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Night by Elie Wiesel
A 11th Grade Unit
Character Sketches
Here are brief descriptions of the major characters in the novel. The students will be asked to engage in questions about these characters. The questions will be below character descriptions. The characters in Night are very real and due to circumstances some may not have any known pictures.
Elie Wiesel
The narrator of the book, Eliezer is taken to concentration camps in Czechoslovakia and Germany at the age of fifteen. As a young boy in Sighet, Transylvania, he is very devout and interested in Jewish mysticism, and his religious faith evolves (but is never extinguished) during his time in concentration camps. Though he is separated from his mother and sister upon first arriving at Birkenau, Eliezer manages to remain close to his father during almost the entirety of his stay in concentration camps. He is very devoted to his father, and the two share rations and look out for each other. However, the harshness of camp life weakens Eliezer's filial devotion, which causes him much shame and guilt.
Discussion Questions:
How is Elie changing throughout the novel?
What specific moments in the texts does Elie begin questioning his faith?
What events change Elie and force him to no onger be a child?
Chlomo Wiesel (Elie's Father)
Eliezer's father is very respected within the Jewish community of his hometown, and he spends most of his time occupying himself with community affairs. He is a member of the Jewish Council, which is the first group to hear about deportation, and he refuses to try to escape the country. In the concentration camps, he and Eliezer take care of one another. A fifty-year-old man, he is becoming increasingly weak and dried up, and he finds it harder than Eliezer to escape the abuse of concentration camp life.
Discussion Questions:
What thoughts does Elie have concerning his father?
Did Elie's father change from the beginning of the novel to the end? If so, How? (Think about specific examples)
Mosche the Beadle
A poor, humble man who works at the Hasidic synagogue in Sighet, Moché is well-liked by all the townspeople. He helps Eliezer to study the cabbala, and he teaches him that it is more important to ask God the right questions than to try to find the right answers.
Discussion Questions:
What role did Mosche the Beadle play in Elie's life?
How did the people of Sighet treat Mosche the Beadle? Did Elie agree?
Madame Schaechter
Madame Schaechter is in the same train car as Eliezer during the initial deportation to Auschwitz. She had been separated from her husband and two older sons, and she is accompanied by another younger son. She loses her mind during the journey and screams hysterically and repeatedly about a flaming furnace that she apparently sees in the distance. She terrifies the other occupants of the train, and she is repeatedly beaten by young men trying to silence her.
Discussion Questions:
How do the others on the train react to Madame Schaechter? Do you think this was a common reaction?
What was so significant about her screaming "Fire"?
Do you think she was a prophet as Elie mentions?
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