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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Odilo Unverdorben travel through Germany?

2. How does the narrator feel about Uncle Pepi?

3. How does Odilo Unverdorben's wife relax while she is pregnant?

4. What does the narrator think is happening to Odilo Unverdorben as time goes on?

5. In what condition is Auschwitz when the narrator thinks Odilo Unverdorben arrives there?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Odilo Unverdorben's language change during his time at Auschwitz?

2. As Odilo Unverdorben ages, how is the narrator affected by his time at Auschwitz?

3. Describe Odilo Unverdorben's relationship with his mother.

4. How does the killing change from Schless-Hartheim to Auschwitz?

5. Describe the similarities and differences between the narrator and Uncle Pepi.

6. How does the narrator's relationship with Herta progress?

7. How is the narrator right about Odilo Unverdorben's personality as a young man?

8. What is the importance of Odilo Unverdorben's childhood home?

9. The narrator and Uncle Pepi both see the work at Auschwitz as 100% successful. How does their agreement, from such different viewpoints, affect the reader?

10. Describe Herta's feelings about Auschwitz.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In spite of his emigration and his success in America, Odilo Unverdorben is still tormented by guilt. Cite three cases in which Odilo does something in order to alleviate his guilt.

1. How does guilt operate on him? How can you describe the nature of guilt? How does it work? When does his guilt begin?

2. Is Odilo successful at mitigating his guilt? Does his guilt end? If so, when?

3. Does Odilo ever inflict on himself the same acts of cruelty that he inflicted on other people?

Essay Topic 2

The narrator and Odilo Unverdorben are both characters in the author's narration. Does the author ever indicate his support of one or the other? Whose side does the author seem to be on? Cite specific instances from the text where the narration or the irony give you insight into the author's own point of view. How would you characterize the author's beliefs or feelings? How does the author's perspective differ from the narrator's or Odilo's?

Essay Topic 3

The narrator feels an almost religious awe at Uncle Pepi's power to create people.

1. Who else seems to have this power, and how do they use it? What are the effects of this power?

2. Are there any instances where characters resist this sense of awe with reason or pragmatism or some other form of understanding that protects them?

3. Is respect for that power a historical fact that was only exhibited in the Holocaust and select other historical instances? Or is respect for that power a stage of development, which has to be followed by regret and acts of contrition? Cite specific examples from the text in your answer.

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