The Seventh Cross Literary Elements

Historical Fiction

The novel is set in Germany in October 1936.

The story is told in third-person narration from the point of view of an omniscient narrator.

Somber, Nostalgic, Resigned

The protagonist of the novel is George Heisler. The antagonist of the novel is the Nazi regime and its authorities.

The major conflict in the book revolves around the escapees' attempt to evade the Nazi authorities and survive in a society where fear and betrayal lurk at every corner. George Heisler and the other political prisoners face the daunting challenge of staying one step ahead of their pursuers while seeking refuge with individuals who are willing to risk their safety to help them. The Nazi regime is tenacious in its pursuit, using informers and spies to track down the escapees. The constant threat of capture and the knowledge that their loved ones may be seized and sent to camps creates a pervasive atmosphere of dread.

The climax occurs when George Heisler is eventually apprehended by Nazi forces after a long and perilous chase. Throughout the narrative, George manages to elude capture and find temporary refuge with a variety of people who risk their safety to assist him. In a desperate moment, he finds refuge with his estranged wife, hoping to find protection and support. This decision, however, proves to be a disastrous one as it is revealed that his wife has been secretly cooperating with the Gestapo. The defection is a terrible blow to George who is eventually kidnapped by the Nazis. This climax scene emphasizes the recurring theme of treachery as well as the persistent fear and distrust that characterized life under the Nazi government.

"Their crowns, for a reason to be revealed at a later time, had previously been cut off and a board had been nailed across each of the tree trunks at shoulder height." - This statement at the beginning of the novel foreshadows that there is a reason behind the unique appearance of the seven plane trees but the explanation will be provided later in the story. It piques the reader's curiosity about the significance of this detail.

"When the new camp commandant arrived—his name was Sommerfeld—he immediately had them all cut up into kindling." This sentence contains an understatement in the phrase "had them all cut up into kindling." The phrase downplays the severe action taken by the new camp commandant who ordered the seven unique and strange plane trees to be cut down. Instead of explicitly stating the brutal and destructive nature of the act, the phrase suggests a minor action such as cutting wood into small pieces for burning. By using understatement in this way, the author highlights the callousness and cruelty of the new camp commandant while maintaining a restrained and matter-of-fact tone.

The planting of the "Hitler oak" in the village square is likely an allusion to Adolf Hitler, the German dictator who led the Nazi Party and became Chancellor of Germany in 1933. The oak tree serves as a symbolic representation of the Nazi regime's influence and propaganda in the village.

"The river, the tugboats lowering their smokestacks so as to be able to pass under the bridges, the shore on the far side with its bright strip of sand and above that the row of low houses, the mountains of the Taunus range in the background—for George all this had the same excessive clarity as a landscape in a battle zone in the midst of great danger when all contours stand out and sharpen until they seem to be quivering." This passage paints a vivid picture of the landscape along the river using visual imagery to describe the river, tugboats, bridges, shore, houses, and mountains. It creates a sense of clarity, making the reader feel as if they are present in that location.

The characters in the novel find themselves caught in a network of living traps where family and friends can become informers for the Nazi authorities. The people they once trusted become potential betrayers, blurring the lines between friend and foe. This paradoxical situation makes it challenging for the escapees to find genuine allies and trust others, forcing them to be cautious and constantly on guard.

"That no men ever came up here. That no legions had ever camped here with their military standards and their gods. That peoples and nations had never collided here. That not even a single man, alone on his little donkey with the armor of his faith about him, had ever ridden up here to tame the wilderness. That powerful rulers had never marched here at the heads of their followers to elections and celebrations, to crusades and to wars." In this passage, the repetition of the word "That" at the beginning of each sentence creates parallelism, emphasizing the idea that certain events have never occurred in that desolate place.

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"The land dropped down into an endless solitude." Here, the land is personified as having the ability to experience solitude which is a human emotion.