Categorias: Todos - trauma - guilt - survival - war

por Simon Nguyen 5 anos atrás

1030

Characters In Reckoning

Both Ashoke and Zbigniew seek a new beginning in the western world to escape their troubled pasts. Zbigniew, a natural leader, was deeply marked by his experiences during the war, including his 20th birthday in a cemetery during an uprising.

Characters In Reckoning

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1AAY4LCEiufS0LEbRmAwihlvY2iLxS5oU

Characters In Reckoning

Zbigniew

Chapters
'My father's people' 19
'Leon Uris' - 93
'The stone of madness' 314
Jaduiga

'My mother was a brave woman...' 302

Mieczyslaw

'Mieczyslaw was a harsh task master.' 102

Life

Family had been affluent with photos of them on holiday

Zbigniew was in awe of his 'impeccable moral character' 19

Worked as a policeman until he left due to corruption

Born in Warsaw 1894

Hiding his past

Dispite his efforts to hide the past, his family are undoubtedly impacted by this second hand trauma

transgenerational trauma

intergenerational trauma

Names

"With all of his might he tried to reason it out of existance" - 366

Zbigniew -> changes to "Peter" willingly. Another way to assimilate

Epistemological violence

Zbigniew Szubanski experiences epistemological violence during his settlement in 1960's Australia, willingly adapting the name "Peter' in an effort to assimilate and firther suppress his dramatic Polish past.

Wants to change his name to get rid of his past

The changing to a 'normal' western name, - the idea that western ways are superior

Strugges to connect with his children

Tennis

He didn't want his daughter to be weak, just like the people during the war??

"He was trying to cure me of weakness"

"I was always terrified that one of my kids would be a traitor" - 365

Trepanning - PG 365

Puts a lot of emphasis on education becuase he missed out on it

He wants his children to have the privliaged that he never had

Places very high expectations on the children

Trauma - feels guilt for killing Polish collaborators during the war

Hiding(repressing) his shame worsens it "calcified guilt"

However, the "stone of madness" remains

Acts as if he's buried the guilt thorugh successful migration

Purposely vague about details

Hides this from his family

Wants to let go of his past life, absolute assimilate
Cathloic for traditions, but didn't really follow religon
Felt lucky to have survived the war when so many others didn't
Magda meets an old war buddy of Zbigniew and tells us that...

Those who didnt escape and surrendered were sent to POW camps

Last time he saw Zbigniew was at 7 o'clock when he want into the sewer. 2 September 1944

After a month of fighting a losing battle, survivors and fighters tried to flee their old town though the city sewers

It was Zbigniew's 20th birthday in the cemetry at the first hour of the uprising

It was the first mement of freedom, first piece of free Polish Soil, after six years of humilition

"It's started. We must assemble at the Evangelical Cemetry"

"We've lived to see ths moment"

"Boys, we're starting the fight against the Germans"

Gave Magda, Zbiniew's letters

Full of Homor

He was a born leader

During the war
During the War
Fought the uprising against the germans

Escaped to scotland

The soviet army would then advance after a month to a city in ruins

Liberating a broken city

SS soldiers went from door to door executing any women and children

200,000 people died in the war??

Constantly bombarded and fighting from street to street, the polish strugged to hold on, but the soviets did not come to their aid

"We never expected that the Germans would be so cruel"

We accepted the fact we could die, it was the price of war

20,000 people were murdered in the first ten days of the uprising

ANy captured resistance fighters were shot on the spot

Soviet army stood idle becuase they wanted a post war Poland to take without any reistance

But the soviet army stood idle becuase they wanted a post war Poland to take without any reistance fighters

Any captured ristance fighters were shot on the spot

The uprising would wail without the Soviet's hep

Captured back strategic areas around warsaw

In 1943, he graduated from the Underground Officer School to become a member of the elite secret unit 993W commanded under the polish government in exile and are responsible for carrying out executions

German Police everywhere

"Not easy to kill your own"

He had to Catch bad buys and shoot them in the face from close up

993W would Kill anyone who betrayed poland, even their own people

Dark and tormenting job
Was part of the underground government's execution squad
A key figure in the resistance
Couldn't bear to watch Jewish Holocaust
He was 15 when the war broke out
Only a teenager when Poland was invaded
Born and Grew up in Warsaw

Comparision

Both Ashoke and Zbigniew think that a new start in the western world will help them overcome challenges of the past

Magda Szubanski

Adult life
Literature

Important in finding her identity, Leon Unis - 93 -> depictions of Poles is worse than Magda imagined

"Some, Magda, some. You always have a choice. Some people did the right thing." - 95

"Tell me! Were the Poles as bad as the Germans?" - 95

"I knew we were on the same side, the good side" - 93

Chapter tells us what the Polish really did during the war

Challenges

"Stone of Madness"

The way of coping

Is this part of the stone of madness?

The ways that Peter and Magda try to deal with same and identity is to bury the problem

Still treats her as a child (sometimes)

Sometimes feels belittled by her father

Struggles with sexuality

Parents

Underestimated them, misjudged their reaction

Feels guilt after coming out to her parents

Catholic upbringing

makes it even harder for her to come out

"My God was not a god of love. He was a pre-Vatican god of fear and damnation." - 85

Cultural context in Australia during the 70's onwards was very conservative sexual fluidity was not generally accepted, many people were in fear for being 'outed'

Worried about what her parents would say

Disowned

Subtopic
Migrated from England to Australia when she was 5

Margaret

Experiences loneliness and disconnection in Australia - Similar to Ashima?
Still very supportive of Magda
Physically absent - working a lot, while peter is somewhat emotional absent
Mother
Meg
Father
Luke John McCarthy/Carty

Family

Died at the age of 62

Raised 3 Children

After the war

Overcame his shellshock

Returned to ireland and then moved to scotland

Luke got discharged in 1918

His shellshock made him want everything to be quiet, including his children

Very distant with his children

His shellshock made him have rage fits

"sickness" Having Shellshock

War Period

Blown up body parts and dead Englishmen were on the battlefield that he had to cross

Luke joined the army 5 days after leaving prision becuase he was too poor

200,000 irish men join the fight

When he was released out of prision, WW1 was already started

Before the war

Luke was sent to prision for 3 years by stealing food and tobacco

Luke was working in a hotel + alcohol store

No proof that Grandfather Luke was in the IRA

They were living in ruins

Early Life

He changed his last name to Carty to attempt to erase his irish culture

At 17, Luke had lost his father and 10 of his siblings

Luke's mother gave birth to 13 children, but only 3 survived

Luke was 17 when his father died