Night Chapter 4
In the gut-wrenching final scene of this chapter, a pale young boy is hanged for refusing to give information to the Gestapo. Give two pieces of evidence from the text that a reader could use to argue this is the moment where Wiesel's faith in God is broken.
Here are three possible answers. 1. The boy is described not once, but twice as having the face of an angel. The introduction of this innocent, heavenly figure emphasizes the religious significance of this scene. 2. At the very end of the chapter, Wiesel literally says that God is hanging in the gallows, essentially deciding for himself that God is dead. 3. As the boy is hanged with the two other men, there was a total silence and "on the horizon, the sun was setting." The setting of the sun can be seen as a symbol. The arrival of the night (the inspiration for the book's title) marks the presence of evil and a loss of light/hope/God.
Wiesel uses his wit and a bit of luck to keep the gold crown on his tooth. Later, though, he must surrender the crown to Franek, the foreman of his work group. Why does Wiesel finally relent and agree to give the crown to Franek?
It's a move to protect his father, who is unable to march in time and, therefore, earns frequent beatings from Franek. The gold crown makes Franek go a bit easier on the elder Wiesel, but only for a short time because Franek was transferred to another camp just two weeks later.
Find and write a line from this chapter that supports the claim that Wiesel and his father were treated more like animals than humans.
Students' answers may vary, but here's one: "'You.. you...you...' They pointed their fingers, the way one might choose cattle, or merchandise."
What detail shows the reader that the dentist from Czechoslovakia likely was not actually a dentist?
The man's teeth are described as "yellow and rotten." His manner doesn't install any confidence.
Toward the middle of the chapter, Wiesel says, "That was what life in a concentration camp had made of me..." To what is he referring here?
This line comes just after Wiesel describes the anger he felt toward his father when his father drew ire of Idek and received a brutal beating. In this moment, Wiesel is blaming the victim, a move which the reader can tell he now views as shameful. In the concentration camp, survival seems to trump everything, including sympathy and humanity. Wiesel seems to sometimes view his love for his father as a weakness that threatens his own survival.
Identify the literary device Wiesel uses in this line: "At first, my father simply doubled over under the blows, but then he seemed to break in two like an old tree struck by lightning." What does the comparison of Idek to lightning emphasize to the reader?
This line includes a simile, which shows the reader that those in power seem unstoppable to Wiesel. Here, Idek wields intense and terrifying power on par with the uncontrollable force of lightning; there is a storm bearing down on these men and the painful strikes they received seem violent and random.
What does Juliek, one of the musicians, say that shows the callousness that life in the concentration camp is creating?
When a young man from Warsaw is being publicly hanged, Juliek wonders aloud, "This ceremony, will it be over soon? I'm hungry..." These events must be so frequent that they no longer hold much emotional impact on the observers. This should be shocking to the reader.
