What do you think?
Rate this book
Night, Summary & Study Guide
Night Study Guide consists of approx. 19 pages of summaries and analysis on Night by Elie Wiesel.
This study guide includes the following sections: Plot Summary, Chapter Summaries & Analysis, Characters, Objects/Places, Themes, Style, Quotes, and Topics for Discussion.
This study guide includes the following sections: Plot Summary, Chapter Summaries & Analysis, Characters, Objects/Places, Themes, Style, Quotes, and Topics for Discussion.
- GenresHistory
Nook
First published August 15, 2011
12 people are currently reading
158 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
January 6, 2014
I cannot find just the book "Night" by Elie Weisel here on GoodReads.
That's what needs to be read.
In a very basic sense this book is about the atrocities set upon the Jews by the Nazi's.
Written through the eyes and memories of a remarkable man who survived hell on earth.
A friend suggested this book when we were discussing the "Must Read" book, "Man's Search for Meaning", by Viktor Frankl. Frankl also survived the death camps and became a profound thinker and author who set Freud back a few steps.
Psychology. Philosophy. Observation. Consequences.
I think those words give a fair assessment of how I perceive this very important man and his contributions to the human condition.
Yeah. It's awful. We've seen the pictures and heard the stories of a great many people regarding the Nazi Concentration Camps. Revolting. Dr. Frankl takes you inside the camp, the minds, and the observations he made regarding our conditioning. Is it our environment? Is it how we choose to deal with it and the consequences of the decisions.
That's what needs to be read.
In a very basic sense this book is about the atrocities set upon the Jews by the Nazi's.
Written through the eyes and memories of a remarkable man who survived hell on earth.
A friend suggested this book when we were discussing the "Must Read" book, "Man's Search for Meaning", by Viktor Frankl. Frankl also survived the death camps and became a profound thinker and author who set Freud back a few steps.
Psychology. Philosophy. Observation. Consequences.
I think those words give a fair assessment of how I perceive this very important man and his contributions to the human condition.
Yeah. It's awful. We've seen the pictures and heard the stories of a great many people regarding the Nazi Concentration Camps. Revolting. Dr. Frankl takes you inside the camp, the minds, and the observations he made regarding our conditioning. Is it our environment? Is it how we choose to deal with it and the consequences of the decisions.
December 8, 2012
This memoir was recommended to me by a teacher at the high school. The story is so well told and absorbing that I kept forgetting it was true. Harrowing.
April 2, 2022
Holocaust story - excellent writing - enormously sad
December 16, 2024
I didn’t actually read the study guide I just wanted to show that I reread this book this year. Still as haunting and amazing as I remember it.
July 23, 2023
It's weird to see that I "like" this book because it's not the type of thing you read because you enjoy the subject. Delving into the Holocaust is not enjoyable, per se, but I guess you can say that the great worth of reading such a thing is "high" in value, since it will open eyes and change the reader.
Initially, reading this book will not seem to change you for the better. You will fear the world a scant more after this. It will absolutely not make sense to you that this could have happened. You might wonder as I did: 'How could I have someone to tea one day and then the next, spit on them in the street because someone else ordered me to behave so?' I find it very difficult to show rude behavior even to someone I am ferociously angry with, so what could possibly cause me, and especially just through a few words, to really believe another human is worth less than I am?
Ancestors may be the culprit. If a feeling goes through generation after generation that someone else seems to be after the things you are told you deserve; and if your parents and forefathers had within their nature, a feeling that something could be better if someone else would just move out of the way; and if there was an inkling for generations that someone else may be encroaching on your family's ability to thrive; you just might, on the right day, at the right time, with the right speech - one might take that immediate leap.
And in taking that leap, one may be moved to think certain identifiable people around you have been the secret guilty suspects for years and years and now that they are finally pinpointed, you can and must act.
It might be then possible to think that if you could only remove those identifiable people from hurting your family's pursuit of happiness, and that your actions are confirmed by multi-generations of people who all waited for such an opportunity as this, that you have the God-given right to use this moment to remove those people in your way.
This is frightening to be sure, but can probably not happen again in this way. And here is why: because this book and others exist.
A book such as Weisel's, Night, illustrates that OUR ancestors would learn that the aforementioned behavior of the Germans was not even effective as a purpose. They would have learned that such inklings in the Germans, were really just stress that all people face as they struggle through life.
