Chapter 10

     Chapter 10 is by far one of my favorite chapters.  It is also one of the saddest chapters in the book.  This chapter is a letter written from the old man to his son that he never met.  In his letter he is telling his son about how he lost his family and his beloved Anna in the bombing of Dresden.  Soon before Anna dies, she told him that she was pregnant with his child.  This chapter is so powerful that I feel like my words alone cannot describe it.  I have included some quotes from the chapter that I feel speak better than I could describe it.

"At 9;30 that night, the air-raid sirens sounded, everyone went to the shelters, but no one hurried, we were use to the alarms, we assumed they were false, why would anyone want to bomb Dresden?" (page 210)

 

"I told my parents I had to go find Anna, my mother told me to stay with them, I said I would meet them back at our front door, my father begged me to stay, I grabbed the doorknob and it took the skin off my hand, I saw the muscles of my palm, red and pulsing, why did I grab it with my other hand? My father shouted at me, it was the first time he had ever shouted at me, I can't write what he shouted, I told them I would meet them back at our door, he struck me across the face, it was the first time he had ever struck me across the face, it was the first time he had ever struck me, that was the last time I saw my parents" (page 211).

 

"I remember a single thought in my head: Keep thinking.  As long as I am thinking, I am alive..." (page 214).

 

"...a nurse was standing beside me...she apologized and touched me, doctors operated on me, they gave me injections and bandaged my body, but it was her touch that saved my life" (page 214).

 

"And here I am, instead of there. I'm sitting in this library, thousands of miles from my life, writing another letter I know I won't be able to send, no matter how hard I try and how much I want to. How did that boy making love behind that shed become this man writing this letter at this table? I love you, Your father" (page 216).

Thank you,

Olivia