History Is a Nightmare, from Which I Am Trying to Awake

NIGHT

Elie Wiesel

History is a nightmare, from which I am trying to awake.

James Joyce

Words Students May Not Know:

delusion altruistic fasting

resolve quarantine oppress/oppression

revelation veritable conflagration

deport sabotage evacuate

deportees infirmary farce

exterminate imprudent flit

annihilate untenable hermetically

disperse dissipated muster

diplomacy camaraderie elude

emigration economize lulled

liquidate anecdotes remorse

abstract treatise ascertain

pittance antechamber convalescent

optimism roused graven

billeted relics illusions

jubilant phylacteries tumult

sublime indiscriminate(ly) imperative

edict surreptitious(ly) interrogate

prominent convoy invectives

apparatus surreal notorious

monocle lucidity colossus

harangued audible cauldron

officiating benediction lament

emaciated inflection deluded

infirmary apathy poignant

disheveled spectacle unprecedented

dysentery prostrate riveted

Allusions:

Spanish Inquisition: A time of torture and religious persecution during the late 15th Century

Captivity in Babylon: A time in ancient Jewish history when the ancient kingdom of Babylon defeated the Israelites and took them “captive.”

“long night seven times sealed” [p 34:] Ancient documents were in the form of scrolls and were often “sealed” with several wax seals. This also alludes to the “scroll” John saw in a vision as recorded in the book of Revelation. This scroll has seven seals. When each seal is opened, an awful, global event takes place.

“crime written all over his forehead” [p 38]: This alludes to ancient Jewish and New Testament scripture that infers if something is written on one’s forehead, it is a declaration of what one believes or who he or she is. Ancients are instructed to write the law on their foreheads; and in the Book of Revelation, Christians will be sealed “on their foreheads” and the Anti-Christ will place his mark on foreheads.

Allusions Continued:

“I concurred with Job” [p 45]: Job is a character in the narrative of the Book of Job in the Hebrew scripture. He suffered greatly from a variety of hazards. He had dialogues with God about his suffering.

“The last judgment”: A judgment day that Jews and Christians alike believe will take place, when God will judge all of humanity.

“Death Knell”: This alludes to a time when villages would ring a bell when someone in the village died. John Donne’s famous quote, “Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee,” also alludes to the “Death Knell.” Donne is indicating that all of humanity is connected and when one dies, we should all feel his death.

Glossary of Terms:

Aryan: (in Nazi doctrine) a non-Jewish caucasian, especially of Nordic stock.

Talmud: the collection of Jewish law and tradition

Kabbalah: an ancient Jewish mystical tradition based on an esoteric interpretation of the Old Testament

Synagogue: a Jewish house of worship, often having facilities for religious instruction.

Zohar: a medieval mystical work, consisting chiefly of interpretations of and commentaries on the Pentateuch (first five books of the Old Testament.

Rosh Hashanah: The Jewish New Year that occurs in autumn

Beadle: someone who works at a church or a Jewish synagogue and helps the clergy

Passover: A Jewish festival that commemorates the exodus of the Jews from Egypt and is marked chiefly by the Seder ritual and the eating of matzoth. It begins on the 14th day of Nisan and is celebrated for eight days by Orthodox and Conservative Jews outside of Israel and for seven days by Reform Jews and Jews in Israel.

Rebbe: A Jewish spiritual leader or rabbi

The Red Army: The Russian Army. Russia, England, and the United States were allies against Germany during World War II.

Zionism: the Jewish national movement of rebirth and renewal in the land of Israel - the historical birthplace of the Jewish people.

Palestine: A country in the historical region of southwest Asia at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea and roughly coextensive with modern Israel and the West Bank.

Fascism/Fascist Party: asystem of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism. A Facist Party is when fascist people come together and they form a party and what they do is get people to join them. They believe in glorifying the state/ country.

Anti-Semitic: One who discriminates against or who is hostile toward or prejudiced against Jews

Hassid/Hasidic: A member of a Jewish mystic movement founded in the 18th century in eastern Europe by Baal Shem Tov that reacted against Talmudic learning and maintained that God's presence was in all of one's surroundings and that one should serve God in one's every deed and word

Ghetto: A quarter in a European city to which Jews were restricted.

Glossary of Terms Continued:

Shauvot: a festival, celebrated on the sixth and seventh days of Sivan by Orthodox and Conservative Jews outside Israel but only on the sixth day by Reform Jews and Jews in Israel, that commemorates God's giving of the ten commandments to Moses.

Gestapo: the German state secret police during the Nazi regime, organized in 1933 and notorious for its brutal methods and operations.

Kaddish: a Jewish prayer for the dead

Messiah: the promised and expected deliverer of the Jewish people. Christians believe that is Jesus Christ, but Jews do not their “Messiah” has yet come.

Mystic: a person who claims to attain, or believes in the possibility of attaining, insight into mysteries transcending ordinary human knowledge, as by direct communication with the divine or immediate intuition in a state of spiritual ecstasy.

Yom Kippur

Night, by Elie Wiesel

ELA-8/Detamore

Literary Analysis

Respond to the following prompts on a separate sheet of paper as you read the book.

Figurative Language:

·  List ten examples of figurative language Wiesel uses throughout his narrative. 1. Write the line of figurative language 2. identify it as a metaphor, simile, personification, idiom, etc. 3. Explain the literal meaning Wiesel is trying to convey with his use of figurative language.

·  There are multiple, universal themes in this autobiography. List two universal themes that you see in Wiesel’s narrative. For each theme, explain why you believe it is a theme in the book, citing specific examples from the story that support the theme.

