One scene, in which Michael has to watch the SRD beat up his schoolteacher, uses compelling language to make the reader experience Michael’s struggles and emotions. The city policemen came to arrest Michael’s teacher, Herr Doktor Major Melcher, because he spoke badly about Hitler, “This man is a defeatist!” Fritz announced to the police officers. “We’re taking him to the Gestapo!”(175)

 

The language successfully conveys Michael’s feelings of desperation, helplessness, and fear of what is going to happen to his teacher. For example, “I locked my heart away in a wee iron coffin and swallowed the key. It burned going down and tears stung my eyes, but still I said nothing.” This part of the text is particularly vivid. 

 

Michael is conflicted about what to do. Locking his heart away in a coffin symbolizing him having to ignore his emotions to do the right thing and let his teacher get killed. Sometimes, doing the “right thing” is so painful because it feels morally wrong. Instead, Michael feels an urge to be an upstander and save his teacher. 

 

However, eventually, he holds back. This moment is an epiphany for Michael because he finally understands how to let go and sacrifice, even if he wants to do otherwise. He sees the Kristallnacht through the eyes of his parents, “..saw the awful trade: one man’s life against the fate of the entire world. My heart ached, as if it were slowly eating me up from inside. Sometimes we have to sacrifice good people to win a war, Simon had told me..” The information Michael’s family collects for the Allies is crucial to winning the war, and Michael has to go to extreme measures to maintain his image as a loyal member of the Hitler Youth. This is a major step towards maturity as Michael learns to think about the consequences of his actions rather than use his feelings and instincts to guide himself.