Night Study Questions
English II: Night
Study Questions
1. Dehumanization is the process by which the Nazis gradually reduced the Jews to little more than "things" which were a nuisance to them. Discuss at least three specific examples of events that occurred which dehumanized Eliezer, his father, or his fellow Jews. Dehumanization played a significant role throughout Elie Wiesel's "Night". In many historic references to the Holocaust the killing of the Jews were described as "methodical and systematical"(The Jewish Outreach Institute), though this is true, these heinous crimes were made even worse by the dehumanizing and appalling treatment and conditions that the Jews were put through. Here are some examples: The people of Sighet faced horrifying conditions during their deportation to the death camp Auschwitz. They were transported in cattle cars for 4 days with almost no food or water, poor ventilation, crowded space, and unsanitary conditions. As Wiesel later wrote " Life in the cattle cars was the death of my adolescence."(Aikman, p.326.) According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary the definition of dehumanization is "to deprive of human qualities, personality, or spirit". That is what happened to Wiesel and many others upon the arrival of Auschwitz. They were forced to strip naked, then doused with petrol and had their hair cut off. After standing outside in the freezing cold the worst was yet to come for 15 year old Wiesel. He was tattooed on his left arm with a number that would soon become his identity. One of the worst things about the dehumanization that Wiesel faced is not only did he have to endure such cruelty but that it succeeded in stripping him of his virtues and self. This happened, on some level, to all of the Holocaust victims; a sad truth that is shown in the journey to Buchenwald. Riding once again in a roofless cattle wagon with no food or privacy, the Jewish prisoners were little more than mindless, frozen bodies. When a loaf of bread was
Study Questions
1. Dehumanization is the process by which the Nazis gradually reduced the Jews to little more than "things" which were a nuisance to them. Discuss at least three specific examples of events that occurred which dehumanized Eliezer, his father, or his fellow Jews. Dehumanization played a significant role throughout Elie Wiesel's "Night". In many historic references to the Holocaust the killing of the Jews were described as "methodical and systematical"(The Jewish Outreach Institute), though this is true, these heinous crimes were made even worse by the dehumanizing and appalling treatment and conditions that the Jews were put through. Here are some examples: The people of Sighet faced horrifying conditions during their deportation to the death camp Auschwitz. They were transported in cattle cars for 4 days with almost no food or water, poor ventilation, crowded space, and unsanitary conditions. As Wiesel later wrote " Life in the cattle cars was the death of my adolescence."(Aikman, p.326.) According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary the definition of dehumanization is "to deprive of human qualities, personality, or spirit". That is what happened to Wiesel and many others upon the arrival of Auschwitz. They were forced to strip naked, then doused with petrol and had their hair cut off. After standing outside in the freezing cold the worst was yet to come for 15 year old Wiesel. He was tattooed on his left arm with a number that would soon become his identity. One of the worst things about the dehumanization that Wiesel faced is not only did he have to endure such cruelty but that it succeeded in stripping him of his virtues and self. This happened, on some level, to all of the Holocaust victims; a sad truth that is shown in the journey to Buchenwald. Riding once again in a roofless cattle wagon with no food or privacy, the Jewish prisoners were little more than mindless, frozen bodies. When a loaf of bread was