ipl-logo

How Does Mulisch Use Estrangement And Isolation In The Assault

1420 Words6 Pages

Alexander Orndorff Estrangement and Isolation in The Assault In The Assault, Harry Mulisch explores the impact of a single, traumatic event upon the life of the main character, Anton Steenwijk, as well as on the lives of those around him. Mulisch uses the characters’ malformed relationships in order to communicate the alienation that they experience, as a result of the murder of Anton’s family. This social withdrawal that Anton feels leads directly to the events throughout the novel. Mulisch uses estrangement and isolation to illustrate the negative long-term and subconscious effects of trauma. Mulisch uses Anton’s relationship with his peers in Amsterdam to characterize Anton’s isolation. The first part of the novel revolves around the second …show more content…

Anton refuses to relate to those around him because he feels detached from society. Even as Anton returns to normal life, and school, he still is unable to form real bonds with his peers. In medical school, a fellow student invites Anton to a party that is in Haarlem, the city where he lost his family. Anton initially refuses to go, highlighting his reluctance to re-experience any part of the events that haunt him. However, he does eventually decide to go, and does so. While at the party he is primarily observant of those around, rather than truly conversing with people. Those people are not aware of Anton’s experiences and unwittingly upset Anton, prompting Anton to decide that attending the party “was all wrong” and that he “should never have returned to Haarlem” (61). Anton does not truly have friends, because he is not willing to share his experiences with others. Furthermore, he does not want to return to Haarlem because he is afraid that it will bring up old memories that might be painful. In addition, Anton “hardly bothered to follow” politics, causing him further separation from those around him, such as when “an English colleague questioned him about the Dutch system …show more content…

Anton was with Truus during the night that he lost his family, and this has permanently affected how Anton has romantic relationships. Saskia, his first wife, matches the mental picture that Anton had of Truus, to the point that they had the same “expression in the eyes” (138). In fact, the main reason that he married Saskia at all was because “he had… imagined what the woman whose name seemed to be Truus looked like. From the very beginning he had imagined her looking like this and not otherwise—like Saskia” (130). Evidently, the extreme trauma that Anton experienced, as well as the connection that it had to Truus, has resulted in Anton entirely basing his marriage on a single encounter with a person when he was a child. Indeed, Anton even admits that “He wouldn’t be married to Saskia now if he hadn’t met that girl under the police headquarters [Truus]”(130). Furthermore, this connection that Saskia had to Truus is ultimately what caused Anton to divorce her. The relationship between Anton and Saskia is described as “particularly close”, but “it was just because of this intimacy that their marriage had not survived” (154). The reminder of Truus was simultaneously the reason for the relationship, as well as a constant reminder of Anton’s traumatic past, which is why the marriage eventually failed. Anton’s marriage of, and subsequent divorce from, Saskia

Show More
Related
1373 Words | 6 Pages

Anticipation for the worse becomes apparent when Trujillo “dismissed Abelard with a flick of [the] wrist” (233) when Abelard brought only himself to the party. Abelard gradually feels like every invitation for any occasion was as if it was a “life-or-death affair” (233). In other words, choosing not to bring his family to a party can be a death sentence for him or even involving his family can cause his wife or daughter’s life to be taken. Abelard having this belief sways him to go out with his friends and excessively drink to prove that everything appears to be normal in his everyday life. With a drunk Abelard comes with risky quips that can cause problems to arise.

Read More
2016 Words | 9 Pages

The novel acts as a response to the era it discusses by solidifying the un-generalized version of war through fictional anecdotes of the narrator and characters (Reed 1). The emotional truth is never portrayed correctly through historic context or media while the author was able to reciprocate the sentiments of the soldiers through the graphic battles or actions written in this novel. 3. Factors that influenced the author to publish this novel was partly due to his way of coping after war, using stories to keep the imagination alive. Towards the end of the book, O'Brien revealed that

Read More
1847 Words | 8 Pages

This can only make sense if he stays with his family, however, he decides to run to Ingolstadt. He later isolates himself at the school. This indicates that his nature is to run from the problem. It explains why he decide to run from his family when they need him the most.

Read More
975 Words | 4 Pages

The emotions Anton does show are all related to his memories of the past. The way Anton views memory in the story is that it would be better if he remembered nothing at

Read More
647 Words | 3 Pages

Maryam Wasif Mrs. Overbeck IB Literature HL 12 April 2023 Limited Point of View and Metaphorical Imagery Unveils the Story In Harry Mulisch’s novel, The Assault, the author mainly focuses on figurative language and point of view to depict the night of the assault several years after it occurred. However, in Episode 4 of the novel, Mulisch puts forth a character who unveils what happened on the night of the assault and why it happened, to the protagonist, Anton. Throughout the Episode, Mulisch utilizes a limited point of view and metaphorical imagery to unveil an important aspect of the night of the assault. Towards the beginning of Episode 4, Anton engages in a conversation with Cor Takes, the person who shot Fake Ploeg in Anton’s neighborhood.

