". . . it was with abject humiliation that he stood in the small, cool office" (413.4) and "Stripped of their dignity, the boys were allowed to dress again. . ." (414.5).
Rudy and the other two boys were filled with anticipation and dread for the results of who is eligible to serve for the Nazi Party. The Jews, on the other hand, are also filled with dread, but the feeling is worse, because they have to 'look forward to' being killed. For both the boys and the Jews that were force to strip, they had to endure public humiliation, and they most likely felt conflicted emotions of embarrassment and dread. While the boys don't have as much to worry about in their futures, the Jews have a lot to worry about their lives in the very near future. Also, because the nurse has a "large, direct voice" she reminds me of the Nazis that force the Jews to humiliate themselves. I can imagine her spitting out vitriolic orders directed at the Jews.
"'And?' 'The Shoes?' 'Und die Unterhosen,' said the nurse. 'And the underpants.' 'Arms out now.' 'I said arms out.'"
~ Zoe
PS: You'll have to excuse me if my blog today seems sparse; I accidentally pressed Ctrl + Z causing half of my blog to disappear and I tried to retype what I wrote. I probably had a lot more than this, but I have forgotten what I wrote before. ^^;...
While first reading this chapter in The Book Thief, I wondered, too, why it was included. It didn't seem like it was linked to the chapters surrounding it, but that is part of what makes this book "so Zusak." I agree with your idea of connection between humiliation of the Jews and humiliation of Rudy. But, another thing that I found particularly interesting in this chapter was the descriptions of the people. Throughout the novel so far, Zusak has always provided the reader with strong and somewhat peculiar ways of describing new characters as they are introduced. The nurse's braid is described as roping down her back and meeting her colossal breast like an overfed pet. Also, the doctor is depicted as a balding rodent. These portrayals of the nurse and doctor are very effective, especially in as short of chapter as this.
ReplyDeleteZoe,
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything you have stated in your blog but i just want to add a little bit to the connection between Jews stripping and boys being drafted into the Nazi Party stripping. As you said Jews have it much harder, they are stripping for their death. I find this quite ironic because the boys are stripping so the nurse can determine if they are qualified to force Jews to strip. Could the reason that Nazi's made Jews strip down be to retaliate from when they were stripped?