4. Night is a short piece of fiction born of the author's
eight hundred-page memoir of his time in the Nazi
death camps.
The story is told from the first person point of view.
Not only does the narration not enter other
characters’ minds, there is little effort to explain what
is going on in the narrator’s mind.
The reader's conclusions are meant to be independent
and based on events and behavior; however, readers
are clearly led toward a loathing of the camps.
5. Night is full of scriptural allusions, or
hints of reference to biblical passages.
One example of allusion is the execution
of the three prisoners, one of whom is
an innocent child, a pipel.This scene
recalls the moment in the Christian
Gospel when Christ is crucified in the
company of two thieves.
6. The traditional German bildungsroman is the story of
a young, naive man entering the world to seek
adventure. He finds his adventure that provides him
with an important lesson.The resolution finds him
mature and ready for a productive life.
Wiesel's novella turns this tradition upside down. He
presents an educated, young man forced into a man-
made hell.There he learns more than he asks for.The
result is not that he will think about being a productive
worker, but about healing humanity.
9. Death
"Someone began to recite the Khaddish, the prayer for the dead. I do not know
if it has ever happened before, in the long history of the Jews, that people have
ever recited the prayer for the dead for themselves."
God and Religion
Hasidism teaches belief in a personal relationship with God.One ofWiesel's
favorite prayers may serve as a summary: "Master of the Universe, know that
the children of Israel are suffering too much; they deserve redemption, they
need it. But if, for reasons unknown to me,You are not willing, not yet, then
redeem all the other nations, but do it soon!”
Sanity and Insanity
There are many examples of madness exhibited during the novel.Two in
particular stand out as representing the greater insanity of the Holocaust.The
first is the hysterical Madame Schachter and the second is Idek's enthusiasm
for work—being more than a simply mockery of the motto "Work is liberty!"
10. External tensions:
Between Jews and
their Nazi
oppressors
Between Jews and
the harsh winter
climate
Among Jews about
how to respond to
brutality and terror
Internal tensions:
In the narrator’s mind
about his response to
the dehumanization at
the hands of the Nazis
His loss of religious
faith
How he should behave
toward his father.
11.
12. In two ofWiesel's later novels, TheTestament and The
Fifth Son, the author explores the effects of the
Holocaust on the next generation of Jews. Critics,
notably Globe and Mail contributor Bronwyn Drainie,
have questioned the validity of the author's belief that
children of Holocaust survivors would be "as morally
galvanized by the Nazi nightmare as the survivors
themselves." Richard F. Shepard asserted in the New
YorkTimes that even if the feelings of these children
cannot be generalized, "the author does make all of us
'children' of that generation, all of us who were not
there, in the sense that he outlines for us the burdens
of guilt, of revenge, of despair."
13. Wiesel writes, "Never shall I forget that night, the first night in
camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times
cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke.
Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I
saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky.
Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith
forever. Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived
me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those
moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my
dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am
condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never."
14.
15. “YOM KIPPUR.The Day of Atonement. Should we fast?The question was
hotly debated.To fast could mean a more certain, more rapid death. In
this place, we were always fasting. It wasYom Kippur year-round. But
there were those who said we should fast, precisely because it was
dangerous to do so.We needed to show God that even here, locked in hell,
we were capable of singing His praises.
I did not fast. First of all, to please my father who had forbidden me to do
so. And then, there was no longer any reason for me to fast. I no longer
accepted God’s silence. As I swallowed my ration of soup, I turned that act
into a symbol of rebellion, of protest against Him” (Wiesel 69).
Why did Elie choose not to fast onYom Kippur?
16. “In days gone by, Rosh Hashanah had dominated my life. I knew that my
sins grieved the Almighty and so I pleaded for forgiveness. In those days, I
fully believed that the salvation of the world depended on every one of my
deeds, on every one of my prayers.
But now, I no longer pleaded for anything. I was no longer able to lament.
