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Stones From The River Essay

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Ursula Hegi's novel, Stones From The River, exposes the reader of the persecutions of religious beliefs, a gossiping dwarf, and the people of Burgdorf, a small German town in the time of the Nazi Holocaust. The novel is set in World War I and continues through World War II. The Second World War is brought on by the hunger of power it is known as the otherness war. 'In the Third Reich otherness is a crime.';(Chadwick 2) Hitler, a Nazi leader, wants to gain control of Germany and surrounding countries. Hitler is a feared name even in our society today. We see things through the narrator's eyes. The novel has many flat characters in it. However, some characters are more developed than others are. Each character has a connection to the …show more content…

However, St. Nicholas is the hanging of stockings to be filled with candy or gifts. 'That night Trudi left her shoes outside her bedroom door for St. Nickolaus, and in the morning they were filled with nuts and marzipan.';(Hegi 110) Catholic traditions are described throughout the novel. The talk of rosaries, communion, and the confessions of Burgdorf folk are all examples given to the reader.
In the story time frame is written Jews are being discriminated against because of their beliefs and power. It is said that Hitler fears the Jews because they are powerful. The Jews are punished, shipped to concentration camps, and killed. Hitler has many followers that believe in him. Jews are dragged from their homes and if you are a non-Jew caught being nice and helping a Jew you are also arrested and possibly killed. This massacre is known as the holocaust. There are unsuspecting religious, gender, or ethnic groups fear that a massacre may happen again. World War II is a religious war brought on to see who has more power. Innocent people fight for their countries and die to protect a fascist leader from taking over the world.
Hegi brings in literary symbolism throughout her novel. There are superstitions that, 'Lucifer tortured pagans and Catholics who had died without confessing their mortal sins,';(Hegi 58) are abundant in Hegi's novel. The reader is given references into other literary works such as Dante's Pilgrimage. There is the

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