They would have learned that pinpointing scapegoats never feels better or just. And that killing so many people is not even possible. Or that getting rid of people for profit, actually costs a price more dear than can ever be conceived.
And I mean literally, the world learned that death, among many other things, COSTS a LOT of money on a large scale.
So because of books like Weisel's, WE can make the opposite type of instant connection that the Germans did. And that connection is this: no person in any time or place no matter what has happened, can ever be or should ever be made responsible for anyone else's inability to thrive, because thriving begins, lives, and ends in the individual, and in the here and immediate now.
(A small question on the side, then is: Do the ancestors of the people in the place and time of the Taliban have a similar setup of the Nazis?)
Weisel's book is one Holocaust book that Opened Oprah's eyes. This book is a good one for seeing one man's journey and is written well. But the scope of this book is small, and the story is short. This book begs the reader to seek out more reading. Consider this book a great start or a spark or a gateway drug to understanding the Holocaust.
However, when I come to think of it, what more could an author want? His book makes people want and seek more, and surely in this, Weisel's book and invaluable lesson will remain alive and able to continue to teach.
update: the book didn't do enough! Run for your lives!
Initially, reading this book will not seem to change you for the better. You will fear the world a scant more after this. It will absolutely not make sense to you that this could have happened. You might wonder as I did: 'How could I have someone to tea one day and then the next, spit on them in the street because someone else ordered me to behave so?' I find it very difficult to show rude behavior even to someone I am ferociously angry with, so what could possibly cause me, and especially just through a few words, to really believe another human is worth less than I am?
Ancestors may be the culprit. If a feeling goes through generation after generation that someone else seems to be after the things you are told you deserve; and if your parents and forefathers had within their nature, a feeling that something could be better if someone else would just move out of the way; and if there was an inkling for generations that someone else may be encroaching on your family's ability to thrive; you just might, on the right day, at the right time, with the right speech - one might take that immediate leap.
And in taking that leap, one may be moved to think certain identifiable people around you have been the secret guilty suspects for years and years and now that they are finally pinpointed, you can and must act.
It might be then possible to think that if you could only remove those identifiable people from hurting your family's pursuit of happiness, and that your actions are confirmed by multi-generations of people who all waited for such an opportunity as this, that you have the God-given right to use this moment to remove those people in your way.
This is frightening to be sure, but can probably not happen again in this way. And here is why: because this book and others exist.
A book such as Weisel's, Night, illustrates that OUR ancestors would learn that the aforementioned behavior of the Germans was not even effective as a purpose. They would have learned that such inklings in the Germans, were really just stress that all people face as they struggle through life.
They would have learned that pinpointing scapegoats never feels better or just. And that killing so many people is not even possible. Or that getting rid of people for profit, actually costs a price more dear than can ever be conceived.
And I mean literally, the world learned that death, among many other things, COSTS a LOT of money on a large scale.
So because of books like Weisel's, WE can make the opposite type of instant connection that the Germans did. And that connection is this: no person in any time or place no matter what has happened, can ever be or should ever be made responsible for anyone else's inability to thrive, because thriving begins, lives, and ends in the individual, and in the here and immediate now.
(A small question on the side, then is: Do the ancestors of the people in the place and time of the Taliban have a similar setup of the Nazis?)
Weisel's book is one Holocaust book that Opened Oprah's eyes. This book is a good one for seeing one man's journey and is written well. But the scope of this book is small, and the story is short. This book begs the reader to seek out more reading. Consider this book a great start or a spark or a gateway drug to understanding the Holocaust.
However, when I come to think of it, what more could an author want? His book makes people want and seek more, and surely in this, Weisel's book and invaluable lesson will remain alive and able to continue to teach.
update: the book didn't do enough! Run for your lives!
April 30, 2022
This book is very emotional and educational. Your living or reading in the eyes of a teen who lost everything and saw so much pain.
Read
May 17, 2015Kyra Moorhead 5/18/15
ELA RED
Night
The memoir Night by Elie Wiesel is a fascinating book about the life of a boy and his father through the Holocaust. Elie is the main character in this book and as you read you develop remorse for Elie surviving through the Holocaust. He had to learn to grow up fast and take responsibility for himself if he wanted to survive. The other character in this book is Elie's’ dad. Elie's dad was a brave man who lost hope at some times but overall wanted to protect his son. This book takes place during the Holocaust and in many different concentration camps including Auschwitz, which was a dirty place where people were forced to work and starved, and the camp Buna which was still a concentration camp but not the worst. They had to learn to survive with what they had and learn to be cautious throughout their times at the camps.
