This week’s book also continued with the theme of war that we have been exploring in other novels. The recent week’s books makes me think of Ukraine in relation to the novels. In last week’s novel “Amulet”, a scene that was particularly haunting was when the ghost children marched as they sang a song. Their song symbolized the hope, love, and sacrifice that they carried with them into war. In “The Soldiers of Salamis”, Mazas is taken as a prisoner and basically sentenced to be killed. However, he manages to escape and hide. While hiding, a soldier from the other side actually finds him–but chooses to spare his life when asked whether anybody else is there. This kindness touches the heart of Mazas and he thinks about it for a long time to come. This act of peace during a time of fighting, killing, violence, and destruction is truly remarkable. It shows that even in the worst situations such as war, people that show bravery can be a beacon of hope for others. This was similar to how in Amulet, the children’s songs were so powerful that they “echoed” on even after they were gone.
When I think about this in relation to Ukraine, I think about how resilient the people of Ukraine are. I was thinking of the soldiers who stayed behind to fight for their country, while their families tried to flee the country.
I noticed that in other classmates’ posts, they also noticed the role of media in telling stories to others and future generations. Mazas’s son was able to tell his father’s story because of the television and this shows that media is a powerful resource in story telling and recounting memories. I found the telling of the story a little bit tedious however. For instance, it was a bit repetitive how they kept replaying the forest scene even though we had already heard about it. I do however think that this had a purpose– to reaffirm how important this story was to Mazas and his son as well.
A question I would have for the class is– Why do you think the republican soldier did what he did?
For me, I think that he wanted to save somebody’s life because he was sick of all the fighting. I always wonder to myself what the point of war is if both sides lose people and suffer greatly. This act of kindness in sparing somebody’s life shows that we are all human, and we can all become better by learning to show compassion to one another.
harshi jhaveri
March 29, 2022 — 11:57 pm
Hi! Great post, I really enjoyed reading it:)
To answer your question (or at least attempt to since I am not quite sure of the answer myself), I think it was a spur in the moment decision. As much as I would like to believe it has to do with an “act of kindness” as you mention, I agree with Prof Jon and how if that were the case, –assuming it is Miralles– why would he continue to fight and go onto to kill many others? This makes me believe that either the soldier saw something special/specific in him that impacted his decision or that it was an unexplainable feeling that was just made on the spot without much thought.
– Harshi
Jon
March 28, 2022 — 11:11 pm
“I think that he wanted to save somebody’s life because he was sick of all the fighting.”
OK, but if the soldier was indeed Miralles (and this is what Cercas believes), then he will in fact go on fighting throughout the Second World War, as a volunteer moreover… the Spanish civil war will almost be mere prelude to his subsequent heroics in North Africa and France.