Night - By Elie Wiesel

Content and Analysis Questions

 

Part ONE (page 3-22)

1. Look up and record the literary definition of “novel” and “memoir.” Is Night novel or a memoir? Explain your answer.

 

2. As you go through part one, and the entire book, note the times which Elie and his family had the opportunity to escape, yet missed the chance.

 

3. a) How old is Elie at the opening of the book?

b) Describe the relationship between Elie and i) his father   ii) his mother   iii) Moshe the Beadle.

 

4. a) Why is Moshe the Beadle expelled from Sighet?

b) Why does Moshe return to the community? What does he describe? How does the town react to him? Why do you believe they reacted that way?

 

5. a) List at least five decrees set by the German police upon invasion of Sighet.

b) Define the term “irony.”

c) Describe Elie’s father’s reaction to wearing the yellow star. In what way is this reaction ironic?

 

6. a) What is the purpose of the ghettoes set up in Sighet?

b) According to Elie, what is life like in the ghettoes?

 

7. a) What terrible news does Stern bring?

b) Why will he not tell them more details?

 

8. a) Define the literary term “metaphor.”

b) Quote at least one metaphor Elie uses to describe the deserted ghetto.

 

9. a) Who forces Elie and his family out of the large ghetto?

b) Describe Elie’s feelings about the policemen.

 

10. In your opinion, why does Elie’s father decline refuge with their former house servant, Maria?

 

11. a) Cite two or three of the sentiments of the community members towards their deportation.

b) What is the real function of these “optimistic speeches”?

 

12. How do the guards ensure that no one tries to escape from the train?

 

Part TWO (page 23-28)

1. Define the literary term “simile”. Identify one simile in this section.

 

2. Elie says of their situation, “The world was a cattle wagon hermetically sealed.” Why is this an appropriate description?

 

 

3. What hardships are endure on the train journey?

 

4. a) What vision does Mrs. Schachter have?

b) Describe the initial reaction to her outbursts.

c) What do the people on the train eventually do to her?

d) In what way is this ironic?

 

Part THREE (page 29-46)

1. Explain why the following words are of particular significance: “Men to the left! Women to the right!”

 

2. Why did the prisoner tell both Elie and his father to lie about their ages?

 

3. Why do the prisoners, some of whom have knives, not revolt immediately against the guards?

 

4. a) Describe the effect the crematories have on Elie.

b) Indicate at least one detail which makes the crematories particularly horrific.

 

5. a) Refer to the lines on page 34 which begin with the word “never”. What does Elie say he will never forget?

b) What does Elie mean when he claims that his God has been “murdered”?

 

6. List the preparations that the prisoners are made to undergo.

 

7. What are the two choices the men have according to the SS officer?

 

8. Why is it important for Elie to keep his shoes?

 

9. Why does Elie not react when his father is struck by the gypsy?

 

10. Why does Elie not eat his bowl of soup?

 

11. Explain the irony in the following statements:

a) the phrase over the iron door at Auschwitz is “Work makes you free.”

b) the news that Elie gives Stein about his wife Reizel, and his boys.

c) the welcome speech from the Pole in charge, who says “Above all else, have faith.”

d) the conclusions made by Elie and his father about Elie’s mother and sister.

e) the behaviour of the “young German girls” towards the guards on the march to Buna.

 

 

 

Part FOUR (page 47 - 65)

1. Why is it important that prisoners are medically inspected when first received at Buna? (What are the doctors assessing?)

 

2. What purpose does the band serve?

 

3. What do Yossi and Tibi have in common with Elie?

 

4. How does Elie initially manage to save his gold crown?

 

5. a) What advice does the young French girl give to Elie after he is beaten by Idek?

b) What information does she reveal to him during the chance meeting in Paris many years later?

c) In your opinion, why does Elie include this Parisian recollection in his narrative?

 

6. a) Why does Elie become angry with his father during the loading of Diesel engines?

b) What does this reveal about life in the concentration camp?

 

7. a) What does Elie teach his father?

b) Why is he doing this?

 

8. Describe how the loss of the gold crown to Franek turns out to be a pointless act.

 

9. a) Why does Idek make the prisoners go to the warehouse on a Sunday?

b) Why is Elie punished?

c) What insights into Idek’s character does this entire scene provide?

