ALEX

//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 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 does not know why he prays and why he cries when he prays. 2. Why don’t people believe Moche’s stores? They don't believe him because they think that he is crazy. 3. Site examples of how the Jews gradually lose their freedom. They have to wear yellow stars and they are not allowed to have any jewelery. __Chapter 2, pages 23-28__ 4. What does Madam Shachter’s nightmares about a fire foreshadow? They foreshadow the crematorium. 5. Where does the train finally stop? The train finally stops in Birkenau. __Chapter 3, pages 29-46__ 6. When questioned by the SS officer, why does Elie lie about his occupation and age? So he can get inside. 7. Why does Elie disbelieve what his own eyes show him? Elie disbelieves what his own eyes show him because he does not want to believe what he sees. 8. Why is Elie now reluctant to pray? Elie is reluctant to pray because he thinks that his God has deserted him. __Chapter 4, pages 47-65__ 9. Why is Elie summoned to the dentist? Elie summoned to the dentist to make sure that he doesn't have any gold teeth. 10. How does Elie react to his father’s beating? Elie reacts to his father’s beating by not doing anything. 11. Why is the hanging of the “sad eyed angel” said to be one of the most profoundly moving events in the novel? It is made to be one of the most profoundly moving events in the novel because a little boy was hung. __Chapter 5, pages 66-84__ 12. What is selection? Selection is when the SS choose certain people to work in the crematorium.

__Chapter 6, pages 85-97__ 13. Why couldn’t Elie allow himself to die? Elie cannot allow himself to die because his father wouldn't be able to survive. 14. Why does Juliek play the violin? Juliek plays the violin because that is the only thing that he loves. 15. Compare how the other boys treat their fathers with Eliezer’s treatment of his own father. Eliezer treats his father nicely and supports him while some other people kill their own fathers for bread. __Chapter 7-9 pages 98-115__ 16. Why can’t Elizer weep at his father’s death? Eliezer cannot weep because he doesn't have any tears left. 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 cannot forget the look because he looked like the living dead.

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 what happened during the night. Because What happens at night sometimes can't be seen by most people. 2. What fires does he speak of that consumed his faith forever? Why do these fires consume his faith? I think that he was talking about the crematorium, or Hell. They consume his faith because they think that it is amusing. 3. Do you find it difficult to believe that a boy so devout in his faith could lose his faith? Why? I do not find it difficult to believe because he thinks that his God has abandoned him. I mean, it seems like that kind of time. 4. Why does he lose his desire to live? He loses his desire to live because he has nothing to live for. 5. Elie spoke these words as an adolescent. Do you think that as an adult his feelings have changed? Why? I don't think his feelings have changed because he is still the person that he is. 6. Why do you suppose Elie wrote this novel? To inform people on what has happened and to give them proof that the Holocaust was not a myth.

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 does 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: Elie and his father meet somebody in their family that they don't remember or they have never seen before.

What I think: I think that they thought that he was crazy because they do not recognize him.

I would’ve done: I would've greeted the man and treat him as if he were in our family even if he wasn't.

2. Page 49-50

Relationship shown: Elie wants to work near his father.

What I think: I think that it's really cool that he would go up to an officer and ask if he could work with his father.

I would’ve done: I would've done the same thing except I would be shivering with fear.

3. Page 55-56

Relationship shown: Elie's father is trying to protect his son by telling him to not give his crown to Franek.

What I think: I think that Elie's father is doing the right thing by telling Elie not to give Franek his gold crown.

I would’ve done: I would've done the same thing if I was Elie's father.

4. Page 90-91

Relationship shown: The Rabbi's son ditched him while they were running.

What I think: I think that it's very uncool to ditch your father during a time like this.

I would’ve done: I would've stayed with my father until the very end.

5. Page 101

Relationship shown: Meir is killing his own father for a piece of bread.

What I think: I think that that is one of the most uncool things that you can do on this planet.

I would’ve done: I wouldn't have killed my father, I would've asked if I could have some of his bread.

6. Page 112

Relationship shown: Elie's father is taken away and Elie realizes that he is dead when he wakes up in the morning.

What I think: I think that it's very sad to realize that your father has died when you wake up in the morning.

I would’ve done: I would've cried all day long if I was Elie.

__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 the people in there work themselves to death. 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 the yellow star symbolizes that you are a Jew and the Jews were the Nazi's target. 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 ironic because the whole point of the place that they were going to was to "exterminate" the Jews. 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 ironic because Hitler didn't make any promises to the Jews.

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 means that nobody cares for the people that are in need of assistance. 2. “Work makes you free.” (page 40) This means that if you work, you will be set free. 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 means that if a bomb had fallen on them, they wouldn't care if they died. 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 means that nobody cried for the people that were hung.