The Holocaust
The narrative shifts from one time period to another but they are essentially connected by a similar subject matter, which is the Holocaust. In the first part Momik, a young child of Holocaust survivors is the protagonist and the story is told through his eyes. Living in Israel with his family in the 1950s and onwards he offers the perspective of being part of a household of survivors. The narrative also shifts back to World War II in the Nazi concentration camps to tell the story of Momik’s relative. Momik is curious about the term ‘Nazi beast’ that is used by his parents and relatives to refer to the genocide of Jewish people in Nazi-occupied Europe. Furthermore, the novel also incorporates the details and occurrences in the Nazi death camps that persecuted and killed Jewish people. Grossman handles the subtopics that surround the Holocaust and its survivors in the contemporary such as stigma, denialism, and trauma.
Intergenerational Trauma
The novel’s treatment of the Holocaust encompasses the sentiments of both Holocaust survivors and the second generation of the survivors. Essentially it delves into the mindset of children of survivors who were too young during the war or were not yet born. Therefore Grossman explores how their parents readjust into society as they raise a new generation in new nations. The narrative demonstrates how Momik’s parents refer to Nazi Germany as “Over There” and the Holocaust as the “Nazi beast”. The subliminal terms are ways for parents to shelter themselves and their children from the traumatic truth and pain of the past. Consequently, the children of survivors inherit the trauma in one form of another from the anxieties and pain that still affects their parents. In the story, Momik as a child even tries to understand the Nazi beast in order to protect his relatives from it. As an adult, he finds his literary voice and explores the Holocaust and his response to it. Thus, Grossman showcases the intergenerational trauma that painful events such as the genocide can have on a family.
Literary Voice and Language
The novel is not an easy read as it is divided into four parts that have different forms from each other in terms of abstraction and literary language. Moreover, the characters in the narratives are mostly writers trying to find their voice and create literary works. Grossman creates an alternative life of the Jewish writer Bruno Schulz to explore his literary style and voice as he crosses paths with the protagonist, Momik. In adulthood, Momik is also a writer finding his literary voice as he searches how to handle the subject of violence and the Jewish Holocaust. The third part of the book delves into the story of Momik’s relative who was a children's tale writer in the Nazi concentration camps. It illustrates his journey in creating works that resonated with a commander at the camp. The stories demonstrate the power of literary language and how it is utilized to convey responses to love and also violence.
