Kate Watts
12 February 2009

The Blame Game

Esther cannot help but to feel guilty about Rhys’ death and as she thinks about her rejection of his proposal, she feels guilty for his death and, through this association, her current problems (199). In the POW camp, Karsten feels upset about Jim’s loss, but Schiller says, “Can’t be guilty for something you didn’t do” (207). Karsten is also a reminded, by the newsreels, “he’s only an audience for the war now, no longer an actor in it” (206). Are imprisoned soldiers free of blame for the remains of the war and to who do they feel guilty? Karsten believes there is a link between one death and then another death, but Schiller doesn’t “want to be a link in the chain….That’s why we surrendered, isn’t it?” (208). What about Hess and the possibility of being put on trial or officially blamed for his actions, and his desire to die? My understanding of blame and guilt includes recognition of an accepted moral code, a sense of responsibility, and intent or knowledge of an action’s outcome. What is Davies’ up to? How important is blame and responsibility (or assumed responsibility) in the novel?

Danielle Yadao
Sense of Self
Guilt and blame are emotions that are threaded throughout the novel and are often used, in part, to identify a character. Esther still carries shame and guilt over the rape and she finds different ways to blame herself for it; she’s trying to make sense of what happened to her. When she was raped, a part of her identity was taken from her and she blames herself for this. Then when Rhys goes missing she is overwhelmed with guilt, she connects this guilt to her feelings about her rape: “It’s hard to escape the feeling that she, more than any of these Germans, is to blame for his loss…And it seems to her that if she’s to blame for Rhys’s loss, she’s just as culpable for her own woes” (199). By establishing this blame on herself, is Esther trying to have a sense of control over her life/identity? Karsten also feels guilt over Rhys’s missing status. Jim blames Karsten and the other German soldiers for what happened to Rhys even though they had nothing to do with it. Karsten has already felt guilty over surrendering and now he has more unwarranted guilt to contend with. “…The awfulness of it was that he felt guilty for something he hadn’t done” (208). Is he carrying guilt for his entire nation or does he just feel sorry for Jim? How does guilt and blame shape identity? And how is our identity connected with where we come from, our geographic location?

William Rannals
Discussion Starter
Dwelling on the Past

It seems as if the mindset and attitude of Karsten and Esther is formed by a previous major event. Karsten seems to be overwhelmed with thoughts of his surrender. He is not only shunned by his comrades, but he constantly thinks about his surrender and how it has changed his life. Since his surrender “he is only an audience for the war, no longer an actor in it” (206). He constantly feels guilty for surrendering and tries to justify it on many occasions. He thinks of the flamethrower casualties that he had seen and thinks about how that could have been him or Schiller or Heino if he hadn’t surrendered. In a way he had saved their lives. (212) Does he truly regret surrendering? He can’t tell his mother how he really feels or why he is really in a POW camp. Does he see himself as a coward or have these thoughts just been put in his head by his angered comrades?
Esther seems to be haunted by similar thoughts of questioning past actions. She thinks of how she could have made Rhys stay by accepting his engagement. How if she could have just loved him, she could have saved his life. Her father has no trouble reminding her that if she could have just had feelings for Rhys he would be there, alive. If she would have loved Rhys she would have never been with Colin. She would have never been raped. She wouldn’t worry about death and wouldn’t think about her father being injured in his new job. Does she let her past actions take over her thoughts, her mindset and her life? Will she ever get over the fact that she let Rhys go? Does she truly feel guilty or does she just feel sorrow for his mother, Jim and herself? Are Karsten and Esther letting a single event take over their lives?

Becca Payne

Bravery?

When Karsten escapes, Esther seem preoccupied with her lack of fear (239 & 240). While the rest of the villagers are carrying around pitchforks and going in before dark, she goes around bravely, even running home by herself late at night. Her conclusion is that she is brave because the worst has already happened to her.
I question this. Is it really bravery? I wonder if part of the reason she lacks fear is because she strongly suspects that she knows who the escapee is and because she has already talked to him and feels like she knows him to some degree? Again this brings in the notion of language being a key element in this novel. The only reason they were able to have a connection was because they both knew a second language, English. Without this common language, they would have been unable to communicate and he would likely be just another random Jerry soldier to her.