REL 200:  Religious Perspectives on the Human Situation

Questions for Group Discussion on Night

1.  What are your reactions to the book?  Reflective?  Emotional?  Why?

2.  What things/ideas/scenes strike you as most memorable?  Why?

3.  Focus on p. 32.  What does Wiesel mean by the notions:  "Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever....murdered my God and my soul..."  Is unfaith the opposite of faith or can one have both faith and unfaith?

4.  Reread the scene on the hanging of the child (pp 61-62).  What was the answer to the question, "Where is God?"  What do you think the answer means?

5.  Focus on the story of the old rabbi from Poland who lost his faith (pp. 72-73).  What answer would you give to his question, "How can I believe in this merciful God?"  (In other words, how would you justify God--what is your theodicy?)

6.  In some ways, the book is seeking to raise the question, "Why do the righteous suffer?"  What answer do you find here?  How does it relate to the answers given in the book of Job?