Read More
512 Words | 3 Pages

Odysseus, just like the woman, has to live with the losses and the suffering of the war, while his dead comrades, like the widow’s husband, do not. In this instance, the woman is representative of all the women in the Trojan War who lost their husbands due to Odysseus’ wrath. He does not cry for his own glory, but rather he empathizes with the widow, and therefore, identifies with all of his victims. Alcinous, through this similarity between Odysseus’ tears and the tears of the female victims of war, is able to see that Odysseus’ connection to the Trojan War is one filled with the pain of losses and guilt, but also the pain of having to carry these memories. These two aspects of pain can only coexist in a person if his identity is the Odysseus being portrayed in these songs.

Read More
938 Words | 4 Pages

Anton becoming an anaesthesiologist illustrates his desire for control and understanding (80). His thoughts of pain and how even when they are not remembered they are still felt (80) are analogous to his own personal struggles. Even though he attempts to distort his perception of reality and the effect the War had on his mental state, the pain which endured as a child will always stay a part of him. Anton represses any memory of the War, exemplifying his difficulty of accepting reality. While he can try to forget, Anton can never become who is was before the night of his family’s death.

Read More
905 Words | 4 Pages

His family has many problems including is fathers drinking party. There are many big things that happen in the story that I cannot describe in this short essay and I will describe in the actual research

Read More
1504 Words | 7 Pages

The novel focuses on coping with the death and horror of war. It also speaks volumes about the true nature of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and the never-ending struggle of dealing with it. In the

Read More
321 Words | 2 Pages

Ann is isolated with no one to talk to, and has to resort to speaking to herself, slowly convincing herself in doubt, with no one to set her straight

Read More
794 Words | 4 Pages

In Homer’s Poem, The Odyssey, Penelope is the exceptionally patient and clever spouse of the infamous hero, Odysseus, and the mother of Telemachus. One poignant factor of Penelope’s character is her patience and devotion which is displayed throughout the poem. With her husband absent for a great majority of her life for the later of twenty years and his location unknown, Penelope stays, patiently awaiting Odysseus’ return, all whilst preserving their estate and raising her son by herself. Throughout this time, she had many persistent suitors in pursuit of her, abusing her husband’s absence.

Read More
1438 Words | 6 Pages

Through this, we can see the dangers of being disconnected from others and its adverse effects on one's well-being. Both works show how being isolated from society can lead to monstrous behavior and undesirable transformations in the characters. Isolation is a feeling that people get whenever they are alone or cut off. It makes you, in a way, go crazy. After all, people are made to be together.

Read More
1034 Words | 5 Pages

He realizes he is in exile and there really is nothing he nor anyone else can do about it. By accepting his life, (luck and fate in all) of being in exile, it makes for a much calmer journey(for the time that these emotions

Read More
1540 Words | 7 Pages

Sethe and her daughter are isolated from the community due to Sethe’s killing of her youngest child, an action Sethe justifies as “put[ting] my babies where they’d be safe” but one which Paul D sees as a love “too thick” (Morrison 193). Her misjudgment fits Aristotle’s description of the fatal flaw. The trauma she experienced as a slave made her justifiably determined to not let her children return to slavery, but her panicked actions resulted in her isolation the community. As her isolation is caused by herself rather than an external force such as slavery, she is a fitting model for a Greek tragedy protagonist. Sethe’s “thick love” continues to linger after the killing, as she says she wanted to die alongside her youngest child after she killed her so she can continue to take care of her daughter, and states “[Beloved] is mine” after her realization that Beloved is her daughter (Morrison 241).

Read More
243 Words | 1 Pages

A common strength between the two mythological love stories is the use of symbolism to support the overall meaning of loyalty in love. In Baucis and Philemon, the symbol that most supports loyalty is the ramshackle home filled with warmth and joy. Baucis says to her visiting guests, “‘We are poor folk,’ she said, ‘but poverty isn’t so bad when you’re willing to own up to it, and a contented spirit is a great help too.’” This quote contributes to the author’s strength in the use of symbolism in that it effectively shows that even in their old age and poor economic condition, they are still devoted to each other and their home as seen in their cozy hearth and uplifted spirits. Similarly, in the love story Orpheus and Eurydice, Orpheus’ journey

Read More

More about How Does Mulisch Use Estrangement And Isolation In The Assault

Related Topics

Open Document