Chapter 2 analysis

Title of selection: Fatelessness, Chapter 2

Author: Imre Kertész

Genre: Autobiographical Novel

Setting: Budapest 1940s, in Georg's neighbourhood

Historical context: WWII, Antisemitism.


The author wrote this piece to: (author’s purpose): 
To tell us how have George life changed since his father left in some way how he have been forced to mature faster.

The main idea of this piece is: 
Is to show us how george Koves have been forced to mature as he have to work and is having love encounter with his neighbour Annamarie.

The message (or theme) of this selection which the author would like us to “take away” is: 
In my opinion the is trying to show us that we all have differences and it depends and just because you are different than other does`t make you worst or better than the other one, also this depends merely on each one perception.

Characters: (Major)
Protagonist(s): Georg Koves

Antagonist(s): In my opinion we can say that one antagonist is the older sister since he have a speech v/s George and also we have the nazi regime as a permanent antagonist. Also I would like to add that we can also consider George`s mother an antagonist since she tries to make George went to live with her although his father have the right over him and George primese his father he will take care of George stepmother.

Static characters: Mr. Suto is a static character as he keeps up his promise towards George family delivering money and supplies.

Dynamic characters: George is constantly changing and in this chapter he changes along with Annamerie as they star some sort of love relathionship.

Did the author use any special literary devices in this selection such as: personification, metaphor, simile, foreshadowing, suspense, flashback, imagery, irony, humor, poetic sound devices such as rhyme, etc... List and give specific examples: 

In this chapter we can see that the narrator uses a flashback to recount his love encounter with Annamarie during the air raid. We can see when he star his flahsback to recount the love encounter in the following quote: (p.32) "The incident occured the day before yesterday..." With this flahback the author is narrator is trying to show the importance of the event and how have changed and develop George as a character, also giving away some aspects of his personality.

What was the author’s “tone” toward the subject/person/idea he wrote about? 

The author tone during this selection is much like making a recount of facts, more like going stright foward to the point, it is also more like in an informal way. We can look at this in the following quote:
"This evening too I was with her in the other room to look at the Fleischmanns' ornamental fish, because in truth we have frequently been in the habit of looking at them at other times anyway. This time, of course, that was not quite the only reason for us to got here. We made use of our tongues as well" (Page 33). He describes what he is passing through with a peculiar tone that makes this novel unique because he is very direct and tells things just as they happened without "making rounds" and evading the main point.


What “point of view” was this piece told from? List word clues that indicate this. 

 It is a 1st person narration, therefore is the recount make by George about whats going on so everything is tell in his point of view about things. I thing is not necessary here to quote because the whole novel is in 1st person and any extract you read will lead to the conclusion that evertyhing is George`s point of view.

List the conflicts in this selection (internal and/or external): 

There's one maiin external conflict, it is the discussion of George with the Steiner's older daughter, about being Jews. She feels uncomfortable because people in the street "hate" her, because she's Jewish, but for Georg it isn't really a problem. George was "exasperated" because the older sister was making a whole complex situation out of something that was much more simple and that actually depends on someones perspective so George start arguing with here until the climax occurs and she start crying after being beat by George decisive argument.

The internal conflict that may be found in this chapter is the dilemma that Georg has after speaking with his mother. He does not know what to do and is actually thinking wether keeping up with his father promise against his mother insinuations that put George into rally "headbrake"situations. His mother also told him that "love is proved by actions, not by words". He is really thinking that he will need to choose between his stepmother, consequently his father promise, and his mother.