On page 59, Death has a bold-face-type paragraph, explaining "The contradictory politics of Alex Steiner". In this paragraph he makes many points about Alex Steiner, but the last one confused me: "Point Five: Somewhere, far down, there was an itch in his heart, but he made a point not to scratch it. He was afraid of what might come leaking out."
From what i could gather about him, Alex Steiner is a member of the Nazi party, but does not hate Jews, but secretly he was glad when his rival Jewish shopkeepers were put out of business. I think Rudy's father feels torn because he felt happy about his rivals going out of business, and the coincidence that they are Jewish made him feel guilty (If that didn't make sense reread the page, things are easier to understand).
So, my confusion lies in the fact that he is afraid of what will come leaking out of his heart; he seems to be pretty neutral towards the Jews, and according to him is only in the Nazi party for the benefit of his family. My question is: what will come leaking out of his heart that he is so afraid of, and which side will it be aligned with, the Nazis or the Jews?
Whoops, I forgot to include my footnote. Sorry! It was that I had noticed that (for me) the only thing that kept this book from being too depressing was the comic relief of death's macabre humor and cynical yet accurate viewpoints on the characters in the novel.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read this I understood it as Alex Steiner is only in the Nazi party for the benefits (like you said), and even though he knows it is wrong (the itch deep down) he will not do anything about it, only ignore the "itch". Because he is afraid of what might happen to him and his family. He feels it is better to simply ignore the problem than create more trouble for himself.
ReplyDeleteWhatever might come leaking out is something that will put him in danger. His being pleased that the competition will end seems very human to me, even under the circumstances. When a competitor withdraws, one heaves a(n internal) sigh of relief. And yet that's just a business response, not a personal one.I'm guessing that the leak would be the fluid-of-non-hatred. (Yes, I know, it doesn't exist, but you catch my drift -- I hope?)
ReplyDeleteI think that somewhere, where that itch is he feels sad that all the Jewish people are dying and he can't do anything about it. He knows what is going is wrong but there is nothing he can do to stop it with out endangering his whole family. He wants the massacre to stop and has love for all the Jews especially the one that could have been his friends. He knows if he scratches that itch in his heart all of the love will come out and he and his family could come to the same fate as the Jews if they expose their love towards them. Also being part of the Nazi party makes it even harder for him to put a foot out of line because he is setting an example so they would be sure to come down hard on him.
ReplyDeleteAs I understood the passage when I read it, Mr. Steiner's itch was him knowing he is a part of the Nazi party, who tortured and killed Jews, without hating Jews. I think he "made it a point not to scratch [the itch]" because it would be as if the Nazi party found out his beliefs (in the party just for the benefits; did not hate anyone, including non-Aryans (Jews)). I saw the line, "He was afraid of what might come leaking out." as blood leaking out of his heart as death, his punishment from the party because of his different beliefs. That's just how I imagined it.
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