Analysis Of The Novel 'Transit By Anna Seghers'

#2202
Prompt: 3

People are afraid of things they don’t understand. During the time of Nazi rule in Germany, many people were afraid. Gestapo prowled the streets day and night, Jews were sent to concentration camps, and the swastika draped every building. Fear, specifically the fear of the Nazis, is a constant theme included in short writings of the time, and the novel Transit, by Anna Seghers.
First, one of the short writings included in the Language and Literature study guide is about night bombings. The narrator describes the planes overhead as buzzing hornets. They sound fairly innocent, but you never know when they will release a bomb, or in the comparison of the hornet, sting you. People at the time were so afraid

of these bombers because they didn’t know when or where they would strike. The Nazis and the hornets are the same, and they both provoke fear, which is illustrated in this story.
Next, another story in the Language and Literature guide that involves fear is about the weather. The story says that the weather, bad weather to be exact, is extremely unpredictable. It also mentions frequently that fear can come from bad weather: the clouds can darken, the wind can howl, and the rain can pour. This story illustrates in a way that anyone could understand, how frightening the Nazis were, how frightening the weather can be, and how they are similar in regard to fear.
Finally, in the novel Transit, the narrator discusses the Nazis and the fear they bring. He compares the Nazis to wild ferocious dogs. They hunt and kill mercilessly. The narrator also mentions that packs of dogs have and alpha, or leader. In the case of Nazi Germany, that alpha is Adolf Hitler. He would make a demand, and it would be done. Transit explains through historical nonfiction the fear that Hitler and all of Nazi Germany invoked.
In conclusion, fear is a recurring theme in works of Nazi time, and in Anna Seghers’ Transit. People fear what they don’t understand. Evidently, people didn’t understand the Nazis, and people don’t understand a lot now.