On the contrary, I felt very strong. I was the accuser, God the accused. My
eyes had opened and I was alone, terribly alone in a world without God,
without man.Without love or mercy. I was nothing but ashes now, but I
felt myself to be stronger than this Almighty to whom my life had been
bound for so long. In the midst of these men assembled for prayer, I felt
like an observer, a stranger.”
What [happened] psychologically to Elie as he loses faith in his religion?
17. “My faceless neighbor spoke up:
“Don’t be deluded. Hitler has made it clear that he will annihilate all
Jews before the clock strikes twelve.”
I exploded: “What do you care what he said? Would you want us to
consider him a prophet?
His cold eyes stared at me. At last he said, wearily: “I have more faith in
Hitler than in anyone else. He alone has kept his promises, all his
promises, to the Jewish people.” (80-81)
How has Elie’s “faceless neighbor” been traumatized?
18. “No Rabbi Eliahou, I haven’t seen him.”
“…”
At terrible thought loomed up in my mind: he had wanted to get rid of his father! He
had felt that his father was growing weak, he had believed that the end was near
and had sought this separation in order to get rid of the burden, to free himself from
an encumbrance which could lessen his own chances of survival.
I had done well to forget that.And I was glad that Rabbi Eliahou should continue to
look for his beloved son.
“…”
My God, Lord of the Universe, give me strength never to do what Rabbi Eliahou’s
son has done. ( 87)
Psychoanalytic/trauma lens
Q:What is the ID and how is this passage a traumatizing event for Eliezer?
19. Yet at the same time a thought crept into my mind: if only I didn’t
find him! If only I were relieved of this responsibility, I could use
all my strength to fight for my own survival, to take care of
myself…instantly I felt ashamed, ashamed of myself forever.
I listened to him without interrupting. He was right, I thought
deep down, not daring to admit it to myself.Too late to save your
old father… you could have two rations of bread, two rations of
soup…
It was only a fraction of a second, but it left me feeling guilty. I
rant to get some soup and brought it to my father. But he did not
want it. all he wanted water.
What are the ID, ego, and superego in the story?
20. “Meir, my little Meir! Don’t you recognize me …You’re killing your father…
I have bread…for you too … for you too… ”
He collapsed. But his fist was still clutching a small crust. He wanted to
raise it to his mouth. But the other threw himself on him.The old man
mumbled something, groaned, and died. Nobody cared. His son searched
him, took the crust of bread, and began to devour it. He didn’t get far.Two
men had been watching him.They jumped him. Others joined in.When
they withdrew, there were two dead bodies next to me, the father and the
son.
I was sixteen.
How were the Jews changed by the traumatic experience in the story?
21. “He told us that he had been deported in 1942. He said, “I heard people say
that a transport had arrived from your region and I came to look for you. I
thought you might have some news of Reizel and my two small boys who
stayed in Antwerp…”43
I knew nothing about them…Since 1940, my mother had not received a single
letter from them. But I lied: “Yes, my mother did hear from them. Reizel is
fine. So are the
children…”
He was weeping with joy. He would have liked to stay longer, to learn more
details, to soak up the good news, but an SS was heading in our direction and
he had to go, telling us that he would come back the next day.”
Why didWiesel lie to his distant relative Stein about his wife and son?
22. “But then perhaps my faceless neighbor, afraid of being
among the first displaced, simply wanted to get rid of me, to
free my bed, to give himself a chance to survive … perhaps he
only wanted to frighten me. But then again, what if he was
telling the truth? I decided to wait and see.”
Why did Eliezer decide not to listen to the Hungarian Jew’s
advice?
23. “I was thinking of this when I heard the sound of the violin.The sound of
the violin, in this dark shed, where the dead were heaped on the living.
What madman could be playing the violin here, at the brink of his own
grave? Or was it really a hallucination.
It must have been Juliek.
He played a fragment from Beethoven’s concerto. I had never heard
sounds so pure. In such silence.
It was pitch dark. I could hear only the violin, and it was as though Juliek’s
soul were the bow. He was playing his life.The whole of his life was gliding
on the strings—his lost hopes, his charred past, his extinguished future. He
played as he would never play again.”
QHQ:
Why does Juliek play his violin with his last bit of life to a dying audience?
