Heritage
As an adult, Jacques's primary concern is to make sense of his childhood. He needs to know who his parents were, what was their influence in his life. Unable to merely establish an identity for himself, Jacques understands that he needs the context of his parents' lives in order to build his own. He is a product of their lives, whether he knows to what extent or not. His heritage, though a mystery to him, is still paramount, so he devotes his time to learning exactly what his heritage is.
Memory
Since the majority of the book is backward gazing, it's important to note the role of memory in Jacques life. He was just a little kid when he left Czechoslovakia, so he's dependent upon memories of his homeland and parents. The trick is that memory is unreliable. Jacques gradually begins to remember bits and pieces of his childhood, but he has to seek out triggers which will help the rest come back to him.
Violence
Jacques lives through WWII. As an adult now, he's facing a world torn apart by a brutally violent war. Although he himself professes no outward signs of violence, he is dealing with people who only understand violence as a result of what they've survived. Jacques, himself, is a victim of violence. His parents were both killed during the war, his mother in a concentration camp. If anyone is permitted to detest violence, it's him.
History
Jacques is committed to understanding what happened to his homeland because of the war. How did it happen? And why? With questions flooding through his brain constantly, he devotes most of his time to studying history. He visits archives and libraries and pours over documents. After finding some answers for himself, Jacques determines to make sense of the information he's gained in order to help other people make sense of their personal histories as well.
Mental Health as it Relates to Identity
Because of the trauma which he's survived, Jacques deals with some PTSD and intense anxiety. He has to work very hard to remain stable and is not always successful. The more he learns about his parents and his childhood, the less he has to suppress himself. If Jacques could remember everything about his past, he would have the information necessary to address the broken pieces of his psychology. Perhaps then the nervous breakdowns would cease.
