61 pages • 2 hours read
Ronald H. BalsonOnce We Were Brothers
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2010A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The Third and Fourth Days of Creation
Ben argues for the existence of God despite the grotesque atrocities and utter hopelessness of the Holocaust. But none of these arguments are more visceral than his invocation of the third and fourth days of Creation. According to the creation narrative found in Genesis, on the third and fourth days God created the land, the oceans, vegetation, and the sun and moon. This resonates with Ben most strongly when he is at Uncle Joseph’s cabin, enjoying a brief bucolic respite from the insanity of the war raging around him. Ben recalls to Catherine:
“There we sat on that crisp, clear night, the moon illuminating the Tatra peaks, a thousand stars punching pinholes in the darkness, and the only sound was the wind rushing through the pines. And it struck me—the incongruity of it all—that in the most ungodly of times, I was bearing witness to indisputable evidence of God’s work on the third and fourth days, a world he created in perfect balance” (137).
Few of Ben’s theological justifications for God’s presence during the Holocaust are more evocative than when he tells Catherine moments later, “If you want proof of God, Catherine, go to the mountains” (138).
Chopin’s Krakowiak
Frederic Chopin’s Rondo a la Krakowiak is an 1828 composition dedicated to Polish noblewoman Princess Anna Zofia Sapieha and written under the guidance of Josef Elsner, one of Poland’s most beloved composers. For Ben, the music evokes pre-World War II Poland, before the Nazis all but annihilated its people and their way of life, when he and Hannah were still safe and happy. It is also one of many instances where sense memory allows Ben to transport himself to the past, where he carries on conversations with Hannah’s eternal spirit. Ben explains the power of these sense triggers over Thanksgiving dinner:
“It was more than just pinging a memory, wasn’t it? It was like you could once again experience a piece of the past—feel a summer breeze, smell a fragrance in the air, a drive with your friends, maybe feel an emotion like joy, sadness, or affection. Didn’t it feel like part of you was going back in time a little bit to when the song was popular?” (247).
For a man like Ben, who has lost so much and experienced so much trauma, the memories evoked by Krakowiak are more than mere nostalgia; they psychically and spiritually reconstitute a time and place that is lost forever.
The Treasure Chest
When Otto first suggests collecting the Solomons’ belongings and hiding them from the Nazis, he references “the treasure chest,” a wooden box full of “secret stuff” that Ben and Otto buried in Grandpa Yaakov’s barn when they were young (115).
Although Otto’s raiding of the chest and the valuables hidden therein represent a very real material betrayal, it also represents an emotional betrayal. By defiling a symbol of their childhood, Otto not only robs Ben of his future livelihood, but he also robs him of the youthful innocence and camaraderie represented by their shared childhood secret.
The German P08 Luger
Rather than threaten Elliot with a working pistol, Ben spends $1,250 of his meager pension on an antique German P08 Luger with no firing pin. Ben’s intent here is not to kill Elliot—which would be impossible with the antique gun—but to remind him of his Nazi roots. Moreover, the P08 Luger occupies a specific space in World War II history. In truth, the Luger is more traditionally associated with World War I than World War II; the production of Luger pistols declined in Nazi Germany with the popularity of the Walther P38 model. But the relative rarity of Lugers made them a desirable trophy for Allied soldiers, which may lend even more meaning to Ben’s decision to use a Luger rather than a more common Nazi pistol.
