Night Discussion Questions
Reading Questions for Adult Discussions
2. What literal and symbolic meanings does "night" have in the book?
3. Early in the book, after Moishe the Beadle escapes his execution, no one, not even Eliezer, believes his tales (p. 7). Even when the Germans arrive in Sighet and move all the Jews into ghettos, the Jewish townspeople seem to ignore or suppress their fears. "Most people thought that we would remain in the ghetto until the end of the war, until the arrival of the Red Army. Afterward everything would be as before" (p. 12). What might be the reasons for the townspeople's widespread denial of the evidence facing them?
4. Think of the kapos and the little blonde pipel who is hanged on page 64. Who are the bystanders? Who are the perpetrators? Who are the victims in Night? Do these roles sometimes overlap?
5. At the end of Night, Wiesel writes: "From the depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me. The look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me" (p. 115). What parts of Eliezer died during his captivity? What was born in their place?
6. What scenes from Night do you remember most vividly? Have they made you look at the world or your family differently?
7. In his 1986 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Wiesel says: "[O]ne person of integrity can make a difference, a difference of life and death. As long as one dissident is in prison, our freedom will not be true. As long as one child is hungry, our life will be filled with anguish and shame. What all these victims need above all is to know that they are not alone; that we are not forgetting them, that when their voices are stifled we shall lend them ours, that while their freedom depends on ours, the quality of our freedom depends on theirs" (p. 120). How has Elie Wiesel fulfilled this purpose with this book? How does this statement make you feel about your place in the world?
Reading Questions for Families
Reading Questions for Students
See Oprah's one-on-one with Elie Wiesel.
Developed in collaboration with Hill and Wang, the publisher of Night.
1. In the first few pages of the book, Eliezer describes his family: He goes to school, he has three sisters, and his parents run a shop. How is his life similar to yours? How is it different?
2. While Nazi terror is only a rumor or distant threat, Eliezer's father chooses to remain in Sighet. Once they are forced into the ghetto, Eliezer's father tells his older children that they can go live with their former maid in her village, but that he will stay in the ghetto with their mother and little sister. Eliezer says, "Naturally, we refused to be separated" (p. 20). Can you sympathize with their choice? What would it feel like for a family to have to choose to leave their home or separate from each other? Are there places in the world where families are faced with this decision now?
3. As their world becomes increasingly cruel, what do the small moments of kindness, like an extra piece of bread or a shared prayer, mean to Eliezer and his father at Auschwitz?
4. When Eliezer sees his father being beaten with an iron bar, he keeps silent and thinks of "stealing away" so he won't have to watch what's happening (p. 54). 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?
5. Early in the book, Eliezer says his father "rarely displayed his feelings, not even within his family, and was more involved in the welfare of others than with that of his own kin" (p. 4). When they begin the march to the small ghetto, Eliezer sees his father cry for the first time (p. 19). In what ways does the Holocaust change their relationship?
6. Did reading Night make you look at the world and your family differently? How is the Holocaust similar to other atrocities you've studied in your history or social studies classes at school? How does this book make you feel about the world today?
7. Who did you identify most with in Night? Who do you most admire?
Meet the author, and read Oprah's interview with Elie Wiesel.
1. In the first few pages of the book, Eliezer describes his family: He goes to school, he has three sisters, and his parents run a shop. How is his life similar to yours? How is it different?
2. While Nazi terror is only a rumor or distant threat, Eliezer's father chooses to remain in Sighet. Once they are forced into the ghetto, Eliezer's father tells his older children that they can go live with their former maid in her village, but that he will stay in the ghetto with their mother and little sister. Eliezer says, "Naturally, we refused to be separated" (p. 20). Can you sympathize with their choice? What would it feel like for a family to have to choose to leave their home or separate from each other? Are there places in the world where families are faced with this decision now?
3. As their world becomes increasingly cruel, what do the small moments of kindness, like an extra piece of bread or a shared prayer, mean to Eliezer and his father at Auschwitz?
4. When Eliezer sees his father being beaten with an iron bar, he keeps silent and thinks of "stealing away" so he won't have to watch what's happening (p. 54). 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?
5. Early in the book, Eliezer says his father "rarely displayed his feelings, not even within his family, and was more involved in the welfare of others than with that of his own kin" (p. 4). When they begin the march to the small ghetto, Eliezer sees his father cry for the first time (p. 19). In what ways does the Holocaust change their relationship?
