The Aftermath Literary Elements

Fictional historic novel

The action takes place in Germany after the end of the Second World War. The action spans over the course of a few months.

The action is told from the perspective of a third-person objective point of view.

The tone and mood are neutral.

The protagonists are the German natives mentioned by name in the novel while the antagonists are the former Nazi soldiers.

The major conflict is between two different points of view, namely a prejudiced one and an inclusive one.

The story reaches its climax when Albert is released from prison.

The novel opens with the description of a man running in the middle of the streets, chasing a dangerous beast. Both characters are used here as symbols, the first one representing the British and the American soldiers and the beast representing the former Nazi regime. This scene is important because it foreshadows just how difficult it will be for the foreign soldiers to get rid of the Nazi regime.

When the British ad the American soldiers are presented at the beginning of the novel as soldiers is an understatement because later in the novel the narrator describes how those soldiers abused their power and took advantage of the German citizens.

One of the most important allusions we find here is the idea that raping a woman was generally accepted during those times and that no man who raped a woman was punished.

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A paradoxical idea is that Americans try to fight against prejudice while they have prejudiced themselves.

A parallel is drawn between the German soldiers and the American ones. The parallel is an important one and is used here to transmit the idea that even though the armies liked to pretend they are different, in reality, they behaved the same.

The guns are used here as a general term to make reference to the idea of power.

We have a personification in the line "the cars raced down through the streets, chasing one after the other and attracting the attention of the couples who just got out for a stroll".