KinderTransport
Discuss the role of Faith and her significance in this extract from act 1, scene 2 pg.29 ‘Lil rushes in holding a piece of cake’ to page 33 ‘What was the point in her having me if she was going to cut me off?’ and elsewhere in the play.
Within the play ‘Kindertransport’, Faith is the daughter of Evelyn, previously named Eva. She is unaware of her mother’s Jewish past and is the main agent in uncovering the truth her mother has withheld from her. As the play develops, more questions arise making Faith question her mother’s past. Faith is a persistent character who is highly inquisitive and is the only character to ‘push’ Evelyn to admit to the past she once had when living in Germany, making her highly significant in the play. Faith represents how the holocaust didn’t just affect those directly involved, the children evacuated and their families, but the following generations who still felt the impacts that the horrific event of the mass killing of 6 million Jews had on people. This is seen within the extract given as well as within the extract from Act 1, Scene 2 pg. 44 (FAITH: Don’t do this, Mother. You always do this. It only makes things worse’ to ‘Faith runs away. Lil follows her.)
Within the given extract, Faith finds the Rattenfänger book however states her mother couldn’t have read this story ‘not from this book. It’s in German’. The use of this prop aids in the curiosity and questioning Faith does towards her mother as more things become unclear to her as the play develops, supporting her role in Samuels’ play. Faith says this statement in a rather definite way, showing how ignorant she really is as to where her mother really comes from and her past life. This can make the audience sympathise with the character of Faith as she is not deserving of being lied to, possibly leading to the audience disliking the character of Evelyn. The impact the experience of the Kindertransport has on Evelyn and her family highlights the extent to which the event affected
Within the play ‘Kindertransport’, Faith is the daughter of Evelyn, previously named Eva. She is unaware of her mother’s Jewish past and is the main agent in uncovering the truth her mother has withheld from her. As the play develops, more questions arise making Faith question her mother’s past. Faith is a persistent character who is highly inquisitive and is the only character to ‘push’ Evelyn to admit to the past she once had when living in Germany, making her highly significant in the play. Faith represents how the holocaust didn’t just affect those directly involved, the children evacuated and their families, but the following generations who still felt the impacts that the horrific event of the mass killing of 6 million Jews had on people. This is seen within the extract given as well as within the extract from Act 1, Scene 2 pg. 44 (FAITH: Don’t do this, Mother. You always do this. It only makes things worse’ to ‘Faith runs away. Lil follows her.)
Within the given extract, Faith finds the Rattenfänger book however states her mother couldn’t have read this story ‘not from this book. It’s in German’. The use of this prop aids in the curiosity and questioning Faith does towards her mother as more things become unclear to her as the play develops, supporting her role in Samuels’ play. Faith says this statement in a rather definite way, showing how ignorant she really is as to where her mother really comes from and her past life. This can make the audience sympathise with the character of Faith as she is not deserving of being lied to, possibly leading to the audience disliking the character of Evelyn. The impact the experience of the Kindertransport has on Evelyn and her family highlights the extent to which the event affected