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Interest in religion sparks
In pages 1-3, his interest in Hasidic Judaism beings to grow. He wants to study the cabbalistic books.
This is important because this is where he really begins to believe in God, and God is one of the main reasons he keeps on fighting for his life. In his perspective, as long as God is with him, he will survive throughout all his endevours. -
Moshe the Beadle gets captured
On pages 3-5, Moshe the Beadle gets captured and he witnesses many jews having to dig their own graves and then the Gestapo killed them.
This is important because in this part of the book, Elie gets his first glimpse of how bad and horrible people can be. This also spurs his fear of people that hate jews. -
German Army comes to Elie's town
In the Spring of 1944, the German Army invaded Hungary. And they eventually got to the town that Elie lived in.
This is important because after this point, Elie's life beings to sprial downward and only bad things happen. But Elie doesn't realize that until the supposedly "nice" germans turn evil. -
Inhumane treatment starts
On pages 15-20, the Jews of Sighet are forced into cattle cars and are taken somewhere. The Germans do not say where they are going to be taken, but rumors say that they will be taken to a concentration camp.
This is important becuase this is the first time Elie is being exposed to inhumane treatment. Throughout the book, he says that he was a very spoiled child, so this first horrifying experience scarred him. -
Arrive at Aushwitz.
On page 26, Elie arrives at Aushwitz. Aushwitz is considered the most famous and the worst.
This is important becuase as he says later in the book, the memories of Aushwitz were the ones the scarred him the most. So this camp was one of the scariest places for Elie. -
Family is Seperated
On page 27, Elie and his father are seperated from his mother and sister. The males and females were forced to go to different camps.
This is significant because he loses touch with two people he cares dearly about. -
First Defiance of God
On page 31, Elie feels revolt against god rise up in him. Everyone is thanking god for surviving this ordeal, but Elie thinks differently, he thinks that if god was real, that he should have helped them by now.
This is important because the whole beginning of the book was spent developing Elie's love and devotion for god, and now he shows defiance to all of that. -
Branded with Number
On page 39, Elie has a number engraved on his arm, A-7713. After this number was branded on him, he is no longer referred to by name. This is kind of like ranchers in the 1800's using cattle brands to identify their cows as theirs.
This is important because this is equivalent to losing his identity as a person and he also starts recieving sub-par treatment. -
Destiny
On page 45, there is a cruicial thing that Elie says that really sums up alot. "As if the choice was in our own hands"
In that context he is talking about which unit he would be put in, but it can also be applied on a much larger scale. Is the choice of being put in concentration camps him own choice? Was is even his choice to be Jewish in the first place? So this line means alot more than it seems. That is why it is important. -
A new place
On page 43, Elie and his father are taken to another camp, Buna.
This is important becuase it is like a new opputunity for Elie and his father. It might also be a chance for them to be in a new, less theatning atmosphere. -
Weaknesses
On pages 52-53, Franek the foreman wants Elie's gold tooth and it seems like he would do anything to get it. So in order to get Elie's tooth, Franek starts harrassing his father and beating him daily knowing that Elie loved his father. Eventually Elie gave up and his tooth was taken from him using a rusty spoon.
This is important becuase it shows Elie will crack under a weakness. This develops his character as caring but also a bit weak. -
Hope
On pages 56-57, the concentration camp was bombed by the Americans.
This is important because ibecause it shows how the opposition to the Nazi's- tried to free them but failed because they hid in the bomb shelter. This also makes it harder for Elie to believe that he will be freed because this attack didn't work. The failed attack lowers his hope of freedom. -
Immunity to death begins
On pages 60-61, Elie watches multiple people being killed and hanged.
This is important because he is no longer bothered by death and it no longer disturbs him as much as it should. This may be good or bad because it will make him less emotional -
Completely loses faith in god
On pages 63-64, Elie finishes the final stages of disbelief in god. His theory is that because God had not done anything yet, then he will never do anything and therefore does not exist.
This is important because before this, Elie used to blame things on God, but now, because he no longer exists, he has to find the real root of problems. -
Dreaded Selection
On pages 63-64, a process called selection is happening. Selection is a process in which the weak are seperated from the other, and by seperated I mean killed. You could compare this to the saying "survival of the fittest" because thats what it was. The weak were killed while the other would survive another day.
This is important because Elie and his father pass this test, but only barely and this near miss spurs their hatred of the germans to a whole new level. -
Another blow to Elie's faith
On pages 76-77, the faceless man in the hospital says he has more faith in Hitler than anyone else because he was the only one that has been keeping his promises. This is another blow to Elie's faith because he realizes that a genocidal leader is more reliable than God. -
Trust in the enemies
On pages 74-77, Elie begins to trust the very people that have been causing him pain this whole time. He allows the doctor of the camp to operate on his leg.
This is important because it is either a sign of him giving up, or a sign on deep trust. If the doctor messes up, he will lose the ability to walk for the rest of his life, so this is a big decision. -
Immunity to death continues
On page 82, Elie sees a man be trampled to death by thousands of people, but he seems unscathed by it and goes back to business.
This is important because the commanding officers in the camp have made death an everyday ordeal, so it does not affect Elie anymore. -
Confusion about faith
On page 87, he says “my God, lord of the universe give me strength” this is almost like a prayer, but earlier he expressed his feelings about how God doesn't exist and how he was no longer religous. So this is confusing but also reveals about his character. -
Memories of Juliek
On pages 89-90, Elie has a reminiscent and bittersweet moment with Juliek only to be spoiled by Juliek's death.
It is important because it is a major part of his life, and he still remembers Juliek whenever he hears Beethoven. -
Death of Father
On pages 101-106, Elie's father dies, which scars him, but he is unsure whether he should be happy or sad. On one side, he should be happy now because he now has nothing holding him back from surviving and he has no obligations to anybody. But he should also be sad because he lost the caring and loving father he grew up with. -
Elie Wiesel publishes book
Elie Wiesel publishes the book, "Night", giving the world an unadulterated account of the horrible life of a jew during world war 2.
This is important because often, history repeats itself, but by reading this story we can learn that war has many downsides such as the horrible life lead by this man. So by reading this it kind of inspires us to lead a more peaceful life. -
Elie Wiesel wins the nobel prize
Elie Wiesel wins a well deserved nobel prize.
This is important because now this amazing piece of history and literature is being given one of the highest honors that can be bestowed. This book is still very popular and gives us vital insight to how bad world war 2 was.
