The Novel Assault by Harry Mulisch - Essay Example

The novel “Assault” by Harry Mulisch Harry Mulisch’s great novel, “The assault” is a fictional thriller that happens during the European times. Mulisch is a brilliant author and Assault is a war related, historical and philosophical book that weaves around the history of European times of 1945 and 1982. It tells the after effects and consequences of war on a young boy. The story at the same time tells of a man who gets to know the truth and the events that led to the execution of his family. It’s deeply touching and has profound and burrows into the human soul. One evening in Harlem, “in the silence that was Holland then, six shots were hard.” Fake Ploeg, “Chief Inspector of Police, the greatest murderer and traitor in Haarlem”.( pg 13). Chief inspector Ploeg a collaborator of the Germans is found dead outside a home. In anger and retaliation, the Germans burn the house where his body is found . This is Steenwijk’s home and they are wound up and killed. Anton is taken by one of the police officers and put in a car and forgotten there for a while. This essay highlights the capability of the characters to live with the consequences of the tragedy and effects of others peoples’ deeds. It is about how the life of a young boy, Anton Steenwijk, changes after the death of his family after their demise by the Nazis. He gets little bits of information about the happenings of the fateful day until he gets the full picture of what really happened. He gets to be an active autonomous agent by looking back and telling his story by reliving and piecing information that he gets. Mr. and Mrs. Bemure get to retell their story to Anton. Most of the other characters do not get the chance to lay out their story. Twelve year old Anton, is taken up to live with his aunt and uncle in Amsterdam during his teenage years after the second world war. Anton lives through life with the scars of death on his mind and occurrences in his everyday life cause him to want to know the truth. Anton tells of his story in episodes. He meets up the people involved in the killings directly and indirectly and eventually knows the truth about what exactly happened. Anton knows it is up to him to know what went down that tragic night and in his day to day life. For a big part of his life, he has tried to shun off and suppress the memories of the night but just when he starts to forget, his past brings reshow’s and he bumps into the people involved in his family’s death. This makes it impossible to shut off his past from himself. He realizes that he cannot make it in erasing the scars of his past. He knows it is his responsibility to uncover the truth of that life changing night. As the remaining member of that family he bears the burden solely. In 1952, after the war, he goes back home to where their home once stood. And the years onward bring with them chance of knowing what transpired that inauspicious night. He meets people from his past, people he knew and others he had never known before. He gets an opportunity to ask them what really happened and their involvement of family’s death. The main theme of this novel is to embrace the past into the present by incorporating them so to bring out a different character from the beginning. It involves the development of the protagonist, Anton through events that have changed his life. His story through life is like that one of a “sailor sailing to the future by sailing backward”. The theme of guilt and innocence weaves around the actions of the people who find the inspectors Ploeg’s body outside their home. Mr. korteweg and his daughter move the body not to outside Aarts, (who were hiding a Jewish family) house but little Anton’s home. Although it is natural to assume that he did this to protect his family, you realize that was not the case. It is absurd that he was trying to save his lizards and finally he commits suicide, for he could not bear the fact that he contributed to the death of a family just to save his little creatures. This could be guilt that pushed to the edge of doing such an act. There is the question, was he guilty of what he did although he also saved Aarts family and the Jews. Was he justified by his suicide that what he did that amounted to a tragedy to a young boy came back to him. Anton’s brother Peter also wanted to move the body to Beumer’s house. Was he guilty of the action he was about to take? And to make matters worse was the fact that he tried to run away and the police caught up with him Innocence would be approved only if the Korteweg family were not aware of the body outside and if they did, would take other measures like report to the authority of their discovery other than try to move it which shows they were hiding something. It can be concluded that, every person that saw the body and participated in moving it and giving ideas on what should be done is perceived guilty. However the actions are considered spontaneous and rational with the assumption anyone would do the same for their protection. Coincidence is a theme that has happened to the disadvantage of some characters and as a symbol too. When Steenwijk and his family are playing