Genre
Memoir, Eyewitness History
Setting and Context
Prague during World War Two and during the oppressive Communist years that follow
Narrator and Point of View
The narrator is the author who tells events through her own experiences and therefore her own point of view
Tone and Mood
Oppressive and threatening
Protagonist and Antagonist
The Czech Jews are the protagonists and the Nazis the antagonists
Major Conflict
There is major conflict as a backdrop to Hedy's story as the Nazis and the Allies are at war. The Second World War is the major conflict.
Climax
The liberation of the death camps by Allied troops and Hedy's return to her country as a Holocaust survivor
Foreshadowing
The deportation of the Jewish people of Prague to the ghetto holding camps foreshadows their imminent deportation to the death camp
Understatement
Hedy states that her former friends are afraid of retribution which is an understatement because they are literally scared for their lives and conditioned to believe that being seen to go against the status quo can get them executed
Allusions
No specific examples of allusion
Imagery
The imagery is all dark and demonic and paints a picture that is gray and colorless reflecting the lives of the people and of Heda at the time
Paradox
Heda and Rudolf believe that Communism will bring an equality that the people of Prague have not experienced but in truth Communism is just the same Fascism they have just experienced just with a different name
Parallelism
There is a parallel between the way in which the Communist party bigwigs and the previous incumbents of the Nazi party live in luxury whilst the ordinary people in the street are oppressed and living in poverty
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The Party is used to encompass individual members of the Communist government
Personification
No specific examples of personification
