Both characters appear to have the main role in the texts. This is so they can be
presented more like heroes and the authors for both texts believe it would be easier to make the
main character appear as a hero than a background one. An example of this how Keneally
portrays Schindler in a way in which the reader can relate to him as a normal person with faluts.
Being the
centre point allows more time to go in depth in descriptions of appearances and emotions. This
allows Schindler to appear to have mixed feelings about many situations, as he does throughout
the novel, making him a complex character. An example of this is at the start of the novel Amon
Goeth and Oskar Schindler are friends but as the story progresses they both choose different
paths. Keneally starts to symbolise this as an epic tale of good versus evil in which good shall
prevail.
In both novels the use of real names and places affects the mood of story telling since it
keeps the audience keen about the historic importance. This is a method both Keanelly and Gallico
use effectively since the locations used are real places. Using Dunkirk to set the location was
important for the whole story to come together since Gallico really only used two characters
throughout the text which makes the audience think how can a hero be made with just two
characters.
This is entirely different to Schindler since he has been located in Nazi-occupied Polish city of
Cracow in which there are thousands of vulnerable Jews who need a saviour. This is one of the
primary reasons why Schindlers a profiteer from the war (who at the start of the novel doesnt
care about the jews) has been described as an “unlikely hero”.
The war itself was a major benefactor for both characters especially Rhayader to look
like a martyr. The authors used the war in both texts differently to each other, in Schindlers Ark,
Keneally used it as a ever presence evil which you couldn't escape from. “At night the Ukrainians
took them away in barrows and buried them in the woods on the far side.”
Unlike Keneally, Gallico didn't use the direct format to describe the war for many reasons
since his character was first of all almost blind to the war even taking place also he was isolated
from any realities of the war. Instead he used its a backdrop in which the audience was only told
of the war through stories an example of this is when Rhayder has to leave in his boat because he
has heard that British Soldiers are trapped and need his help.
The violence in the war is a way in which Keneally shows how his characters react to
aggressive behaviour and violent situations. An example of this is when Amon Goeth is described
killing inmates the camp from the balcony of his villa the Jews mean nothing to him, he just sees
them as targets to improve his shooting accuracy. Violence is not used at all in “The Snow Goose”
this is probably again due to Rhayders isolation from the world and so he wouldn't experience this.
Gallico has written a war story without any violence but instead he has shown some positive
themes that may come out of a war. Keneally uses love as a more complex theme throughout his
story this is because unlike Schindler, Rhayader had not been cared for by anyone throughout his
life, Keneally uses the goose as a symbol of unity in which the goose unites two different kinds of
people together .
“She was no more than twelve, slender, nervous and timid as a bird, but beneath the grime as
eerily beautiful as a marsh faery”
Gallico shows that the girl was “desperately frightened of the ugly man” using simple
language the writer presumes the audience will relate to what the girl is witnessing infront
of her. This is the first scene in which all three characters are together and as the years go bye it
stays like that. Since Rhayader has never loved or been loved he doesn't know how to deal with
the emotions he is feeling. This allows Gallico to portray the goose as a go between for both
characters to show there affection through the goose this also true for Keneally towards the end
of the novel in which the Jews show there affection towards Schindler through making him a gold
ring. Keneally also uses the ring as a sign of affection and that of the lives Schindler has saved
from almost certain death.
Symbolism is a constant emphasis throughout the text because it can stand not for a single
reason but a whole variety . An example of this is Helen Hirsch in which Schindler wins her in a
game of blackjack from Amon Goeth. This symbolises a triumph victory of good over evil also it
shows that he has saved a life.
Another factor of both texts is the narrative styles used throughout, Gallico uses the simple context
of third person narrative without changing. He may have done this to almost shut off the audience
with reacting to what is going on around them. The written style is very simple and in some parts
of the text it appears to be very effective, the language used is poetic which allows characters like
Rhayader to express their feeling e.g. Through his paintings of all kinds of birds he has seen during
the time he has spent at the abounded lighthouse.
Keneally on the other hand uses all three narrative styles throughout the novel his style is
similar to that of the famous film maker Quentin Tarantino in which he allows the audience to
believe they are there but cannot react with any of the characters but instead they can only
witness the events which are going around. This is much more effective way to keep the
audiences suspense and it is a much more dramatic climax in which to build a super hero status
for a character which such qualities like Schindler shows.
Being an “Unlikely Hero” in Rhayders case is true since he is physically deformed and
the audience are not expecting a loner to achieve anything miraculous to that of a fictional super
hero.
Also Rhayder isn't able to communicate with others very well so he isn't the ideal hero which the
audience would picture.