24. I shall never forget Juliek. How could I forget this concert given before
an audience of the dead and dying? Even today, when I hear that
particular piece by Beethoven, my eyes close and out of the darkness
emerges the pale and melancholy face of my Polish comrade bidding
farewell to an audience of dying men.
I don’t know how long he played. I was overcome by sleep. When I
awoke at daybreak, I saw Juliek facing me, hunched over, dead. Next to
him lay his violin, trampled, an eerily poignant little corpse.”(95).
How does Juliek leave an everlasting impression on Eliezer?
25. Mrs. Schächter had lost her mind. On the first day of the journey, she had already begun
to moan. She kept asking why she had been separated from her family. Later, her sobs
and screams became hysterical. On the third night, as we were sleeping, some of us
sitting, huddled against each other, some of us standing, a piercing cry broke the
silence: “Fire! I see a fire! I see a fire!”…
…”She is mad, poor w o m a n …”
Someone had placed a damp rag on her forehead. But she nevertheless continued to
scream: “Fire! I see a fire!” Her little boy was crying, clinging to her skirt, trying to
hold her hand: “It’s nothing, Mother! There’s nothing there…Please sit down…
She continued to scream and sob fitfully. “Jews, listen to me,” she cried. “I see a fire! I
see flames, huge flames!”
But it was all in vain. Our terror could no longer be contained. Our nerves had reached
a breaking point. Our very skin was aching. It was as though madness had infected all
of us. We gave up. “Keep her quiet! Make that madwoman shut up. She’s not the only
one here… ”
The night seemed endless. By daybreak, Mrs. Schächter had settled down. Crouching in
her corner, her blank gaze fixed on some faraway place, she no longer saw us.
Q. How is “sanctuary” effected in this passage for the prisoners, especially Mrs.
Schachter?
26. Eliezer’s first attraction to death comes on the first day at Auschwitz: “[…] then I
don’t want to wait. I’ll run into the electrified barbed wire.That would be
easier than a slow death in the flames” (33)
Eliezer’s next death fascination comes during the “death march.” He says, “the
idea of dying, of ceasing to be, [begin] to fascinate me” because he no longer
has to go on living his current painful life. However, his father’s presence
keeps him from falling apart: “I [have] no right to let myself die.What would
he do without me? I [am] his sole support” (86-87).
“All around me, what [appears] to be a dance of death. […] One [dies] because
one [has] to” (89).
Nevertheless, Eliezer overcomes death drive and even urges his father not to fall
asleep (90). In fact, the role reverses as his father grows weak. Eliezer practically
revives his father when he is about to be rid from the train as a corpse (99).When
his father sits down in the snow begging his son to let his life drain out of him as it
may, Eliezer becomes furious, pointing to the corpses: “They’re dead!They will
never wake up! Never! Do you understand?” (105). Here again, Eliezer’s
perception of death is unsettled by the need to live his life for both of them.
27. Would anybody who has gone through such a
traumatic experience be able to readjust back into
normal society?
Which internal resource was being relied upon for
the survivors (mainly the narrator), so as to avoid
the results of trauma?
Why was survival so important when they lost
everything they had and even people they loved?
28. TheWriting Assignment
In a thesis driven essay of 4-7 pages, analyze one or more
aspects of Stephen King’s Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank
Redemption, Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, Elie Wiesel’s
Night, or Emma Donoghue’s Room. Consider using one
extrinsic theoretical lens (Feminist, Psychoanalytic, or Trauma
theories), that we have practiced this quarter to complicate
your argument. Aim to convince readers that your
interpretation adds to the conversation among those who read
stories and write about them. Back up your analysis with
reasons and support from the story. Use the critical strategies
that we have practiced this quarter.
See the complete assignment on our website
29. Read Room: Chapter 1 “Presents”
Post #22: QHQ Room
The librarian will visit our class to do a
presentation on using the library to look
for resources pertinent to Essay #3.
Please make an effort to attend as the
librarian does a significant amount of
work to prepare.
Please bring a laptop or other device if
you have one available. The librarian will
have a few to loan to students for the
class period.
