Is it credible that a twelve year old girl would be sent to a reform school for aiding and abetting a war criminal killed during an escape after having been harbored confidentially in garage hideout? Is it conceivable that two parents could be so hateful towards one daughter and not the other? Is it potential that grandparents could be so diametrically opposite the parents of their grandchildren with no logical reason? Is it believable that a parent could so savagely beat his child without suffering some repercussions even from a viciously repugnant small-town society known for its close-knit family ties? Is it so standard for a twelve year old to be able to lie so well that the consequences of those lies are allowed to dictate patterns of behavior? These scenarios are extremely unlikely in any realistic depiction of life even in the early twentieth century.
The isolated emergence of the Boy Scouts as a viable force in such a significant situation dealing with national security is laughable. Ms. Green must have notion so, too, because they were not mentioned again. In the same ludicrous vein, the idea of parading a troop of Pow's into a town already deeply sensitive and evaporative with roots replete with racial hatred seems well improbable. Despite these concerns, the story does clearly address the conflict Patty Bergen endures in trying to rule whether she should be true to her own feelings or regain the much deserved attention she craves from parents who seem incapable of being anyone but abusers.
Japanese School Girls
Patty displays the natural tendency to love her younger sibling, Sharon, and shows genuine anger from the dissatisfaction of knowing Sharon is more loved and appreciated than she is. But, love is stronger than hate. Even at her tender age, Sharon displays those traits true to the behavior of the manipulative child who knows how to use her position to the greatest advantage. But, she is merely a supporting character as the focus remains on Patty, her dedication to righteousness, and the hunt for truth. The irony is punctuated by the lies which get Patty into her difficulties as well as out of them.
Ruth is the security net with which Patty is able to overcome the complexity of her difficulties. She is real with the sensitivity that should be attributable to at least one of the parents. Her deep understanding guided Patty through ordeals to be startling only of older children. The proliferation of lies should have resulted in more severe consequences thereby delineating the fact that lies, even when told for noble purposes, should not corollary in beneficence. Such a chapter was never learned.
It took seven chapters before prompting the escape of Anton through an unlikely ploy utilizing manifest greed for a supposedly significant worthless bauble. But, the sudden transition Anton underwent to come to be a harbored Pow instead of escapee under the spell of a pre-teenager baffles me. It is understandable why Patty desired Anton, but it is delusional to think that Mr. Reiker could perhaps be persuaded by man as young as Patty to put themselves in the kind of danger so grievous it killed him. It is apparent that Anton was created more to teach Patty lessons of life rather than to advantage from her indiscretions. It seemed such a waste to have Anton die without a resolution to Patty's emotional upheavals.
Charlene Madlee gave direction and purpose to Patty, but she only served as a refreshing sip where a stifling thirst demanded more than the sporadic gems of sagacious epigrams that emerged approximately as if on request and on cue. Patty miraculously survives the merciless beatings that permeate the text relentlessly begging for a respite not forthcoming. Yet, after eighteen chapters, the theme is ultimately expressed too late to be effective. The fact that her loyalties caused her problems does not by comparison how teenagers should handle their difficulties. Too much time was spent beating the child rather than the child beating her problems.
Bette Greene had good intentions to address problems of unfounded hate learned by youth from their families and environment. But, too much emphasis was settled on parental abuse without excuse and the benefits of lying for good reason. Patty's moral fiber was too strong to have to suffer through such a desolate denouement where only depraved, immoral antagonists should be doomed to suffer such lonely unfulfillment of the loss of family, friends, and future.
Having seen the disaster and deleterious effects of parental abuse, I have a keener understanding into the point of concord, compassion, and understanding in the middle of parents and children. But, those conflicts in the middle of Patty and her parents are secondary, though implementary, to the major theme of dealing with prejudice whether religious, racial, or social. We see the effects of involvement in war and the subsequent prejudice against Russians, Germans, Japanese, and most recently, the Vietnamese as well as Iranians and Iraqians. Furthermore, there are preconceptions against South Africans, Bosnians and the Tutsis and Hutus of the African countries. No one is exempt.
The story also brings to light the inequitable association among peers within the family structure. It reminds me of my own attitude toward my children, the fact that they have distinct mothers -- yet, I have to treat them equally with the same love and devotion that they don't get from a stepmother. I perceive the point of being the educating parent who is responsible for nurturing and laying the foundation upon which children are able to build their own sets of morality and communal standards.
Occasional glimpses of brilliance emerges with witty statements that begged for further thought:
I believe that love is better than hate... That there is more nobility in building a chicken coop than in destroying a cathedral. (p.125)
And at other times I think he's beating out from my body all his own bad. (pp. 114-115)
If I ever had to reduce one for the other, which one would it be? The one who had fed and sheltered me or the one whom I had fed and sheltered? (p. 127)
One of the many outstanding qualities of Ruth emerged as she was ultimately able to give a white woman orders. The fact that she was able to pull this off gave credence to the fact that blacks would well step up and take their rightful position as professionals in fields that were once reserved for whites. This gave me great pleasure because the kinds of habitancy represented by the "caretakers" at the reformatory deserve to be informed no matter how unceremoniously. They deserved what they got and I silently cheered.
Summer of My German Soldier - Bette Greene - Book review
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