There are many aspects of this book to interpret and analyze, but of all of them, there seem to be three primary plot devices that really highlight what the purpose of the novel is. Firstly, there is Dite's passion to open a hotel, which he accomplishes, and his greatest honor for that success is hosting a literary hero—John Steinbeck. Secondly, there is his troublesome family life with a Nazi wife and their impaired son. Thirdly, there is the premise of the novel itself, which the reader learns in the outro, as Dite explains where he lives now, what he does in life, and why he decided to tell us his story.
These thematic aspects of the novel are designed to create a sense for who Dite is and what he represents as a character. Here's an enlightening question to ask in regards to Dite's strange and confusing story: is Dite a hero?
In one way, he is not a hero, because he is not politically involved, and because he ends up in a relationship with a Nazi. He spent his money and time at a brothel before that before his boss shamed him and threatened to fire him. But in another sense, this political failure is a non-political hero, because he sees through the violence, the bigotry, and the horror of warfare and sees a real person in Lise, whom he loves. If he is a hero, his hubris is naïvete, and his punishment is that he ends up alone in the wake of WWII, punished by his state for sympathizing with the Nazis.
In the end, Dite's heroic journey ends with a scene where he breaks the narrative to talk directly to the audience from his retreat in the mountains. He is writing this book for peace and clarity, and he spends his time pursuing enlightenment and peace.
