Name _____________________________
Study Guide for Elie Wiesel’s Night
Pages 3-22 of Night
Vocabulary
1. deportees (6)
5. anecdotes (12)
DUE 3/7/15
2. exterminate (8)
6. rescinded (15)
3. prominent (11)
7. oppressors (19)
4. decree (11)
8. morale (20)
Questions
1. What is the setting of this section? Describe the conditions there.
2. Why do you think Wiesel and other members of his community soon forgot about the foreigners who
were expelled, as well as the first people to be expelled from the ghetto?
3. What does Moishe the Beadle tell the people in Wiesel’s community?
 Can you think of any reasons why they do not believe him?
 What are some reasons that Wiesel and other Jews doubted that the Nazis wanted to exterminate
them?
4. According to Wiesel, what are the Jews’ first impressions of the Germans? Are you surprised by his
description? Why or why not?
5. Who does Wiesel first begin to hate in this section and why?
Pages 23-46 of Night
Vocabulary
1. constraints (23)
5. indifferently (29)
9. fatigue (36)
DUE 3/18/15
2. anguish (25)
6. revolt (31)
10. remorse (39)
3. wretched (28)
7. eternity (32)
11. eluded (41)
4. stench (28)
8. vigor (35)
Questions
1. Who is Mrs. Schachter?
 What was your reaction to the scene Wiesel describes involving her?
 What literary device is demonstrated in this scene?
2. Wiesel writes, “The beloved objects that we had carried with us from place to place were now left behind
in the wagon, and, with them, finally, our illusions” (29). Why is this moment a turning point in the novel?
What has changed and what are the reasons for that change?
3. Why do you think a prisoner tells Wiesel to say that he is 18 (not 15) and his father to say that he is 40
(not 50)?
4. In both this section and the previous section, the Jews are compared to dogs. In the previous section,
Wiesel makes the comparison (17); in this section, a German officer makes the comparison (24).
 Can you think of reasons why both parties might make the comparison?
 Is it only the Jews who are dehumanized, or do you think the Nazis are dehumanized as well?
Why do you think that?
5. Wiesel identifies a specific moment when he says “we had ceased to be men.” When is it? What
aspects of that moment cause him to feel that way?
Pages 47-84 of Night DUE 3/25/15
Vocabulary
1. conscientious (48)
2. famished (52)
5. credible (60)
6. reprieve (70)
3. defiance (53)
7. emaciated (73)
4. reminiscing (54)
8. liberation (80)
Questions
1. In addition to the various forms of abuse that Wiesel has described in Night, what other form of abuse is
first mentioned in this section? What was your reaction to it?
2. Wiesel writes, “…he knew my weak spot” (55).
 Who knew it?
 What is it?
 What would you consider to be yours?
3. Who bombs Buna? How does Wiesel feel right before and after the raid?
4. Compare and contrast the two hangings described on pages 61-65. Consider the actions of the
condemned prisoners, as well as the reactions of the prisoners who observe the hangings.
5. How does Wiesel characterize the “veterans” of Buna in this section?
6. What does Wiesel do in order to avoid having his number written down in the selection?
7. When Wiesel’s father fears that he will not pass the selection process, what does he give to his son?
 How does this situation differ from what you usually think of when you hear the word
“inheritance?” (75)
 If his father had not gotten through the selection, do you think Wiesel’s inheritance would have
been more or less meaningful than what you typically associate with the word? Why?
8. Wiesel writes, “It was like an injection of morphine” (80).
 What is he referring to?
 Why is that description appropriate?
 What is morphine?
 What does it do?
9. Wiesel writes, “The choice was in our hands” (82).
 What choice is he referring to?
 In your opinion, did he make the right one? Why or why not?
10. Why are the prisoners forced to clean the block right before they leave on the death march?
Pages 85-115 of Night DUE 4/1/15
Vocabulary
1. deprive (85)
2. excruciating (86)
5. vulnerable (105)
6. riveted (109)
3. prevailed (94)
7. idleness (113)
4. ensued (101)
8. unprecedented (113)
Questions
1. Describe the journey from Buna to Buchenwald.
 What are the conditions like?
 How do the SS officers treat the prisoners?
 How do the German bystanders treat the prisoners?
 How do the prisoners treat each other?
2. Who is Rabbi Eliahou?
 What does his son do?
 How does this father-son relationship impact Wiesel in this section?
3. Who is Juliek?
 How did he impact Wiesel?
 Wiesel writes, “He [Juliek] was playing his life” (95). What do you think Juliek’s song sounded
like?
4. In this section, there are moments when Wiesel and his father escape situations that would have
resulted in death. What are they?
5. How does Wiesel’s relationship with his father change throughout this section? What passages highlight
that change?
6. Describe Wiesel’s last interaction with his father and your emotional response to it.
7. How does this connect novel to one of our 4 themes (Through the Eyes of Youth, Personal Identity
Through History, Knowledge Comes at a Price, and Ordinary People as Heroes)? Be specific with
examples from the text.