eyed angel” said to be one of the most profoundly moving events in the novel? I think that the killing of a child is horrible in itself but the fact that this child was completly innocent makes it even worse. __Chapter 5, pages 66-84__ 12. What is selection? Selection is when an SS examines the prisoners. Whenever the SS found someone that was too frail he would write down his number. When you got your number written down you would soon be sent to the crematorium.

__Chapter 6, pages 85-97__ 13. Why couldn’t Elie allow himself to die? Elie couldn't allow himself to die because he didn't want to leave his father alone to deal with life. 14. Why does Juliek play the violin? Juliek plays the violin because... (I need to look in the book.) 15. Compare how the other boys treat their fathers with Eliezer’s treatment of his own father. Elie doesn't want to be separated from his father and Elie also cares about his father. The other boys seem to not care what happens their fathers. __Chapter 7-9 pages 98-115__ 16. Why can’t Elizer weep at his father’s death? Elie can't cry about his fathers death because he is all 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 can never forget the face he sees because it shows what happened to him and it shows a walking dead man.

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? The sky and clouds to me and I believe Elie symbolized happiness, heaven, and the place where God is. During night the sky and clouds seem to vanish. To Elie life is an eternal night where God is not there. 2. What fires does he speak of that consumed his faith forever? Why do these fires consume his faith? Elie speaks of the fires of the cremation pit. The fires consume Elie's faith because to Elie it seems like God doesn't care what happens to his people. 3. Do you find it difficult to believe that Elie, a boy so devout in his faith could lose his faith? Why? I do not find it difficult to believe that a boy so devout to his faith could lose his faith because of two reasons: 1. Elie lost his faith. 2. If I had been in Elie's position I would have also started to doubt in God. 4. Why does he lose his desire to live? Elie loses his desire to live because he has spent almost his entire life praying to God and learning about God. Elie has now stopped believing in God. God was Elie's life and now he has lost the will to believe in God and the will to live. 5. Elie spoke these words as an adolescent. Do you think that as an adult his feelings have changed? Why? I think that Elie's feelings have changed because he is still alive today and as you get older your feelings to start to level out. 6. Why do you suppose Elie wrote this novel? I think that Elie wrote this book to show people what happened during this time period and to help people not repeat history.

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: Good

What I think: I think that Elie did the right thing telling Stein that his family was okay.

I would've done:I would have done the same thing as Elie.

2. Page 49-50

Relationship shown: Good

What I think: I think that this relationship is lucky because Elie and his father stay togther.

I would’ve done: I would have tried to keep my spot because I would be next to my dad.

3. Page 55-56

Relationship shown: Bad

What I think: I think that it is really bad because Elie's gold tooth is causing his dad to get beaten.

I would’ve done: I would have given up my gold cap right away.

4. Page 90-91

Relationship shown: Bad

What I think: I think that it is really bad that Rabbi Eliahu's son decided to ditch him.

I would’ve done: I would have tried to stick with my father at all costs.

5. Page 101

Relationship shown: Bad

What I think: It is very hard to believe that a boy would kill his father over a bread crust.

I would’ve done: I would have tried to let my dad eat his bread crust and defend him if someone tried to attack.

6. Page 112

Relationship shown: Bad

What I think: I think that it is horible that Elie had to watch his father die.

I would’ve done: I would have tried to cry or at least I would have prayed.

__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 irony because work is not liberty for Jews, it is actually back breaking work that the Jews can't escape from. 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 irony because eventually the yellow star did become a symbol that the Nazis used to find Jews. These Jews did end up dying. 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) This is irony because the entire camp is a risk of death not just some small fence. 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 is irony because Hitler did keep his promise, his promise was to eliminate the entire Jewish population of the world.

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 the world doesn't care that people are getting killed by the millions and that babies were being throw up into the air to be used as targets. 2. “Work makes you free.” (page 40) Work makes you free means that if you work you will be freed, but the inhumane thing about it was that work didn't make you free. The work that the Jews were made to do and the things that they had to make eventually ended up killing more Jews. 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 happiness. This is inhumane because of the fact that they were put through so many horrible things by%2