Fatelessness - Chapter 1 Questions

In this post, as the title says, I'll answer some questions about the first chapter of the novel Fateless. Hope you like the answers and don't forget to comment!

1.  What characters are introduced in this chapter?

Georg Koves (protagonist), his parents (divorced), stepmother, grandparents, many uncles (Lajos is one of the most importants, for his advices to Georg), the baker and his wife (he hates Jews), Annamarie (neighbour), Mr. Sütô (employee of the family that will be in charge of valuable things).

2. Choose two characters and select a quote to describe them physically or psychologically.

Georg Koves:"I too spoke a few words to Mother, though I no longer remember what. I think she may have been annoyed with me because I was obliged to be a little short with her, what with Father being there" (Page 4). In the quote, we can have an approach to Georg's attitude of life. He doesn't remember what he spoke with his mother, making him a careless boy. Also, the problems with the divorce of his parents have made him to be closer to his father and don't demonstrate warmth with his mother.


Uncle Fleischmann: "was utterly unnoticeable beside him [Uncle Steiner], being a diminutive man of immaculate appeareance, with white hair, ashen skin, owlish spectacles, and a perpetual slightly worried air on his face" (Page 23).  It describes him as an unnoticeable, old man, that is constantly worried about what's happening and what could he do to fix it.

3. What is the narrative technique? Provide evidence

Point of view: protagonist narrator (first person) "I didn't go to school today" Page 3.

Narration: indirect narration (not to the reader) "By then, I was dead tired anyway. All the same, I thought, at least we were able to send him off to the labor camp, poor man, with memories of a nice day" (Page 26). He is just telling what he feels, not necessarily to the reader, but just to himself.

Speech: free indirect speech (characters thoughts/speeches are told by them. The rest by the narrator). "Still, he appealed to my judgment, rather than the law, and to the difference between my stepmother, who had 'created a cozy family home' for me, and my mother, who had 'deserted' me" (Page 25). The narrator tells the story and quotes what the other characters have said.

Tense: past tense (the story already happened) "I didn't go to school today" Page 3.

4. Describe the setting of this chapter

The story takes place in Budapest, capital city of Hungary. The WWII is going on, and that's why the boy needs to wear a yellow star in his arm and gets bothered by the air raids.