Theme Work
Following are several different quotes from Night. The quotes can be connected to various themes in the novel. Group the quotes together according to a common theme and then explain what theme they reflect.
Quotes:
Quote A - “The darkness enveloped us. All I could hear was the violin, and it was as if Juliek’s soul had become his bow. He was playing his life. His whole being was gliding over the strings. His unfulfilled hopes. His charred past, his extinguished future. He played that which he would never play again” (95).
Quote B - “The only thing that keeps me alive,” he kept saying, “is to know that Reizel and the little ones are still alive. Were it not for them I would give up” (45).
Quote C – “Our nerves had reached a breaking point. Our very skin was aching. It was as though madness had infected all of us. We gave up. A few young men forced her to sit down, then bound, and gagged her” (26).
Quote D – “For the first time, I felt anger rising within me. Why should I sanctify His name? The Almighty, the eternal and terrible Master of the Universe, chose to be silent. What was there to thank Him for?” (p. 33)
Quote E – “Two boys came to join our group: Yossi and Tibi, two brothers from Czechoslovakia whose parents had been exterminated in Birkenau. They lived for each other, body and soul” (50).
Quote F – “He collapsed. But his fist was still clutching a small crust. He wanted to raise it to his mouth. But the other threw himself on him. The old man mumbled something, groaned, and died. Nobody cared. His son searched him, took the crust of bread, and began to devour it” (p. 101).
Quote G – “I stood petrified. What had happened to me? My father had just been struck, in front of me, and I had not even blinked. I had watched and kept silent. Only yesterday, I would have dug my nails into this criminal’s flesh. Had I changed that much?” (p. 39)
Quote H–“My hand tightened its grip on my father. All I could think of was not to lose him. Not to remain alone” (30)
Quote I – “I was putting one foot in front of the other, like a machine. I was dragging this emaciated body that was still such a weight” (85).
Quote J – “Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever” (p. 34).
Grouping of Quotes / Theme they reflect