1. Chapters Three and Four
Night
Chapters Three and Four

2. “Life in Birkenau”
1. Why did the guards send the men in one direction and the women in another?

3. “Life in Birkenau”
2. Why did Elie lie about his age?

4. “Life in Birkenau”
3. What was the selection process?

5. “Life in Birkenau”
4. What actions aimed to degrade and humiliate the prisoners?

6. “Life in Birkenau”
5. Who was Stein? Why did Elie lie to him?

7. “Life in Birkenau”
6. What changes in Elie are evident in this chapter?

8. “Struggling for Survival”
1. How did Buna compare and contrast with Auschwitz II?

9. “Struggling for Survival”
2. What was Elie’s main condition regarding his work unit? What does that say about him?

10. “Struggling for Survival”
3. Why was an orchestra present?

11. “Struggling for Survival”
4. Explain the information about Elie’s teeth.

12. “Struggling for Survival”
5. What are the effects of the passages about the French woman?

13. “Struggling for Survival”
6. In what sense did life in the camp begin to dehumanize Elie?

14. “Struggling for Survival”
7. How and why did an outburst of laughter get Elie in trouble?

15. “Struggling for Survival”
8. How do the hangings near the end of the chapter affect the readers? How did they affect Elie?

16. “The God Question”
1. Why was it natural for the man behind Elie to ask where God was?

17. “The God Question”
2. How might someone who was not Jewish, perhaps not religious in any way, pose the same question?

18. “The God Question”
3. How did Elie’s experiences in the camps belie all of his early assumptions about his faith?

19. “The God Question”
4. Look at the cover of the April 8, 1966 cover of Time magazine. Why did the editors decide to use that cover for the issue?

20. “The God Question”
5. What are the ideas of the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche? What did he say about God?

21. “The God Question”
6. If you were a friend of 15-year-old Elie as he struggled with these complex ideas, what would you tell him?