A major conflict that happened in this book was when Elie and his father were being looked at, among the other prisoners, to test them and see if they were still healthy and able to work. If they weren't able to work they were sent to be burned alive. Elie passes the selection, but his father did not. Elie was devastated but then found a way to save his father. They both were grateful and relieved that they had survived the selection.
Some things that I liked about this book was that the author wrote in a very specific way to make you feel like you were there with him and that you shared the same emotions that he did. As you kept reading, you were praying that Elie and his father survived because you came attached to them both. I did not dislike anything about the book because it was written very well and the story was fascinating. I would recommend this book to an older audience because it is a little graphic for younger people to read and can be difficult for children to comprehend what's going on. Overall, its a book that young adults and above would love, and a great book about how to persevere through tough times.
ELA RED
Night
The memoir Night by Elie Wiesel is a fascinating book about the life of a boy and his father through the Holocaust. Elie is the main character in this book and as you read you develop remorse for Elie surviving through the Holocaust. He had to learn to grow up fast and take responsibility for himself if he wanted to survive. The other character in this book is Elie's’ dad. Elie's dad was a brave man who lost hope at some times but overall wanted to protect his son. This book takes place during the Holocaust and in many different concentration camps including Auschwitz, which was a dirty place where people were forced to work and starved, and the camp Buna which was still a concentration camp but not the worst. They had to learn to survive with what they had and learn to be cautious throughout their times at the camps.
A major conflict that happened in this book was when Elie and his father were being looked at, among the other prisoners, to test them and see if they were still healthy and able to work. If they weren't able to work they were sent to be burned alive. Elie passes the selection, but his father did not. Elie was devastated but then found a way to save his father. They both were grateful and relieved that they had survived the selection.
Some things that I liked about this book was that the author wrote in a very specific way to make you feel like you were there with him and that you shared the same emotions that he did. As you kept reading, you were praying that Elie and his father survived because you came attached to them both. I did not dislike anything about the book because it was written very well and the story was fascinating. I would recommend this book to an older audience because it is a little graphic for younger people to read and can be difficult for children to comprehend what's going on. Overall, its a book that young adults and above would love, and a great book about how to persevere through tough times.
Currently reading
October 2, 2013The book, Night, by Elie Wiesel completely made me think in ways I have not before. It is such a great book to read because everyone can learn so much from it. The way it is detailed and overloaded with description words truly makes the reader see the world from Elie’s eyes. It is not a very hard book to read although it does have plenty of complex vocabulary all throughout the book. I would recommend this book to really anyone out there because I know just about anyone that read it would like it. This book is very inspirational in many ways and many times throughout the book, Elie makes the reader reflect and think about many things about life. This book is not just only about Elie explaining the holocaust, this book is also about what was going through his head at the time and I really admire that from him. At times his descriptions can be very powerful but only that way he can make the reader get a sense of what he felt and what went through his head as he experienced it. This book is for sure to open up everyone’s eyes that read it in many ways. Overall, this book has become one of my all-time favorites and I am sure that it will for anyone else that reads it.
December 3, 2013
This book is really touching and sad. This book is basically about questionable religion and death. Elie and his family lived in what they called the ghetto where they were taken by the Germans. Only to find out they were on there way to a concentration camp Auschwitz. They had to travel in a small dark train and things wasn't great. Getting to the camp was even worse. Elie and his family finally arrived at the camp where they were separated. Elie and his father were sent to the left and Tzipora and Elie`s mother was sent to the right. The right was death and left was work. In the camp if you were caught doing something unusual, or caught trying to escape the Germans would shoot the news with no hesitation. The Jews had to face a lot of torture . Some got killed in gas chambers or they got burned,and Some worked a tirelessly.
