class 27

1. GRAVITY

2.  NewTeams
 Themes
 Literary Style
 Tensions
 Theoretical Approaches
 Essay #3 and Research

3.  Get into NEW
groups of
three or four.
(1-2 minutes)
 If you can’t
find a group,
please raise
your hand.
 Introduce
yourselves,
and write your
names down
on your point
sheet.

5.  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.

6.  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.

7.  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.

8. Themes
Tensions
Theoretical
Approaches

10.  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!"

11. 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.
Q: What is the significance of the tension between
Man and God in Night?

13.  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."

14.  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."

16. On page 106, Elie writes: “When I woke up, it was daylight.That is when I
remembered that I had a father. During the alert, I had followed the mov, not taking
care of him” (Wiesel 106).
Though it seemed […] that the first thing he thought of when he awoke was his father,
apparently he had already wandered away. Some part of him inside cracked, and
pushed past a certain psychological point in his mind, went into a state where only
survival mattered.This type of psychological abuse existed throughout the Nazi party,
as well– how can a group of people be influenced to commit such atrocities? How?
Wiesel recounts a multitude of terrifying events he witnessed, and was a part of. His
father is beaten by his fellow people:
“They laughed.Then they got angry; they could not stand my father any longer, they
said, because he no longer was able to drag himself outside to relieve himself”
(Wiesel, 109).
Q: How can trauma theory or psychoanalytic theory explain the dynamics of a
prison (or institution), guard and prisoner relationships, and by extension some
causes for events like the Holocaust?

17. “ […] I can’t go on, my son…Give me some water…” […]Water was the worst poison
for him, but what else could I do for him?With or without water, it would be over soon
anyway… “You, at least, have pity on m e … ” Have pity on him! I, his only son … A
WEEKWENT BY like that. “Is this your father?” asked the Blockälteste. “Yes.” “He is
very sick.” […] He looked me straight in the eye: “The doctor cannot do anything
more for him. And neither can you.” […] “Listen to me, kid. Don’t forget that you are
in a concentration camp. In this place, it is every man for himself, and you cannot
think of others. Not even your father. In this place, there is no such thing as father,
brother, friend. Each of us lives and dies alone. Let me give you good advice: stop
giving your ration of bread and soup to your old father. […]You are hurting yourself. In
fact, you should be getting his rations […] 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…” (110-111)
Answer: I see evidence of “Victim toVictimizer”, “Issues of Meaning and
Spirituality” trying to create a “Safe Haven” and the “fight or flight response”.

18. The Blockälteste tells Eliezer that “in this place, it is every man for himself, and you
cannot think of others. Not even your father. In this place, there is no such thing as
father, brother, friend. Each of us lives and dies alone. Let me give you good advice:
stop giving your ration of bread and soup to your old father.You cannot help him
anymore” (110).The Blockälteste’s words illustrate the dissociative mentality of the
people in this traumatizing place and the contrast from Eliezer’s mentality thus far
suggesting that Eliezer’s relationship with his father is hindering Eliezer’s survival.
Bloom states that “we are able to cut off all our emotions but that usually happens
only in extreme cases of repetitive and almost unendurable trauma. More commonly
we cut‐off or diminish specific emotional responses, based on the danger the emotion
may present to continued functioning.” (8)Therefore Eliezer’s lack of emotional
response at his father’s death, illustrates his change from diminishing his emotional
responses to cutting them off completely:” ”I did not weep, and it pained me that I
could not weep. But I was out of tears. And deep inside me, if I could have searched
the recesses of my feeble conscience, I might have found something like: Free at
last!” (112)

19. Taking a look at the section from whenWiesel and his father first
reachAuschwitz until they are marched on to the camp Buna, we
get insight into Wiesel’s first experiences in the camps.The
primary sentiment amongst older prisoners as they were rounded
up, placed on the train, and were permanently sorted is denial.
This brings up a scary divide between maintaining hope and
denying the circumstances.The moment that the situation is
acknowledged makes the situation real and the denial provides
temporary protection.When the men finally reach the inside of
the camp and are placed under the power of abusive superiors,
the effects of trauma on the “veteran” prisoners are clear.
Stronger inmates, leaders of camps, and barrack leaders displace
their anger and frustration at the S. S. onto the newer inmates.

