The Boy Who Dared

“‘But I like floating,’ whispers Helmuth into the shimmering darkness, and he does. It makes him feel drawn to God, as if God is drawing him toward heaven.”

This introduces the imagery of floating, which represents Helmuth’s closeness to God. Helmuth’s relationship with God is important as he grows up and rebels against the Nazis. The reoccurrence of this floating sensation shows that Helmuth remains close to God throughout his life.

“Helmuth feels electric with excitement, too. Someday he will fight for the Fatherland. He can feel it, knows in his heart that it’s true.”

The Nazi soldiers impress Helmuth and make him feel patriotic; he wants to grow up to be like them. This quote is ironic: while Helmuth is correct that he “will fight for the Fatherland,” it will not be as a Nazi soldier. Helmuth will fight for his country by going against the Nazis with his pamphlet campaign.

“Nation. Christianity. Morality. Family. Helmuth knows these things are very important.”

Hitler is able to gain people’s support by appealing to these four concepts. “Nation,” “Christianity,” “morality,” and “family” are broad concepts with near-universal appeal. As a young boy, Helmuth does not question Hitler’s speech. However, Helmuth will soon see how Hitler negatively impacts all four of these concepts.