Night Questions

Brenda Van Riper

Bosch

Honors English 10

15 December 2008

1)Where is Wiesel's childhood home? Locate the country on a map.

Wiesel’s childhood home is located in a town called Jews of Sighet in Transylvania.

2) Wiesel opens Night by relating his youthful desire to study the cabala. What is the cabala?

The cabala is a system of esoteric theosophy and theurgy developed by rabbis, reaching its peak about the 12th and 13th centuries, and influencing certain medieval and Renaissance Christian thinkers. It was based on a mystical method of interpreting Scripture by which initiates claimed to penetrate sacred mysteries. Among its central doctrines are, all creation is an emanation from the Deity and the soul exists from eternity.

3) Wiesel says that when he was young, he wanted to study the cabala in order to know the truths of this world. What kinds of truths is he referring to? After you complete Night, return to this question: what kinds of truth was the young Elie ignorant of?

I think he was referring to the questions of life like, why we do what we do and other questions about the human race. He was ignorant of that people do not treat everyone equally and you cannot control what other people do and say.

4) Why is Moshe the Beadle a significant character? What does he tell Elie about answers, questions, and the truth? After you complete Night, return to this question: why was Moshe prescient in his admonition to Elie?

Moshe the Beadle was a significant character in this novel because he taught Elie about the cabala. He tells Elie that he has to search for the questions and the answers. He was prescient because he knows what was to come.

5) Why do the people of Sighet ignore Moshe after he returns from his escape? Why don't they listen to him?

The people ignore Moshe because they think that he is crazy and what he saying is all lies.

6) Who is Madame Schachter? In what ways is she similar to Moshe the Beadle? (Think about prophetic figures and how people often ignore them.)

Madame Schachter is a woman on the train with Elie. She is similar to Moshe because people do not believe her “prophecies.”

7) Consider this passage on pg. 32:Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desires 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.

This passage is about now Elie has now lost his faith in God, man, and in himself.

8) What is the context of this passage? How has the young Elie's theology changed? As you continue reading, ask yourself how this passage speaks to the rest of Night.

This passage shows his emotional scarring that has occurred during his experiences. He will never forget what happened to him and his family

9) How does Elie's understanding of God and God's presence—or absence— continue to change throughout Night? When is he most angry with God? When is not angry at all?

Mark passages throughout Night that illustrate his changing attitudes toward God.

At first Elie thinks that God is present but as it goes on he starts to believe that God is no longer there, although some people think that God is just testing them.

10) What literal and figurative (symbolic or metaphorical) meanings does night have in Night?

The literal meaning for Night is to sleep, or dark. The figurative meaning in Night is that it is the darkness of all hope for Elie in this book.

11) Why do you think Night is such a slim book? Surely Wiesel could have included much more detail.

I think Night is such a slim book because there are just some things that people should not know about. Also he probably did not want to re-imagine all those things that were done.

12) Is Night a memoir of tragedy or triumph? Can it be both? If so, why? If not, why not?

It can be both, a tragedy for what happened at those concentration camps and for all the people who died, and also a triumph for the people who survived through it.