Night
by Elie Wiesel
This is a short unit for a very short novel/memoir
which contains the following:
2 sets of discussion questions with paragraph responses.
1 short quiz with key
Critical response essay intended to be paired with the film
Life is Beautiful (1998).
Night Questions #1
pp. 1-26
(page numbers based on ISBN-10: 0553272535 or ISBN-13: 978-0553272536)
1. The forward is written by the translator Francois Mauriac. From reading his forward, what kind of sense do
you get of Mauriac’s willingness to tell someone else about his witnessing of the holocaust?
2. At the beginning of the book, what kind of image do you have of the narrator? What is he like? What are
his characteristics?
3. Why do people not believe Moshe the Beadle’s stories?
4. How was it possible, do you think, for the community of Sighet to be taken by surprise by the Germans?
5. Explain the strategy the Germans used to, in the end, get the Jews aboard the trains (i.e., how did they so
successfully accomplish this?)?
6. (ANSWER ON SEPARATE PAPER IN PARAGRAPH FORM) The greatest theme in Night is that of
loss. How is this theme seem in the first chapter of the book (pp. 1-20)? Use textual support for this answer as
well.
Night Discussion #2
pp. 21-43.
1. Describe the ―world‖ that the narrator finds himself in (i.e., in the train).
2. How do people react to Madame Shachter? Do you find this reaction logical? Explain.
3. Physically, describe the narrator’s first day and night in the camp.
4. Emotionally, describe the narrator’s first night and day in the camp.
5. ―Gypsies‖ were some of the people who were sent to the concentration camps at Auschwitz against their will. Why would they be
―helping‖ the Nazis?
6. Why does the narrator pay attention to the atmosphere, such as the sunshine, blue skies, spring-like weather? Why does that
matter?
7. Personally, what do you make of the religious conversations that occur on pg. 42?
8. (5 Points) On discussion #1 I asked you to describe loss in the first part of the novel. Answer the same question, in paragraph form
(minimum 75 words), for the pages indicated (21-43).
Night Discussion #3
I. It is difficult to adequately describe the horror found in this novel, especially as it descends into pure darkness for the
remainder of the memoir. For the remainder of the pages (44-to the end), explain how the main character and his father
are fully impacted by ―loss.‖ Additionally, focus on 2-3 scenes in the remainder of the novel that stand out to you as
especially striking—as you focus on these scenes explain why they stand out to you and why, in your view, Wiesel chose
to include them in this surprisingly short memoir. Answer below in paragraphs.
Night Check Quiz
1. At the beginning of the book, the narrator is especially interested in studying:
a. Hebrew linguistics b. Jewish mysticism c. politics (civics) d. Buddhist arts
2. He seeks knowledge of this from: a. his father b. the town magistrate, Hilda Goldman c. Moshe the Beadle d. Ezra
Malik
3. Two _________________________ were set up in the town of Sighet for the Jews to live in, a small one and a larger
one.
4. How were the Jews deported from Sighet? (via what kind of transportation?)
__________________________________
5. Shortly after arriving at Birkenau, the narrator believes that he is going to be: a. hanged b. shot c. drowned d.
burned
6. What do the dentists check for during examinations at the concentration camps in Night? a. cavities b. severe decay c.
gold
7. The narrator gives his father lessons on how to do what correctly?
8. During the air raid, the narrator witnessed a man: a. trying to escape b. trying to steal arms c. trying to steal soup d.
trying to kill an S.S. officer
9. True of False. The narrator fasts on Yom Kippur (The Day Atonement).
10. What is the one-word term for how the prisoners are chosen for death through examination?
11. The narrator goes to the infirmary because of: a. his foot b. the flu c. pneumonia d. his back e. his left arm
12. What does the narrator tell us he learned about what happened to those who stayed in the hospital after the
evacuation?
a. they were summarily killed b. they were moved to another concentration camp c. they were liberated by the Russians d.
they escaped because of a lack of German SS officers
13. When the prisoners arrive at the barracks in Gleiwitz, what does Juliek do amid the dying men?
14. Over what do fights break out on the train from Gleiwitz? a. clothing b. bread c. water d. shoes e. window view f.
prayer
15. The final concentration camp that the narrator ends up in is called: a. Auschwitz b. Buna c. Birkenau d. Gleiwitz e.
Buchenwald
Extra Credit: What, in exact words, is the inscription above the iron door to the entrance to Auschwitz? (English or German)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
B
11. A
C
12. C
Ghettos
13. plays the violin
Train (locomotive)
14. bread
Burned
15. Buchenwald
C
March
C
Extra Credit: Work is Liberty or
False
Work makes you free
selection
or Arbeit Macht Frei
Life is Beautiful/Night Criticism
In 500-700 words, respond to one of the following criticisms of the movie Life is Beautiful, directed by and
starring Roberto Benigni. Remember, a criticism can be positive or negative; it is simply an opinion analysis of
a work. In your response, be sure to make reference to Night, which means that your response should have
some support from the novel. Your response should be analytical, meaning that it is your reasoned opinion
backed up with real examples from both the film and the novel.