6. Did reading Night make you look at the world and your family differently? How is the Holocaust similar to other atrocities you've studied in your history or social studies classes at school? How does this book make you feel about the world today?
7. Who did you identify most with in Night? Who do you most admire?
Meet the author, and read Oprah's interview with Elie Wiesel.
Developed in collaboration with Hill and Wang, the publisher of Night.
1. Talk about how the Nazis' program of persecution against the Jewish people in Sighet was carried out in gradual steps (p. 9). First, the German officers moved into private homes. They closed the synagogues. They arrested leaders of the Jewish community, forbade the Jews from owning any valuables under penalty of death, and forced them to wear the Star of David on their clothes. Jews no longer had the right to frequent restaurants, to travel by train, to attend synagogue, or to be on the streets after 6 o'clock in the evening. Then, they were forced to leave their homes and move into designated ghettos. And from the ghettos, the Jews were deported to the concentration camps. How do you think the Jews felt as the persecution escalated? Why do you think they followed the Germans' rules? Should they have stood up? Would you have reacted differently?
2. On p. 23, Wiesel describes a scene familiar to anyone who has sat in the back of a movie theater: "Freed of normal constraints, some of the young let go of their inhibitions and, under cover of darkness, caressed one another, without any thought of others, alone in the world." How does the shadow of Nazi terror transform the ordinary moments Wiesel describes?
3. When Eliezer sees his father being beaten with an iron bar, he keeps silent and thinks of "stealing away" so he won't have to watch what's happening (p. 54). 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?
4. In his 1986 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Wiesel says: "[O]ne person of integrity can make a difference, a difference of life and death. As long as one dissident is in prison, our freedom will not be true. As long as one child is hungry, our life will be filled with anguish and shame. What all these victims need above all is to know that they are not alone; that we are not forgetting them, that when their voices are stifled we shall lend them ours, that while their freedom depends on ours, the quality of our freedom depends on theirs" (p. 120). Think of conflicts and wars you've studied in your history or social studies classes at school. How does this statement make you feel about your place in the world?
5. When Night begins, Eliezer is so moved by faith that he weeps when he prays—but he is only 12 years old. How does Eliezer's relationship with his faith and with God change as the book progresses? When the book ends, he is 16 years old. How would you describe him?
6. At which points did you identify with Eliezer? Who did you identify with most in Night?
The teacher's guide to Night
More from Your Guide to Night
1. Talk about how the Nazis' program of persecution against the Jewish people in Sighet was carried out in gradual steps (p. 9). First, the German officers moved into private homes. They closed the synagogues. They arrested leaders of the Jewish community, forbade the Jews from owning any valuables under penalty of death, and forced them to wear the Star of David on their clothes. Jews no longer had the right to frequent restaurants, to travel by train, to attend synagogue, or to be on the streets after 6 o'clock in the evening. Then, they were forced to leave their homes and move into designated ghettos. And from the ghettos, the Jews were deported to the concentration camps. How do you think the Jews felt as the persecution escalated? Why do you think they followed the Germans' rules? Should they have stood up? Would you have reacted differently?
2. On p. 23, Wiesel describes a scene familiar to anyone who has sat in the back of a movie theater: "Freed of normal constraints, some of the young let go of their inhibitions and, under cover of darkness, caressed one another, without any thought of others, alone in the world." How does the shadow of Nazi terror transform the ordinary moments Wiesel describes?
3. When Eliezer sees his father being beaten with an iron bar, he keeps silent and thinks of "stealing away" so he won't have to watch what's happening (p. 54). 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?
4. In his 1986 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Wiesel says: "[O]ne person of integrity can make a difference, a difference of life and death. As long as one dissident is in prison, our freedom will not be true. As long as one child is hungry, our life will be filled with anguish and shame. What all these victims need above all is to know that they are not alone; that we are not forgetting them, that when their voices are stifled we shall lend them ours, that while their freedom depends on ours, the quality of our freedom depends on theirs" (p. 120). Think of conflicts and wars you've studied in your history or social studies classes at school. How does this statement make you feel about your place in the world?
5. When Night begins, Eliezer is so moved by faith that he weeps when he prays—but he is only 12 years old. How does Eliezer's relationship with his faith and with God change as the book progresses? When the book ends, he is 16 years old. How would you describe him?
6. At which points did you identify with Eliezer? Who did you identify with most in Night?
The teacher's guide to Night
More from Your Guide to Night