dice and the attack occurs ,Anton keeps the dice in his pocket. Dice symbolizes chance and Anton survived the ordeal. Kortewegs and his daughter were moving Ploeg’s body when the Nazis found them. Anton had to watch his house getting burned and the graphic images forever stuck in his mind. Anton kept meeting the people who were either directly or indirectly involved with his family. He meets Mr. and Mrs. Beumer who disclose to him what happened that fateful night. In 1956, during when the anticommunist’s demonstrations were being held, as an anesthesiologist, he gets to meet Fake Ploeg, Nazi’s collaborator’s son. Fake Ploeg argues that his father was innocent and even claims that he was also affected by his death as well as he dropped out of school after his death, “he did not know a thing about it, he simply did his duty, what he was told”. 1n 1966 he meets the other murderer of Ploeg, Takes , a Dutch Resistance member. He said that he could be held responsible for the deaths of the people he actually killed and not the deaths caused by Nazis retaliation. And finally he chances on Karin Korteweg, the daughter of Korteweg who gave a hand to his father to move the body to the front of Steenwijk’s house. He questions why they had moved the body to their house and not elsewhere when he hears why they had done it he exclaims, “Christ” and is shocked that the Aartse were hiding a Jewish family. These coincidences are fundamental in building up the story and helping Anton discover the truth. And this meetings keep barging his past into his present and the memories of his family linger and he opts to unsolve the mystery of his family’s traumatic death. “ And in this sense Anton Steenwijk was a Greek. He stood with his back to the future and his face to the past’ (pg 151) . The theme of good and bad can also clash in a community however negative or positive it has been portrayed. For instance, you can come into a conclusion that the Nazis are a bad people following the Steenwijks’ death, but there are good Nazis too as the one who offered to take Anton to Amsterdam himself. Anton is a man who clearly sees the world after the mind transformation events that he goes through of pain, trauma and hopelessness after the sudden loss of his family. The imagery of darkness and light represent parts of Anton’s life. The dark represent the gloomy and heart weakening events of his earlier life while the light represents his present and future life. At last, the most unfortunate of them all theme, is that of irony. It happens that Anton’s family was executed in Korteweg’s effort of protecting his lizards. In moving the body to the front of Anton’s home it spelled disaster as the Nazis arrived just then when the Steenwijk’s were trying to move the body. After so many years, Anton finally gets the strength to examine and look into his past after a long time of trying to ignore it. He is the only character who is able to do that. Take for Korteweg, he ran away to New Zealand and then committed suicide, his daughter Karin was unable to finish pursue her nursing ambitions and is now living off public assistance and Cor Takes, an alcoholic. Ploege becomes a bitter man, with no love and his eyes on revenge claiming he is a victim of ‘political revolution’. Cor is vengeful himself and cannot get over his deeds ,he even remembers his motto, ’fight fascists with fascism’. Anton finds himself listening to them falsify their arguments on the Nazis and Vietnamese Liberation front. It makes him sick as they re counter the past. Fate has played a large part in Assault. Anton’s life has been a result of fate. The other characters areb living a life carved out by their actions and fate takes over. Eventually, Anton gets over his past ,his headaches disappear, he even names his son after his late brother, ‘Peter’. In conclusion, this is a book that tells of how people live through lives on the decisions they make and also on other people’s actions. Anton as the main character is not vengeful though he is bitter about what happened. He is a victim of matters that have placed him in an unlucky spot but he pulls through nonetheless. He survives the ordeal but not any other close person to him makes it and he gets the chance to unearth the story. Though he once tried to push the memories away it became impossible for him. Digging up the past for him was settling though not fulfilling but at least he understood the events of the life changing night. “The assault” represents the society after the Second world war. A single act has left to the demise of the family a young knew. One can learn that without truth from all aspects of a happening one can easily blame others. Facts are important and when they are all together they compound to the truth. It is depicted that a moment of horrendous event can hinder and shadow the joys of the living even if they are well. Anton lived a life miserably after the parting with his beloved family. This is shown in the fact that Anton chose a profession in medicine, because it enabled him to, “close hospital doors behind him after an operation was finished”,(pg 80) . Work cited Harry Mulisch, The assault. New York, Panther. 1985 Read More