1) Where is Wiesel's childhood home? Locate the country on a map.
2) Wiesel opens Night by relating his youthful desire to study the cabala. What is the cabala?
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?
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?
5) Why do the people of Sighet ignore Moshe after he returns from his escape? Why don't they listen to him?
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.)
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.
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.
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.
10) What literal and figurative (symbolic or metaphorical) meanings does night have in Night?
11) Why do you think Night is such a slim book? Surely Wiesel could have included much more detail.
12) Is Night a memoir of tragedy or triumph? Can it be both? If so, why? If not, why not?
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