STEVEN

//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? Eliezer prays because he feels it is necessary. He cries because he has said them so much that he has a feeling for them. 2. Why don’t people believe Moche’s stores? People don't believe in Moche's stories because they feel that it is total nonsense and that what Moche is saying no one has heard of so a conclusion that it happened has not been drawn by the people of the town. 3. Site examples of how the Jews gradually lose their freedom. The Jews gradually lose their freedom by being told that they are going to have to move from their homes. __Chapter 2, pages 23-28__ 4. What does Madam Shachter’s nightmares about a fire foreshadow? Madam Shachter's nightmares foreshadow that there is going to be a place in the camps where there is fire. 5. Where does the train finally stop? The train finally stops in a place called Berkenau where the people are going to have to work in concentration camps. __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 he does not want to be thought of as a weak young boy instead a matured farmer so he wouldn't get killed. 7. Why does Elie disbelieve what his own eyes show him? Elie disbelieves what his own eyes show him because he doesn't understand what is going on and wants to get out of Auschwitz. 8. Why is Elie now reluctant to pray? Elie is now reluctant to pray because he doesn't want to feel bad and it is a perfect time to pray because it is a time of sorrow. __Chapter 4, pages 47-65__ 9. Why is Elie summoned to the dentist? Elie is summoned to the dentist because he needs to get his gold pulled out. 10. How does Elie react to his father’s beating? Elie reacts to his fathers beating like it is a horrible thing. 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 is the most profoundly moving event in the novel because it is said that everybody needs to look at it in the eye. __Chapter 5, pages 66-84__ 12. What is selection?

__Chapter 6, pages 85-97__ 13. Why couldn’t Elie allow himself to die?

14. Why does Juliek play the violin?

15. Compare how the other boys treat their fathers with Eliezer’s treatment of his own father.

__Chapter 7-9 pages 98-115__ 16. Why can’t Eliezer weep at his father’s death?

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?

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? Night symbolizes what it was like to Elie to have been in this horrible situation. He selected it the title of his memoir because at the time he was very scared. 2. What fires does he speak of that consumed his faith forever? Why do these fires consume his faith? The fires he speaks of are the fire that burned the bodies at he creamatoria. These fires consume his faith because he feels that this is the place where he will end up going, the creamatoria. 3. Do you find it difficult to believe that a boy so devout in his faith could lose his faith? Why? I believe that a boy like that can because of the circumstances. If the circumstances are horrible like Elie's were,l than yes a person could definitely lose their faith. 4. Why does he lose his desire to live? Elie loses his desire to live because he sees what is going on. The horrible things that are happening make him assume that he will die. 5. Elie spoke these words as an adolescent. Do you think that as an adult his feelings have changed? Why? Yes because it is a super hard time to live through and even a person like his dad would probably lose thier desire to live. 6. Why do you suppose Elie wrote this novel? Elie probably wrote this novel to enforce exactly what it was like to be in this period of time.

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: Stein was told that his sons were o.k. and alive.

What I think: I think that the thing that Elie and his father did was ok because they want to make Stein feel better.

I would’ve done: If I were in the same situation as the Wiesel's were than I would do the same thing.

2. Page 49-50

Relationship shown:

What I think:

I would’ve done:

3. Page 55-56

Relationship shown:

What I think:

I would’ve done:

4. Page 90-91

Relationship shown:

What I think:

I would’ve done:

5. Page 101

Relationship shown:

What I think:

I would’ve done:

6. Page 112

Relationship shown:

What I think:

I would’ve done:

__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) It is ironic because work is not even close to liberty. To say that it is not is a joke. 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 the yellow star symbolizes that they are jewish and if you are jewish than you most likely die. 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 danger of death sign is false. They are always in danger of death. 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) It is ironic because all his promises to the jewish people were about him wanting a pure aryan race so they would all die anyway.

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) It is inhumane because Hitler did a lot of things that never should happen to people and a lot of things that were made for the jews can be made today better because we have better techology. 2. “Work makes you free.” (page 40) It is inhumane because work in the camps could get you freedom eventually like Elie but if you did something wrong you would 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) It is inhumane because normally when a bomb is dropped on a place the people there are really scared but in this case the people in the camps are happy because they see it as a sign of freedom. 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)It is inhumane because the peoples bodies were so skinny and you could see almost all their bones that they had no body fluids so they couldn't cry.