Choose one:
Life is Beautiful has come under attack in some circles for mocking the Holocaust. Nothing could be further from the truth. Benigni
(director and star actor) takes the subject matter very seriously, as is obvious from the subtle air of menace that hangs over the film's
second half. A movie does not have to be as grim and gut-wrenching as Schindler's List to get the point across. The central theme of
Life is Beautiful -- that people will do whatever is necessary to protect what is most dear to them -- is conveyed in a moving and
singularly effective manner. Although there is an element of joy in observing the absurdly complex fantasies that Guido develops for
Giosue's consumption, there's also a deep sense of melancholy every time we consider where the characters are and what their fate
may be. – James Berardinelli, Reelviews
I think the film is essentially quite weak. Benigni is no doubt sincere in his hostility toward fascism and anti-Semitism (his own father
suffered in a labor camp), but I didn't find the film affecting. And while it may not be offensive, it does tend to trivialize the
experience. The gap between the reality of concentration camp life and its portrayal in the film is alarmingly large. Giosué (the child),
for example, despite conditions of near starvation, remains happy and healthy. Also, the fate of the other prisoners in the camp,
including Guido's uncle and all the other children, who are eventually exterminated, seems to be of relatively little concern to the
filmmaker. Benigni has made Life is Beautiful in part precisely to be thought audacious and provocative. "A comedy about the
Holocaust, who would dare?!" Instead it remains too much like a stand-up comedy routine against the background of the Holocaust. –
David Walsh, World Socialist Web Site
The film finds the right notes to negotiate its delicate subject matter. And Benigni isn't really making comedy out of the Holocaust,
anyway. He is showing how Guido uses the only gift at his command to protect his son. If he had a gun, he would shoot at the
Fascists. If he had an army, he would destroy them. He is a clown, and comedy is his weapon. The movie actually softens the
Holocaust slightly, to make the humor possible at all. In the real death camps there would be no role for Guido. But ``Life Is
Beautiful'' is not about Nazis and Fascists, but about the human spirit. It is about rescuing whatever is good and hopeful from the
wreckage of dreams. About hope for the future. About the necessary human conviction, or delusion, that things will be better for our
children than they are right now. – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times.
Benigni's movie made me want to throw up. He has cast himself as a prankish Jew who wins the heart of a pretty maiden (Nicoletta
Braschi); fathers a cute, skinny boy; and gets carted off by the Nazis to a death camp. The conceit is that Benigni tries to keep the 5year-old from realizing what's going on by pretending that the whole thing is a game and that if the boy gets through it without crying
or complaining he wins a tank. Indeed, Benigni's routines are sometimes childishly liberating, conjuring up Fo, Harpo Marx, and
Danny Kaye in his double-talk mode. It half-works right up to the point where people start getting gassed, and then Benigni's moisteyed heroism and tenacious faith in his own irresistibility start to seem like a monstrous ego trip--a clown's megalomania. – David
Edelstein, Slate.com
A fable rather than a slice of historical realism, the film is presumably intended as a tribute to the powers of imagination, innocence,
and love in the most harrowing of circumstances. How appealing you find it will probably depend on your response to Benigni's
screen-hogging routines - the line between endearing and irksome is a fine one. And while comedy here does capture something of the
absurdity of the death camps, ultimately Benigni's sentimental fantasy diminishes the suffering of Holocaust victims, with the selfconsciously 'beautiful' shot of a mound of corpses the most glaring of several directorial misjudgements. – Tom Dawson, BBCi Films
Inside the camp, Benigni's character uses his extraordinary gift for slapstick humour and wry verbal dexterity to buoy his son's spirits,
turning survival into a game. In that sense, the film is a comedy, but Benigni is never mawkish or disrespectful. He treads delicately,
intelligently and elegantly. If such a man can be called elegant. At first sight, his rubber face, child's eyes and wall-socket explosion of
hair turn him into a lovable freak. Measuring his worth is a challenge. Yet, by the end of Life Is Beautiful, you see that Benigni is no
fool, he is a comic genius with a heart as big as the world. – Bruce Kirkland, Toronto Sun