pp. 27 - 43

When the Wiesel family enters Auschwitz, the family is separated almost immediately. We hear about the event from Elie's perspective. What do you think Elie's mother thought about as the family entered the camp and went through the selection process?

pp. 27 - 43

Analyze the cynicism of the expression "Arbeit macht frei" (work makes you free) above the gates to the entrance of Auschwitz. Is the expression truly ironic, or is there truth in the statement for those at Auschwitz?

pp. 47 - 63

The prisoners of the Holocaust weren't known to revolt against their captors. Even when prisoners became aware of their probable fate, they did not gather together to start a revolution or try to escape en masse. WHat do you believe was their reasoning?

pp. 47 - 63

Why do you think the Germans chose to hang a few prisoners in public at a time when they were murdering thousands each day?

pp. 47 - 63

Eliezer describes two hangings, but he tells the reader that he witnessed many others. Yet he chose to write only about two. Why are these two hangings so important to him? How do they differ from the others?

pp. 47 - 63

What does Eliezer mean when he refers to his father as "his weak point"? Why has he come to view love as a weakness?

pp. 47 - 63

When Eliezer sees his father being beaten with an iron bar, he keeps silent and thinks of "staling away" so he won't have to watch what's happening. Instead of directing his anger at the Kapo, he becomes mad at his father. What do you think is really going on inside of Eliezer? Who is he really mad at?

pp. 47 - 63

As the Jews were from their homes and taken to the concentration camps, they were put through the selection process. Some were sent to the left and some were sent to the right. Certain death would follow for the elderly, the very young and the infirm. Those who were deemed healthy enough to work would be given a place in the camps. Some people who study the Holocaust have said that it didn't matter which line the Jew was sent to, his fate was the same. Which line would you have wanted to be in and why?

pp. 63 - 84

How has the relationship between Eliezer and his father changed during their time at Auschwitz? What has each come to represent to the other?

pp. 63 - 84

Why did his father give him the spoon and the knife as his inheritance? What is the significance of such a gift in Auschwitz?

pp. 63 - 84

Some prisoners (kapos) worked with the guards, terrorizing their fellow inmates. Why would a prisoner end up in this role?

pp.63 - 84

Throughout the novel, we hear of people who are losing their connections with friends and relatives, even their fathers, because they are thinking only of themselves and their own survival. "No one paid any attention (to the men underfoot, trampled, crushed, dying)... Sons abandoned without a tear." How is it possible that these people could live with themselves and the hopelessness of this situation? How would you justify your actions if you had conducted yourself in this way? How would you have been able to absolve yourself of the guilt you would ultimately have felt?

pp. 85-115

If you were conducting an interview with Chlomo (Elie's father) in Auschwitz, what three questions would you like to ask? Craft your questions so Cholomo has the chance to tell the story of his own experiences in the Holocaust from his point of view.

pp. 85-115

What does Eliezer mean when he writes that he feels free after his father's death? Is he free of responsibility? Or is he free to go under to drift into death?

pp. 85-115

After the forced march, the prisoners are crammed into a barracks. That night, Juliek plays a fragment of a Beethoven concerto on the violin he has managed tokeep the entire time he was at Auschwitz. What do you think prompts Juliek to play that evening? What does the music mean to Eliezer? To the other prisoners who hear the sounds? To Juliek?

Reflection

Why do you think Elie Wiesel tells his story in the first person perspective? If Night was written in the third person, would it be more or less believable?

Reflection

In the next to last sentence in the book, Eliezer says that when he looks at a mirror after liberation, he sees a corpse gazing back at him. He ends the book by stating, "The look in his eyes,as they stared into mine, has never left me". What does that sentence mean?

Reflection

What scenes from Night do you remember most vividly? Have they made you look at the world or your family differently?