The first line of the story is "The girl was the first to hear the loud pounding on the door" (Rosnay 1). I found it very interesting that the author decided to get right to the point.We have no idea who this 'girl' is, where she lives, how old she is, we don't know whos knocking at the door, we simply know nothing except for the fact that there is someone pounding on this girls door. So immediatly after reading this line, I predicted that there was a problem.
It was the police pounding on the door."She remembered the recent, hushed conversations she had overheard, late at night, when her parents thought she was asleep" (Rosnay 1). The author added the word 'night' in there which symbolizes a symbloic end. The girl had said that her parents were saying things like; camps, roundup, early morning arrests. Instantly I knew what was going on, they were Jewish and the police were there to arrest the family. Her father was going to stay in the celler until things got safe. The girl- just like myself- questioned what he meant by "safe". Would they ever be safe again?
" He spoke perfect French. Then we are safe, thought the girl. If they are French and not German, we are not in danger. If they are French, they will not harm us" (Rosnay 3). This qoute seemed very ironic to me. This girl felt that she was safe with these people because they were of the same culture. She implies that the Germans were the evil ones, the French were innocent, they would not harm them. This line just shows you how nieve and young this little girl is. She does not understand what is going on. Another line that I found very ironic was "She wanted her mother to stand up straight and look at the men boldly, to stop cowering, to prevent her heart from beating like that, like a frightened animal. She wanted her mother to be brave" (Rosnay 3). This is a sign a irony because parents are usually the ones who need to brave and take care of their children in bad situations, not the other way around.
The fact that the French police went around arresting Jewish families during World War 2, goes to prove the conflict theory- "participants in an organization or society, function to maximize their own benefits" (dictonary.com). These Policemen were arresting these innocent families because thats what Hitler had ordered. Instead going against Hitler and doing the right thing, they obeyed them just to benefit themselves.
Great interpretation of first line and observation of the irony of the parent / child relationship- could it be symbolic?
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