20. H: Cathy Caruth explains Freud’s theory of trauma in her “PartingWords:Trauma,
Silence, and Survival”: “Consciousness first arose, Freud speculates, as an attempt to
protect the life of the organism from the imposing stimuli of a hostile world, by
bringing to its attention the nature and direction of external stimuli” (Caruth 9).Thus,
[…] the primary role of consciousness is to prioritize the life of the individual. Freud
goes on to add that “the breach in the mind – the psyche’s awareness of the threat to
life – is not caused by a direct threat or injury, but by fright, the lack of preparedness
to take in a stimulus that comes too quickly. It is not the direct perception of danger,
that is, that constitutes the threat for the psyche, but the fact that the danger is
recognized as such one moment too late” (Caruth 10).The lack of preparedness for a
traumatic event such as the Holocaust directly influences EliezerWiesel’s changing
identity; his struggle to instinctively assert his own survival over his father’s wellbeing
undoubtedly develops a sense of apathy and dissociation from his past as it is now an
obstacle for his survival.

21. “Our first act as free men was to throw ourselves onto the provisions.That’s all we
thought about. No thought of revenge, or of our parents. Only of bread. And even
when we were no longer hungry, not one of us thought of revenge […] “three days
after the liberation of Buchenwald, I became very ill: some form of poisoning” ( 115).
H:The newly freed Jews are still clearly “thinking under stress” because their
decisions are primarily focused on “impulse and are based on an experienced need to
self protect” (Bloom 5).The Jews are focused solely on eating because they have
experienced trauma and are now thinking of ways to “self protect” rather than
focusing on people other than themselves or of revenge.The need to protect
themselves is greater than that of revenge, which is why they primarily focus on
eating.The Jews also appear to be experiencing “dissociation” because they “cut-off
or diminish specific emotional responses, based on the danger the emotion may
present to continued functioning” (7).They do not think of their parents, or even of
their past situation in general, because their minds are unwilling to allow themselves
to conjure up an emotional response that will hinder their “continued functioning” by
losing the ability to focus on eating bread.

22. 1. Q:Why is the term “night” significant to Elie’s life during the
war?
2. Q: Are there any examples of irony inserted in the novel?
3. Q: In Night, we see different types of Jews besides the
prisoners. How are they different and why are they able to be
different?Are they passing? If so, can it be justified?
4. Q:Why does the SS Soldier introduce and speak about
Auschwitz as if it could be a memory and something the jewish
people could escape?What does he mean and have in store for
the jews and why does he scare them before hand of having to
attend the camp and suffer due to its terror?

23. 1. Q:What makes Elie question God so much and how does he
come to terms with it?
2. Q: How [does his] relationship with God affect Elie?
3. Q: But, what if an elevated interpretation of faith was that
God becomes who we need Him to be? If we need
celebration, He will be the chief guest. If we need a martyr,
then that’s what He is. What if faith is simply our way to find
some universal outlet to deal with the dissociation that
trauma induces?

25.  The Writing 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

26.  At least three secondary sources are required to
support your argument in essay #3; therefore,
we will meet at the library for our next class.The
librarian has prepared a presentation on using
the library to look for resources pertinent to
Essay #3.You will also have time to look for
sources specific to your essay. Please make an
effort to attend as the librarian does a significant
amount of work to prepare. There will be 25
participation points attached to the library
workshop.

27.  Read Room: Chapter 1
“Presents”
 Post #23: QHQ Room
 Meet in the library lobby
five minutes before our
class normally begins.