Patterns of Childhood (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Christa Wolf
- First Published: 1976
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Social realism
- Time of Work: 1932-1975
- Setting: Landsberg, Mecklenburg, and the German Democratic Republic
- Genres: Long fiction, Social realism
- Subjects: Dictators, Maturation or coming of age, 1970’s, Family or family life, Self-discovery, Memory, Politics, 1940’s, World War II, 1930’s, Nazism or Nazis, Germany or German people
- Locales: Mecklenburg, Germany, Landsberg, Germany
Characters Discussed
Nelly Jordan, a girl growing up under the Nazi regime. An impressionable, idealistic girl, she falls prey to the propaganda surrounding her in school, Hitler Youth, and the media. In spite of intense indoctrination and the silence maintained in her family, Nelly manages to preserve bits of her individual morality through feelings of secrecy, embarrassment, guilt, shame, pity, fear, and a pervasive sense of sadness. Still, she enthusiastically participates in the Hitler Youth and tries to please her Nazi teachers. With the misery of her family becoming...
[The entire page is 890 words long]
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