·  Mood: What is the mood in this book? Is there a shift in mood? If so, where does it happen in the book? Why does the mood change?

·  Tone: What is the tone in this autobiography? (Remember to consider one’s tone of voice…)

·  The following excerpt from page 34 of Night is like a poem. What elements make it poetic? Be specific in your answer, citing specific attributes that make these lines sound like a poem. Cite, at least, three attributes that make this excerpt poetic. Then, respond to this excerpt. Which part of it moves you the most? Why?

Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed.

Never shall I forget that smoke.

Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky.

Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever.

Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live.

Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes.

Never shall I forget those things, even were I condemned to live as long as God Himself.

Never.

Student’s Name:______

Night, by Elie Wiesel

ELA-8/Detamore

In retrospect I must confess that I do not know, or no longer know, what I wanted to achieve with my words. I only know that without this testimony, my life as a writer – or my life, period – would not have become what it is: that of a witness who believes he has a moral obligation to try to prevent the enemy from enjoying one last victory by allowing his crimes to be erased from human memory.

Elie Wiesel

1.  How did Moishe the Beadle change? What caused this change? [pp3-8]______

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2.  Why is Moishe so frustrated? [p.7]______

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3.  How did the German soldiers behave when they first arrived in Sighet? [pp. 9-10]______

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4.  What is ironic about the following statement? The Germans were already in our town, the Fascists were already in power, the verdict was already out – and the Jews of Sighet were still smiling.

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5.  List the edicts that were first to affect the Jews of Sighet. [pp10-11]______

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6.  What does Wiesel mean when he says, “The ghetto was ruled by neither German nor Jew; it was ruled by delusion.” [p 12]?

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7.  Briefly describe the scene at the Synagogue [p.22]:______

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8.  How many people were loaded into each cattle car (train car)? [p.22}______

9.  What had “totally shattered” Mrs. Schacther? [p 24]______

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10.  To what concentration camp had the Wiesel family been taken? [p 27]______

11.  What did the inmate tell Elie and his father to lie about? [p 30] ______

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12.  After Elie walked past the horrible pit of fire, his father said, “Do you remember Mrs. Schachter on the train?” To what irony is he referring? [p 34]

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13.  What created “true equality” among the men in Elie’s barrack? [p 35]______

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14.  “In a few seconds, we had ceased to be men” [p. 36]. Explain what the author means:

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That night, the soup tasted of corpses.

15.  What does ARBEIT MACHT FREI mean? [p 40]______

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16.  “It was spring. The sun was shining…It was a beautiful day in May. The fragrances of spring were in the air. The sun was setting.” What is ironic about Wiesel’s description of the weather on page 40?

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17.  What was Elie Wiesel’s tattoo number? [p 42]______

18.  Why didn’t the Jewish dentist from Czechoslovakia take Elie’s gold crown? [pp 51-52]

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19.  How did Elie’s gold crown cause him trouble again? [pp 54-56]______

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20.  What happened to Elie after finding Idek with the Polish girl? [pp 56-58]______

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21.  What is your reaction to the event described on pages 64-65? Write down your reaction, thoughts, etc. to this event.

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22.  INFER: Wiesel says, “The bell. It was already time to part, to go to bed. The bell regulated everything. It gave me orders and I executed them blindly. I hated that bell. Whenever I happened to dream of a better world, I imagined a universe without a bell.” Why does Wiesel hate the bell so much?

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23.  What is the tone in the following excerpt?

What are You, my God? I thought angrily. How do You compare

to this stricken mass gathered to affirm to You their faith, their

anger, their defiance? What does Your grandeur mean, Master

of the Universe, in the face of all this cowardice, this decay, and

this misery? Why do you go on troubling these poor people’s

wounded minds, their ailing bodies? [p 66]

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24.  “Were there still miracles on earth?” What “miracle” is Wiesel referring to? [pp 75-76]

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25.  What was wrong with Wiesel’s foot? [pp 79-80]______

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26.  What is ironic about Elie and his father’s decision to be evacuated with the other? [p 82]

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27.  How does the snow add to the scene of the evacuation? [p 84]______

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28.  Why does Wiesel hate his body? [p 85]______

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29.  What did Juliek do before he died? [p 93-95]______

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30.  How did the prisoners quench their thirst after leaving Gleiwitz? [p 96]______

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31.  INFER: What would cause a son kill his own father for a piece of bread?______

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At that moment in time, all that mattered to me was my daily bowl of soup, my crust of stale bread. The bread, the soup – those were my entire life. I was nothing but a body. Perhaps even less: a famished stomach. The stomach alone was measuring time.

32.  Wiesel never did learn why someone would want to strangle him in his sleep [p 102]. What would your guess be?

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33.  What literary technique is being employed in the following line? “I knew that I was no longer arguing with him [father] but with Death itself, with Death that he had already chosen.” [p 105]

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34.  What “test” did Elie not pass on page 107?______

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35.  On what date did Elie Wiesel’s father die? [p 112]______

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36.  What was their “first act as free men?” [p 115].______

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37.  What does Wiesel mean when he says, “From the depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me.”? [p 115]

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SHORT ESSAY:

James Joyce, an Irish writer, said, “History is a nightmare, from which I am trying to awake.” How does that quote apply to Elie Wiesel and his autobiography? Cite examples from the book to support what you say.

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Wiesel’s faith is greatly challenged throughout his narrative. Cite specific examples from the text that reveal that his faith is being challenged. Do you think he turned his back on God, permanently? Why/why not?

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