Wiesel’s childhood home was Sighet, Transylvania.
2) Wiesel opens Night by relating his youthful desire to study the cabala. What is the cabala?The cabala is a book comprised of the prophetic and hagiographic books of the Bible. Not writings of God, but received from the Holy Spirit.
3) Wiesel says that when he was young, he wanted to study the cabala in order to know the truths of this world. What kinds of truths is he referring to? After you complete Night, return to this question: what kinds of truth was the young Elie ignorant of?
The young Wiesel wanted to know the truth of God, how a man can come closer to God, how God answers to men, and to find himself by searching for God. However, he was ignorant about the true evil of man, what can be done under God, and how God allows such grusome things to occur to the people he has created.
4) Why is Moshe the Beadle a significant character? What does he tell Elie about answers, questions, and the truth? After you complete Night, return to this question: why was Moshe prescient in his admonition to Elie?
Mosche the Beadle is a significant character in the novel Night, as he becomes Eliezer’s master of the Kabbalah. He also manages to some how escape his death by the Nazis and goes back to Sighet to warn his fellow Jews about German plans. Moishe the Beadle tells Eliezer, “…every question possessed a power that was lost in the answer… Man comes closer to God through the questions he asks Him. Therein lies true dialogue. Man asks and God replies. But we don’t understand His replies. We cannot understand them. Because they dwell in the depths of our souls and remain there until we die.” (Wiesel 5).
5) Why do the people of Sighet ignore Moshe after he returns from his escape? Why don't they listen to him?
The people of Sighet don’t listen to Moishe the Beatle after he escapes from the Nazis, because they believe him to be crazy. They could not believe that a race would try to make another race become extinct. People believed that he told these stories to gain pity and or charity from them.
6) Who is Madame Schachter? In what ways is she similar to Moshe the Beadle? (Think about prophetic figures and how people often ignore them.)
Madame Schachter is a woman aboard the train to Auschwitz. She is also a mother of two children. Madame Schachter was seperated from her husband and her eldest son by mistake when the Hungarian poliece loaded the first train from Sighet. She is a bit of a prophet, as she predicts burning fire at there destination, warning her fellow compainions. Simillar to Moishe the Beatle, the people ignore her, however, in her case, the warnings become unbaribaly anoying, that some of the men beat her to shut her up.
7) Consider this passage on pg. 32:Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desires 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.
He shall never forget the night sky in the camp which destroyed every aspect of life that he loved. Everything he dreamed and lived for. He shall never forget when he lost his faith in God, killing his soul, murdering every and any chance in which he could accomplish his dream and become a master of the Kabbalah.
8) What is the context of this passage? How has the young Elie's theology changed? As you continue reading, ask yourself how this passage speaks to the rest of Night.
The context of the passage explains how Elie’s soul was murdered by figuring based on inference that there was no God. He explains how what could have happened became could never happen. Elie’s theology has changed in extremes. He went from loving God and the world, to dispising the world and losing faith in God as he allowed such grusome violence to occur to the Jews.
9) How does Elie's understanding of God and God's presence—or absence— continue to change throughout Night? When is he most angry with God? When is not angry at all? Mark passages throughout Night that illustrate his changing attitudes toward God.
Elie’s belief in God continues to faid throughout the novel. Through all of his pain and suffering, God siezes to exist in his mind, he doesn’t think about him. He becomes furious with God when he states that God is rewarding his sinners and punishing those who do right by him. He is not angry at God when he leaves God out of his thoughts.
10) What literal and figurative (symbolic or metaphorical) meanings does night have in Night?
Night is the darkness occuring after the sun has set. It is the evil that comes out after all light is gone. It can symbolize death, hatred, and loss of hope.
11) Why do you think Night is such a slim book? Surely Wiesel could have included much more detail.
Wiesel could have included much more detail in his novel. But, to write the book, he had to relive in his mind the pain and suffering that he went through in the concentration camps. Not every detail could have been remembered, as the mind has ways of blocking grusome past memoriez so that they don’t haunt you.
12) Is Night a memoir of tragedy or triumph? Can it be both? If so, why? If not, why not?
Night is a memoir of tragedy as well as triumph. The tragedies occur in the concentration camps, however the triumph is living through those tragedies and being able to express your view to that tragedy.
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