For much of the novel Elijah seems selfish and even inhumane but in this section of reading we can see a much more personable version of Elijah. He has a friendly conversation with a small girl, and I think that he helps console her, even if slightly, over her fathers loss. Just telling Elijah about her father may have lightened the load for the girl. I also think that this girl named Suzanne was a large part of Elijah's fervor to get revenge on the Germans for what happened to her father.
I definitely connected to this section of the novel more than any other part of the novel thus far. When reading this section of the novel you realize the sacrifice of so many soldiers. Not only did they give their own lives for the country but also left loved ones such as spouses and children behind. I think that this part connected to me in this way more than any other part because Suzanne's father had a whole family that he left behind, whereas Xavier and Elijah only left behind Niska and I do not connect with her character at all. This section of reading should make every Canadian proud of what the soldiers of the past have done not only for our country as a whole but for each and every one of us.
I agree, when Elijah talks to the little girl it puts the war into perspective leaving him with the image of what the war was doing to our families, friends and loved ones left behind even if it was only poor old Niska. Part of the story leaves Niska wondering about the boys and she decides to write them even though it does no good as her translators english was poor.
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