Words: 579
Passages What is the image about? – Nazis And The Holocaust The image focuses on the earlier years of Seller’s life told through someone Keller once knew well. The time is of the holocaust and of the Nazis when Keller was playing for Hitler and his men. Henries told how Keller thought he was untouchable because he had played for such a great and powerful person in that time. This image establishes a past Keller and a past that he had once found enjoyable but to have it all taken away brought the bitter and impressionable Keller that Paul knows today.
Key Quotes “A Wagner specialist. And now the heirs of Wagner came and dragged her away’ (page 136) “He had two choices: to become invisible or to become so visible that nothing could touch him. ” (page 136) “Henries removed a stud from his shirt sleeve and Jerked back the sleeve; on the outside of the leather-brown forearm I could see a tattoo, six digits, of which I remember only the first, a faded B” (page 137) How has the image been constructed? Language features and analysis.
Paul, the narrator, acknowledges in these pages the images of Keller and his past which are equally saddening, haunting and memorable. The image has been constructed as Keller educates Paul about the basis of life through music metaphors and Paul discovers other cultures and lives through Seller’s experiences in Vienna. Pall’s first impression when Henries is describing a past Keller is of a noble man willed by his beliefs and defined by his actions. Glasswort uses an ellipsis to convey Pall’s surprise and bewilderment at Seller’s ignorance and his actions. Henries removed a stud from his shirt sleeve and Jerked back the sleeve; on the outside of the leather-brown forearm I could see a tattoo, six digits, of which I remember only the first, a faded B. ” This describes the tattoos workers were identified by at labor camps that used the inmates as slave workforce. Both Keller and Henries have these on their bodies. Glasswort also contrasts Seller’s career with Hitter’s. He does this by asking Keller how a man who considered himself an artist could be capable of such a shocking act. Y the Nazis to best represent their German racial ideals) -“A Wagner specialist. And now the heirs of Wagner came and dragged her away. ” Especially interesting is the way Glasswort, when Paul asks to be educated about Keller, simply writes “He died”. This statement in Pall’s mind is totally incorrect and he argues with Henries about the validity of his statement. What is the meaning and effectiveness of the image? Purpose and Significance. The image that is built in the responders mind is both meaningful and effective in conveying the topic of distinctively visual.
The words used paint a particular image in our mind and shape the meanings of Seller’s life through the language and techniques used. The meaning of this image is to portray Keller in another life which Paul had frequently wondered and asked about but never got any answers. The imagery reveals Keller to be a character torn between pride and ignorance, a selfless man. The breaking apart of his family and actions that overtook him when he realized what had been done to his wife and son contrast his nature and attitude towards the surrounding people and his actions towards making Paul a better ‘him’.