Control
In the first chapter, Anna mentions how the Stasi was taken over by the people. Anna mentions how when the people went to the Stasi headquarters, the Stasi asked for the people’s identification cards. For them, the picture of the Stasi asking for their cards was a comic one because they already knew the Stasi knew almost everything about them so when they are asked for their identification cards the Stasi try to maintain a sense of normality.
Dead Charlie
In the fourth chapter, Miriam tells Anne about her husband’s death and how the Stasi tried to convince her he hanged himself. The Stasi did everything they could to stop Miriam from seeing Charlie’s body and when she did get permission to see him she noticed how the corpse did not had any strangulation marks around his neck. The image of the body with no marks is important because it makes the reader understand just how powerful the Stasi were and how much influence they had as they could easily claim a person killed himself even when it was clear that was not the truth.
Evil America
An important image that appears in the novel is the way America is described. For the Communist Germany, the Americans were completely evil. The people were told that their hardships were the result of the Americans working into their country and they were often portrayed as being cruel, attacking cities and killing innocent people. The image of the cruel Americans is important because it transmits the idea that the Americans had their own faults and that they were not always seen as the good guys because of certain things they did in the past.
Playing children
One of the most important images appears at the end when Anna looks at a group of children, playing in the park. The image of the playing children shocks Anna who for the past years has focused on discovering as many horrible things the Stasi did as possible. The image is important because it makes Anna realize that no matter what, the world will continue moving forward and changing until the future generations can no longer remember what the past generations were like.
