Section 5 (P.

66-84)

1. What happened in the camp on the eve of Rosh Hashanah? On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the last day of the cursed year, there was a thick soup given to the Jews. However, the Jews wanted to wait, despite their hunger, to have a special service to God, for better hope, and a new year.

2. After reading pages 66-68, describe how Elies feelings about God and his religion have changed since the beginning of the book. Elies feelings about God and his religion have changed since the beginning of the book. At the beginning of Night, Elie was deeply religious and craved for knowledge about his religion. He also loved his God deeply. However, after some time in the concentration camps, Elie hates his God and rebels against Him often. Also, Elie feels like there is no need to do any of this Jewish stuff because he believes his God is silent and cruel.

3. What was Elies decision about fasting on Yom Kippur, and why did he make that decision? Elies decision about fasting on Yom Kippur was that he would eat his daily ration. He did this to make his dad happy because the father said it was forbidden not to fast, and also because he believed there was no reason to fast. He turned his ration of soup into an act of rebellion against his God.

4. Identify the beautiful present the SS gave the men for the New Year (hint: the phrase is ironic). The beautiful, ironic present the SS gave the men for the New Year was selection. This meant that an SS would examine them and whenever there was a Muselman (someone extremely frail), they were good for the crematorium. This is ironic because the beautiful present is a chance of death, which most people do not want.

5. What is the significance of the bell in Elies daily life?

The significance of the bell in Elies daily life was that it basically controlled everything. It would give orders and Jews like Elie would execute them blindly, and this goes against peoples unalienable rights and freedom.

6. Why does Elie receive an inheritance from his father, and what is this inheritance? Does he keep the inheritance? Elie receives an inheritance from his father because the father felt like time was running out to live due to the selection, so the father wanted to tell Elie many things. He gives his son a knife and a spoon, so that Elie could have use of it if the dad passed away. Elie refuses the inheritance at first, because he wanted to act positive and believe that the dad will carry on. However, he is forced to keep, and at the end of the selection, the father passes it. Elie gives back the knife and spoon to enforce the fact that his father is alive, flesh and blood.

7. In Elies opinion, why was Akiba Drummer selected? Did the men remember to say kaddish for him? In Elies opinion, Akiba Drummer was selected because of spiritual reasons. Akiba Drummer didnt think of the selection as a divine test, and as soon as he felt the first chinks in his faith, he lost all incentive to fight and opened the door to death. He gave up because he believed he was too weak, physically and mentally.

8. Elie goes into the hospital for an operation. While he is there, he meets a patient who tells him that he has more faith in Hitler than in anyone else. What is his rationale (reason/justification) for this? The rationale for the patient having more faith in Hitler than in anyone else is weird because Hitler has done evil things. The patient, a faceless neighbor, said that Hitler alone kept all his promises to the Jewish people, as in transporting them and killing them.

9. What decision do Elie and his father make regarding staying in the hospital or being evacuated from the camp? Was this the right decision? The decision that Elie and his father make was that they would be evacuated from the camp, which was the worst choice they made. After the war, Elie found out that the people staying in the hospital were freed, which makes Elie feel bad because his father died as a result from going on the cold, harsh journey.

10. What was the last thing the Blockalteste (head of the block) ordered the men to do before they evacuated, and why? The Blockalteste ordered the Jews to mop the floor one hour before evacuating. This is because the Blockalteste wanted to let the liberating army to know they lived as men, even though the Jews were tortured, abused, and treated like pigs.