Section Six: Night Reader Response

Section six of Night really shocked me. I never expected the book to end this way. Since Elie's father was able to keep himself alive throughout the past five sections, I never thought he would suddenly die. It must have been painful for Eliezer--at such a young age-- to see his father getting weaker, suffering, dying, each day...

Elie never got the opportunity to say goodbye to his father. As Elie was asleep, his father was taken, sent to the crematoria and was replaced by a new sick man. I could only begin to imagine how much sorrow and pain he felt. What if the SS Officers took his father away while he was still alive? We can only wonder what happened to his father. Despite his pain, he went on with his life. Nothing no longer mattered to him. Everything he ever loved, ever cared about was gone. He had no other reason to live. But Elie still had hope of being liberated and he was.

The Holocaust, and Elie's experiences during the Holocaust has shaped who he is today. A Noble Peace Prize winner. An inspirational speaker all over the world. A hero.

Section Five: Night Reader Response

The weather, in section five of Night, produces an effect on the story. Eliezer describes the weather as cold and bitter. The story that Elie remembers during this time was also, cold and bitter. Eliezer and his father along with all the Jews at the concentration camp were being evacuated. Russian lines were closing in on their camp, and they are instructed to march all the way to their planned destination, deeper into Germany. Despite Eliezer's swollen and infected foot he decides to join his father and the others being evacuated. This shows how much Elie cares for his father, he does not want to leave him alone. The weather does not help these fellow men reach their destination. Many men cannot keep up with the running pace, these men fall behind and die.

Section five demonstrates Eliezer's perseverance. As I was reading the story of their march, I felt like I wanted to stop reading. I can only imagine how the "death march" would have felt. When they reach their final destination at the new camp they are forced to stay in this barn. Eliezar watches over his father while his father gets rest at night. His father does the same. Despite the bitter treatment and conditions, I feel happy that no matter what has happened, Elie and his father still care for each other. Their bond has not been broken like others. They will always love one another.

Section Four: Night Reader Response

Throughout this part of the novel, Elie introduces new, rising conflict with himself. As thousands of men gather together to participate in praising God's name on the eve of Rosh Hashanah (the last day of the year), Elie refuses to be apart of this sacred solemn service. "What are You, my God? I [Elie] thought angrily. How do You compare to this stricken mass gathered to affirm to You their faith, their anger, their defiance? What does You granduer mean, Master of the Universe, in the face of all this cowardice, this decay, this misery? Why do you go on troubling thesespoor people's wounded minds, their ailing bodies?...But look at these men whom You have betrayed, allowing htem to be tortured, slaughtered, gassed, and burned, what do they do? They pray before You! They praise Your name!" (page66/68) Eliezer cannot seem to undestand why God remains silent, he refuses to accept God's silence. Eliezer no longer has the strength or faith to believe in his God.

This event is an important milestone of the novel. Before this, Elie seemed to devote his entire life into his religion and Kabbalah. Eliezer was a very religious person. But as his story goes on, and God's silence grows, his faith breaks, Eliezer is no longer able to believe in what he truly thought was real.

Section Three: Night Reader Response

Section three of Night is a very detailed part of the novel. I find the text very narrow. Eliezer seems to remember everything about his past and the Holocaust. One part that he remembers, a tragic part, seems to almost haunt me every time: "The SS seemed more preoccupied, more worried, than usual. To hang a child in front of thousands of onlookers was not a small matter. The head of the camp read the verdict. All eyes were on the child. He was pale, almost calm, but he was biting his lips as he stood in the shadow of the gallows... Then came the march past the victims. The two men were no longer alive. Their tongues were hanging out, swollen and bluish. But the third rope was still moving, the child, too light, was still breathing... So he remained for more than half an hour, lingering between life an death, writhing before our eyes. And we were forced to look at him at close range. He was still alive when I passed him. his tongue was still red, his eyes not yet extinguished." This is one example of a detailed passage. Eliezer wrote this novel in his senior ages and to remember that much detail from one event through the many years is quite outstanding.

As Eliezer marches pass the child hanging from the gallows a man behind him asks "'For God's sake, where is God?' And from within me [Eliezer], I heard a voice answer: 'Where He is? This is where--hanging here from this gallows...' That night, the soup tasted of corpses." I find this quote hard to understand. To me, it doesn't make sense, because of the wording most likely. Despite the lack interpertation, I feel that this quote has a deeper meaning.

Section Two: Night Reader Response

After reading Elie Wiesel's Night, I remembered one particular quote. Eliezer remembers, "When they came back, they told us that they had learned, in exchange for a gold watch, that this was the final destination. We were to leave the train here. There was a labor camp on the site. The conditions were good. Families would not be separated. Only the young would work in the factories. The old and the sick would find work in the fields. Confidence soared. Suddenly we felt free of the previous nights' terror. We gave thanks to God." (page 27) Little did they know that they were lied to. Conditions were not good. Families were separated. The young were killed off immediately. The old and sick were also killed. The freedom that they felt was for nothing. The hope that suddenly burned inside of them was yet to be shattered. This passage also shows how grateful the Jews were. If this ever happened to my family, I think we would just give up at the ghettos.

Section two made me feel sad and almost guilty. The events that Elie and many others went through should have never happened to any human being. It's sickening that such things were happening in such a civilized time.

Section One: Night Reader Response

After reading Night by Elie Wiesel section one, I felt a curiosity growing as the section came to an end. For me, the story keeps me on the edge of my seat. I want to read more, I want to know what happens next. Since I have not experienced conditions of a war or have lived through a war, I find myself wanting to know more about it. I find it hard to understand the events and trials that the Jews endured. I can only imagine the conditions. It's heartbreaking that Jews and other persecuted minorities had to travel from place to place. They never got to settle anywhere permanently. Jewish families such as the Wiesel family were taken from their homes and put in ghettos fearing what the future held. As the novel progresses, the Jews are forced to wear a yellow star (the star of David) on their clothing. Elie Wiesel's father says: "'The yellow star? So what? It's not lethal...' (Poor Father! Of what then did you die?)" (page 11). In brackets Elie Wiesel comments on what his father says while writing this story. I like this style of writing because it shows what the author thinks of the situation and in this case it foreshadows an important fact about his father. I haven't read any books as informative and realistic as this but I have read Anne Frank's diary. Anne Frank was a Jew in hiding. Anne Frank's diary has a different view on being a Jew because her story was about hiding from the German Police and not getting captured. While Elie Wiesel and his family witness and experience what was really happening. Elie Wiesel is a very mature person for his age. Through the first section he does not pretend to be brave, he's terrified for what is to come. To me, moving to ghettos, being controlled by police and getting moved from place to place is an act of bravery. The German/Hungarian police are known as the "bad guys" in this book because of their plan to kill all those who did not fall under Adolf Hitler's physical description of the Aryan Race. I think the plan to kill masses of people based merely on a physical description is terrible. These people were killing fellow men, women and children just because of religious or ethnic differences. It's shocking and terrible that so many people were subjected to such horrid events.