 

10. Explain the significance of each of the following passages:

a) “Two cauldrons of steaming soup, right in the middle of the path, with no one guarding them! A feast for kings, abandoned, supreme temptation! Hundreds of eyes looked at them, sparkling with desire. Two lambs, with a hundred wolves lying in wait for them. Two lambs without a shepherd–a gift. But who would dare?”(59).

b) Jealousy consumed us, burned us up like straw. We never thought for a moment of admiring him. Poor hero, committing suicide for a ration of soup! In our minds he was already dead [original version the text says: In our thoughts we were murdering him]” (59).

 

11. What is the general reaction of the prisoners to the bombing of Buna?

 

12. a) How long has the young man from Warsaw been imprisoned at the camp?

b) Why does Elie find that after witnessing the execution “the soup tasted better than ever...” (63)?

 

13. Why, at this end of Part FOUR, does Elie say “the soup tasted of corpses” (65)?

 

Part FIVE (page 66-84)

1.Describe the relationship that Elie has with God by this point in the book.

 

 

 

2. What is the Kaddish? When is it used (or not used) in the book?

 

3. Describe the expression that Elie sees on his father’s face on New Year’s Day. What does this signify?

 

4. a) What is Yom Kippur, and how is it observed?

b) Why does Elie choose not to participate? Do you think he made the right choice?

 

5. a) What “New Year’s gift is given by the SS?

b) What is a “musulman”?

 

6. Why are certain member of the camp selected to stay behind?

 

7. Explain the significance of the knife and spoon.

 

8. a) How does the selection of Akiba Drumer affect his morale?

b) What does he ask of the other prisoners before his death? What do they do about this request?

 

9. a) Why is Elie hospitalized?

b) Why does he consider the hospital “not bad at all”?

 

10. Why is Elie advised to leave the hospital?

 

11. What rumours circulate through the hospital?

 

13. Explain the significance of the following statement: “I have more faith in Hitler than in anyone else. He alone has kept his promises, all his promises, to the Jewish people” (81).

 

14.Why do Elie and his father decide to leave the hospital? Was this the right decision?

 

15. Why are the prisoners ordered to clean out the block before they leave the camp?

 

Part SIX (page 85 – 97)

1. Explain Elie’s motivation to keep on marching in spite of his injury.

 

2. Explain the significance of the following passage: “We were masters of nature, masters of the world. We had transcended everything—death, fatigue, our natural needs. We were stronger than cold or hunger, stronger than the shots and the desire to die, doomed and rootless, nothing but numbers, we were the only men on earth” (87).

 

3. Why is it dangerous to fall asleep during breaks in the march?

 

4. When Elie’s father wakes up he smiles at Elie. Elie writes: “I shall always remember that smile. What world did it come from?” (90). Suggest what Elie means by this question.

5. Define the literary term “pathos.” Explain why each event is an example of pathos:

a) The situation with Rabbi Eliahou and his son.

b) Juliek playing the violin.

 

6. How does Elie manage to save his father from being selected near the end of this part?

 

Part SEVEN (page 98 – 103)

1. How is this train ride different from the one Elie to from Sighet to Auschwitz?

 

2. What do the SS order the prisoners to do when the train halts?

 

3. Why does Elie recall the event from years later that he witnessed at Aden?

 

4. What do you believe that the people were throwing bread into the train?

 

5. What is significant about the scene with Meir Katz?

 

6. How many were put on the train car at the start of the journey? How many living people got off at the end?

 

Part EIGHT (page 104 – 112)

1. How has Elie’s relationship with his father changed since the beginning of the book?

 

2. Describe the general attitude of the doctors Elie encounters at Buchenwald.

 

3. What are the two reasons the other prisoners abuse Elie’s father while Elie is away?

 

4. What advice does the head of the block give to Elie? Which is the better decision for Elie—to share his food with his dying father, or save it for himself? Give reasons for your answer. This debate is the debated between an __________________ and a ___________________. (Think of the major themes from To Kill a Mockingbird).

 

5. Did you find the account of Elie’s father’s death to be effectively presented? Why or why not?

 

6. Describe Elie’s reaction to the death of his father. Do you find this reaction understandable or strange?

 

Part NINE (page 113 – 115)

1. What was the date of Elie’s father’s death (see last section of part EIGHT, page112)? What was the date Elie was liberated? How long is it between these two events? Why do you think Elie chose to skip over this part of his time in the camps?

 

2. Who drives the SS out of Buchenwald? What allied army frees the prisoners?

 

3. What do most of the prisoners do upon liberation?

 

4. Why do none of them think of revenge?

 

5. What does Elie see in the mirror in the hospital? What is the significance of that image?

 

6. The book ends very abruptly. Suggest why this is, or is not, an appropriate way to end this book. What other suggestions might Elie’s editor have given him for the ending?