January 21, 2015
Night is a book that was required to read for my dual credit English class this semester. I devoured this book. Even though it was pretty much a complete sad book I could not put it down. I learned a lot about how people were treated in concentration camps and the hardships they went through. I have read other things about the holocaust before but this one was just really good and it was also very short. I like learning about the holocaust because it teaches me about things that should never have happened. It opens my eyes to things I didn't know before and I can't state how much this book was eye opening. I think everyone should read it to get a look into the past and what people had to go through back then.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 2, 2014
I don't know why the actual book isn't on Goodreads, but I'll just pretend it is. I found this book moving and poetic. It's such a harrowing account of a story that you think you've heard a thousand times, but this still was so affecting. The back and forth about his religion got to be a bit tedious to me, but I think he gets a pass for having all these conflicting feelings after coming from an religious family and then going through the horrors of the Holocaust like that. I was surprised that there wasn't a little summary of what happened to the rest of his family-I'm guessing it wasn't good though
May 25, 2014
I have no words. Only tears. And such a deep sorrow that it cannot be expressed so soon after setting this book down. I get up from where I sit on my cushy sofa with that dark little hard-cover book on the side table, and I go on about my life, newly aware that where and how I live, as an American Christian in the 21st Century is the Disneyland of civilization. Nothing bad, or tragic, or harrowing, or humiliating, or degrading has ever, ever happened to me. Not after this book. How perspective changes things. Thank God he lived to tell that tale, that we would never grow callous to it.
August 21, 2013
Wow. Short but powerful. He writes about his experience in the work/death camps during World War II and speaks so honestly about not only his experience but what was actually going on in his head--that it is difficult to read sometimes. I really admired that. I also read the work of Rena Kornreich called Rena's Promise and enjoyed it very much--if you can actually enjoy reading about innocent people suffering so. It also is a true account--from a woman's point of view.
February 20, 2015
This book was interesting.It was short about a hundred pages or so ,but contained a lot of gripping details.Elie wrote about his life in the ghettos and his experience in the Holocaust.He wrote with so much emotion and feeling.He wrote about his encounters in the concentration camps and how he managed to survive.I recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about the survivors of the Holocaust and how they lived.
December 3, 2013
This was a slender book that I thought I could read in a weekend. Unfortunately, the subject matter is so distressing it took me 3 weeks. Elie Weisel wrote this memoir in his 14 year old voice, even though he wrote it when he was an adult. The book is chilling in its delivery of matter of fact statements around such horror.
This book goes under the topic of "Things that Scare You."
This book goes under the topic of "Things that Scare You."
January 18, 2014
Incredibly haunting. Elie Weisel really delves into the atrocity and horror of the holocaust, relating unthinkable experiences that will stop you from putting down this book. For a while I had been searching for the most gruesome, morbid stories about life in the concentration camps, and I think I finally found them.
January 18, 2015
The rating doesn't pertain to the actual book by Elie Wiesel, which can be found here:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
I'm rating this study guide poorly solely because of the misspelling of the author's name and because it is not the book that so many other readers are reviewing. I hope that this review may point some other readers to the correct goodreads page.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
I'm rating this study guide poorly solely because of the misspelling of the author's name and because it is not the book that so many other readers are reviewing. I hope that this review may point some other readers to the correct goodreads page.
March 10, 2015
I feel a little guilty not giving this 5 stars since it's by a Nobel prize winner, but I've been reading/watching lots of WWII stories lately, and this isn't the best one. Still enlightening and important in the documenting of a tragic time though.
May 28, 2015
It was a very well written book, and I was more interested in it than other assigned books, but I just wasn't all to interested in the historical-biography type genre, and I got confused quite often, but it's good
Read
August 13, 2012Must read for WW 2 101 and humanities.
Read
October 15, 2012Haunting.
February 27, 2013
A very good book, written by a Holocaust survivor. Explicit in the brutality and difficult to read.
November 28, 2013
An excellent existential story about life in a concentration camp and the impact on the individual.
November 6, 2014
Read the actual book and to be honest I felt like it was poorly wrote and skipped around too much.
January 25, 2015
This should be required reading.
January 11, 2015
it was a great book since I was really interested in the Holocaust. This book allows you to imagine the terrible period of time fro a survivor's perspective, which I thought was pretty cool!
April 7, 2015
We must not forget the horror. The sadness. We cannot forget. It is our duty to read and remember.
Read
April 10, 2015this book was very nice, and explained the hardships of the holocaust, the sadness, and the pain, this book was a great book
January 25, 2018
Read actual book, not this summary.
July 12, 2016
Awesome story... I was sorry to hear that he passed recently. His story brought the Holocaust to life for me.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews