Name: ______

Night Questions—pages 13-31

  1. Describe the relationship between Eliezer and his father, using multiple pieces of textual evidence to support your claims.
  1. Where does the narrator go each evening?
  1. About what do Moche the Beadle and Eliezer talk?
  1. How does Moche the Beadle act as a leader for Eliezer?
  1. Why does Moche the Beadle leave the village?
  1. How does Moche the Beadle change?
  1. When the German soldiers first move into Eliezer’s area, what is everyone’s impression of them? Why? Prove your claim with textual evidence.
  1. What are the eight steps in “the race to death”?
  1. Prior to deportation, where were the Jews of Sighet living?
  1. Describe the ghetto. What was life like for the Jews?
  1. What terrible news does Eliezer’s father bring home?
  1. How does Eliezer’s family miss out on an opportunity to flee?
  1. What is fasting? Why might the Jews be fasting on the day of their deportation?
  1. Eliezer says about the Hungarian police: “It was from that moment on that I began to hate them, and my hate is still the only link between us today.” Why is hate the only link?
  1. Describe the night Eliezer has before his expulsion.
  2. Try to find as many instances of the word “night” as you can in pages 13-31. Choose three of them. What is significant about each instance? Be sure to include the quotation and page number.
  1. In your opinion, why might the Jews of Sighet refuse to believe the stories of the horrors committed by the Nazis—even when told by one who witness them?
  1. The narrator mentions the Exile of Providence and the destruction of the Temple at the beginning of this account. These allude to (refer to) the expulsion of the Jews from their homeland of Judah in the sixth century B.C. Explain how this allusion foreshadows events to come.
  1. A motif is a word, character, object, image, metaphor, or idea that recurs throughout a literary work. Wiesel uses eyes as a motif in order to characterize those around him. Compare and contrast the description of Moche the Beadle before and after his deportation. Explain how the description of his eyes reveals his personality.
  1. “’The yellow star? Oh well, what of it? You don’t die of it…’

(Poor Father! Of what then did you die?)”

Ironic statements can illustrate the difference between appearance and reality. Explain how this passage from the text is sadly ironic.

  1. Describe the irony of the following statement: “The Germans were already in the town, the Fascists were already in power, the verdict had already been pronounced, yet the Jews of Sighet continued to smile.”
  1. Wiesel decided to wait a decade before attempting to express his experience in words. Tell why you think this was, or was not, a good decision. What may have been gained or lost during that silent decade?