front 1 Describe the character of Elie Wiesel in 1941, when Night opens | back 1 He is thoughtful and a bright kid who is very close with his family and God. |
front 2 Based on his characterization, what is Elie’s father like? | back 2 He is very cultured and successful and cares a lot for his family especially Elie his son. |
front 3 Why do you think Sighet’s Jews fail to heed the warnings of Moshe the Beadle? | back 3 Moshe the Beadle is poor and different than others so people don’t take him seriously. |
front 4 Why do you think Elie’s father doesn’t leave for Palestine or accept Martha’s offer? | back 4 Because he is a respected person of the community and he doesn't want to have to start over. He doesn’t think that the Nazis are the ones causing danger. |
front 5 What early actions on the part of the Germans suggest greater danger to come? | back 5 Shipping foreigners away, closing the synagogues, herding the Jews into two ghetto areas, and forcing them to wear yellow Stars of David. |
front 6 What does the opening of the chapter show about the Jews’ understanding of their future destination? | back 6 Most have no idea of the horrors that await them. |
front 7 Identify two examples of foreshadowing in the chapter. At what future developments do you think they hint? | back 7 Madam Schachter’s dream visions hint at the fiery devastation that the Jews on the train will face. The line “Our eyes were opened, but too late” hints at the dangers. |
front 8 What does Madame Schachter have in common with Moshe the Beadle in the first chapter? | back 8 They both recognize the dangers facing the Jews, but they are viewed as crazy and are not believed. |
front 9 Why do the other passengers hit Madame Schachter and tie her up? | back 9 Her hysterical screams add to the terror and tension of the situation. Her loud rantings might bring the guards, who will punish everyone. |
front 10 What is the “abominable odor in the air” at Auschwitz? | back 10 The smell of the dead being burned in the crematories. |
front 11 Why are the words “Men to the left! Women to the right!” significant to Wiesel? Why is it advisable for him to pretend he is older and for his father to pretend he is younger? | back 11 He doesn’t know it but this will be the last time he ever sees his mother and his younger sister. If Elie seems too young or his father too old to work, they will be killed immediately. |
front 12 What examples of figurative language describe what happens to Wiesel’s life and faith on his first night at the camps? List several phrases as examples. | back 12 Some examples are “turned my life into one long night,” “those flames…consumed my faith forever,” “murdered my God,” and “turned my dreams to dust.” |
front 13 Why is Elie angry with himself for failing to act when the gypsy strikes his father? Do you think his self-criticism is valid? Explain. | back 13 He views himself as inhuman and cowardly after only a short time in the camp, it is understandable that Elie was too frightened to act. |
front 14 Why do you think the camp policy was to tattoo numbers on prisoners instead of using their names? | back 14 It is another way of treating the prisoners as if they are not human beings. |
front 15 What news do you think Stein gets from the transport that comes from Antwerp? | back 15 His family is no longer alive. |
front 16 Explain the irony behind the incident involving Elie’s shoes. What is ironic about the behavior of the Jewish dentist? | back 16 He refuses to give them up for a favor and finally gives them up for nothing. |
front 17 Why do you think the Nazis allow music in the concentration camps? | back 17 It may puzzle or upset prisoners and add to their psychological torment. Some of the music can control the work such as marching music. |
front 18 How does Elie seem to feel about the Jewish French woman who pretends to be Aryan? | back 18 She is brave and compassionate to risk discovery by being kind to Elie. |
front 19 What is ironic about the prisoners’ attitude towards the Allied bombing of Buma? | back 19 Some may expect them to be scared because they could be killed, but instead they are happy because it punishes the Germans. |
front 20 Why do you think Elie was more disturbed by the hanging of the pipel than by the other hangings he witnessed? | back 20 Because the youth’s dying is long and sad and Elie may relate to some of their ages. |
front 21 As the Jews celebrate Jewish New Year, what happens to Elie Wiesel’s faith? Why? | back 21 He has lost all faith and is filled with anger at God for allowing the stuff he has had to go through. |
front 22 Identify three biblical allusions on page 50. How does Elie contrast God’s acts in these biblical references with the events taking place in the concentration camp? | back 22 Allusions are for Adam and Eve, Noah’s flood, and Sodom. The allusions cause Elie’s relationship with God to drift. |
front 23 What happens in the “selections”? | back 23 Dr. Mengele and the SS officers select the prisoners that will be put to death. |
front 24 Why does Chlomo give Elie his knife and spoon? Why does Elie call them “the inheritance”? How do you think Elie feels when he gives them back to his father? | back 24 He thinks he is selected to die and wants his son to have them. They are the only valued thing that his father can give him. |
front 25 What does the other hospital patient mean when he says that he has more faith in Hitler than in anyone else? | back 25 Hitler has kept his promises to destroy the Jews. It seems that neither God or anyone else has kept any promises to save them. |
front 26 What details help bring to life the setting through which the prisoners travel? | back 26 Details about the snow and cold and the dead and dying. |
front 27 How do Elie and his father keep each other alive on the forced march across the snow? | back 27 When Elie is tempted to give into death he realizes that his father needs him. |
front 28 How does Elie’s behavior toward his father contrast with that of Rabbi Eliahou’s son? | back 28 Rabbi’s son seems to leave his father because he fears that it will destroy him. |
front 29 How would you describe the atmosphere of the setting in which Juliek plays his violin? Why do you think Juliek takes care to hold on to his violin all the way to Gleiwitz? | back 29 Dark and suffocating. He loves music which helped him survive. |
front 30 What effect does the Allied approach seem to have on the Nazis’ efficiency? Cite details to support your answer. | back 30 The chaos of the forced march and Elie creating a distraction for his father to escape. |
front 31 Why do you think the German workman throws the crust of bread to the prisoners? | back 31 He may wish to create a spectacle for other workers. |
front 32 What does the death of meir and his father reveal about human nature? | back 32 When humans are treated so poorly it may cause people to lose their humanity in the struggle to survive. |
front 33 What internal conflict deeply troubles elie after his father grows ill? Why do you think Elie fails to go to his father when Chlomo Wiesel calls his son at the end? | back 33 He is upset because of the will to survive and the love he has for his father. He feels very guilty for leaving his father. |
front 34 What is the resolution, or outcome, of the external conflict with Nazi society that Elie and his father face? | back 34 Elie survives but his father does not. |
front 35 Why do you think Elie will always remember the face he sees in the mirror? | back 35 It reflects the horror of what he has gone through and it will always affect him. |
front 36 In one or two paragraphs, describe the feelings of the passengers as they take the train to Auschwitz. | back 36 The terror and tension of the trip, the physical discomforts and dangers, and the ignorance of the destination and danger to come. |
front 37 Write a one-paragraph summary of life in the concentration camps based on what you’ve read thus far. | back 37 Dehumanization and the prisoners were put to work everyday. They could only eat a certain amount of food each day. People were constantly getting killed. |
front 38 Discuss the effect that being in the camp has had on Elie. How has he changed so far? | back 38 Elie has lost faith but remains a loyal son. |
front 39 Based on the details in Chapters 5 and 6, evaluate the decision that Elie and his father make to leave the hospital. | back 39 It was not a good decision because those who stayed did not become victims of the Nazi slaughter. |
front 40 Evaluate the Nazis’ behavior as the Allied victory draws near. Why do you think they behave as they do? | back 40 They continued the running of the camps is a waste of manpower. The manpower was needed at the front. |