In the 1993 hit movie “Schindlers List” directed by Steven Spielberg , Schindler appears to
be a hero in his own right, since he lives in a world in which violence is a common problem in the
streets of Cracow. Like in the novel Spielberg shows that Schindler had some qualities which
flourished and which abled him to be labelled as a hero. This can be witnessed in the scene where
Stern is being transported to a concentration camp in which death awaits him, Schindler manages
to save him by bullying the guards into letting him go. There could be two motifs for Schindlers
actions which are first that he needed Stern to guide his factory into making a profit so Schindler
could be remembered as a success in the business field. The second could be that he has started
to realise it is he who can save all his people from death.
Like the film the novel is slightly like the characterisation of Schindler, in which he
continues to grow wiser and begins to act out more like a modern day hero of that nature would.
This can be seen through his affection towards his wife Emilie, during the start of the novel he
does not care much for her, but as it continues the theme of love starts to grow, Schindler stops
drinking and being a womaniser, he is able to see that there is more of a reason he came to
Cracow than just being a war profiteer.
Rhayder also grows as a character in the sense he begins to feel love and is loved back
by Frith, we can see that Gallico had always described Rhayader as affectionate but that side of
him was only shown towards his paintings and birds he kept, but not to another human being. The
importance of the goose (like Stern for Schindler) allows Rhayder to open up to Frith, and he isn't
a social recluse due to the goose. Again this relationship only occurs between the two when the
goose is at the lighthouse and when she isn't neither is Frith. In both novels the theme of love is
strongly linked to the characters becoming heroes, in doing this the authors show that the herioc
acts that occured by both characters were done through love.
Schindler is seen differently to Rhayader because at the end of the novel he is shown
affection by the Jews he had saved. This is something Rhayader was unable to feel although he
went to save the soldiers he was never praised by anyone except the narrator. He was never
really appreciated even by Frith whom only found out they were in love when they were finally
separated at the end of the novel. Gallico seems to have done this to make the text appear as a
tragic war story, in a way it finishes off how it started in which Rhayder is by himself where no
body knows, He becomes the unsung hero of the war. Gallico purposely makes Rhayder perish
away without a sign for his heroic deeds .
Since Schindler is in a place( Cracow) in which violence is an everyday occurrence it was
waiting for a hero to be made. This is a major advantage for Keneally because it is easier for the
characterisation of Schindler to appear as a hero in a world which has many villains. In “The
Snow Goose” although this text is set in war time Rhayader is isolated unlike Schindler who is
based in the middle of all the trouble.
As seen in the movie Schindler had a grave in which thousands of the Jews he had saved
came back to show there affection by each placing a stone by his grave as a tribute for his heroic
and selfless act. Like at the end of the novel Schindler is considered a true hero unlike Rhayader
who vanishes without a trace along with his Lighthouse which was blown up by a German pilot
after being mistaken for an active military objective.
Altogether the term “Unlikely Hero” describes both Rhayader and Schindler correctly
because they didn't have the looks, characteristics and objectives a fictional hero would have but
they are only human and many real modern day heroes have had flaws in their characteristics.
Being isolated from people and the war itself left Rhayader an unsung hero in many terms
since he wasn't recognised like Schindler for saving the lives of the British soldiers who were
trapped on the coast. Both were again unlikely heroes because they did not seem capable of what
they achieved at the end of the both texts . There are also motifs which could be justified as for
personal gain in the case of Schindler employing Stern not to save him from being prisoner at a
concentration camp instead he is using him to make sure the factory gains a profit and will allow
Schindler to become a success in business for the firs time in his life. Another flaw in Schindlers
Character is him abandoning his wife in Germany while Schindler lives the high life in Poland,
drinking every night and sleeping around.
Rhayader also doesn't seem to be an ideal hero since he has a deformity which prevents
him from making the same kind of impression a hero would in his same situation. On the other
hand both characters are not unlikely heroes because the situation they were put under allowed
them to appear and shine as a hero and in both cases it was the war in which they sacrificed
themselves to help others in their time of need. It seemed both characters had grown throughout
the texts which allowed them to become heroes in other peoples eyes.
Since both characters were based in real places it was more effective due to the audience
being able to relate with it and recognise what both characters went through. Schindler seems to
be the character that stands out the most since he is the character who was the villains turned
saviour, because of this the heroic deeds he had done seemed to wipe away his intentions he had
left Germany for, at first he had seen the Jewish workers as just a way to make profit but at the
end he respected them enough to sacrifice everything he had.
“He who saves one life saves the entire world”
This quotation is an important one to describe Schindlers courage and heroic acts towards all the
Jews he had saved.
Word Count: 2693
By Rajvinder Bal 13:15
