Critical Analysis of “Walking Since Daybreak: A Story of Eastern Europe, World War II, and the Heart of Our Century” by Modris Eksteins

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Table of Contents

Introduction
The Second World War
Hour Zero
Key Themes
Shortcomings Of The Book
Latvia
Summary
Conclusion
Reference List
Footnotes

Introduction

The book Walking Since Daybreak: A story of Eastern Europe, World War II, and the Heart of our Century by Modris Eksteins is a story of war and family at a time when the nation of German was going through tough times. It is centred on two of the world’s greatest events. These are the first and the second world wars.

The author presents a story of a people mixed with fear, anxiety and hope as the main characters of the book are caught in the traumatic experience of the war. This essay seeks to explore the main aspects of the story as far as the author’s writing style, source of inspiration and conveyance of information are concerned.

The writer of this essay is of the stance that Modris Eksteins sufficiently and efficiently manages to achieve the sole purpose of writing the book.

The information in this book is told in such a way that the reader gets the full perspective of what was happening at that time. The fact that the author tells the story from a first person point of view lends credence to the story.

Because Modris tells of his personal experiences and those of other people he was close to, the reader is left with no doubt that all that is written in the book is certain and actual. The information in the book also tallies with other historical works that were written on the same topic of the two world wars. The correlation of these two further lends credence to the accuracy of the information presented in the book.

The language used by Modris Eksteins is the most appropriate type of language to describe such a situation as this war. This is because the author vividly describes all the events and sceneries in such a manner that leads to exact conceptualisation of the whole situation.

The author’s use of poetic language that keeps the reader turning the pages is a major aspect that has contribute to the worldwide acknowledgement of the literary work as one of the greatest historical works that have ever been written on the first and second world wars. This rating was done by prominent historians who obviously rated the content of this book as appropriately detailed and presented.

Through the story of his family, and most specifically his grandmother, Modris Eksteins not only tells his personal version of the two world wars but also the story of hundreds of thousands of other families that went through the same ordeal. The book tells of a time when the Baltic countries were thrown into a terrific pandemonium that was as a result of two great wars that paralysed any human activity in the region.

The hard times and the struggle that the author and his family went through during this period were replicated among millions others who were forced to move back and forth around the lowlands that are next to the Baltic Sea.

As a matter of fact, countless families were left homeless and were forced to spend many nights in the biting cold¹. This was also the period that the countries involved in the first and the second world wars lost thousands of people, mostly women and children, to diseases such as malaria and pneumonia.

Modris Eksteins’ great grandmother is perhaps the character whose experiences impact on the lives of each and every of the other characters in the book. The great grandmother, who is simply described as the “girl with flaxen hair” is right at the onset of the story when she serves as a chambermaid for a prominent German baron.

It is through an unexpected twist of events that the author’s great grandmother ends up bearing a child to the very German baron who had been her master.

It is openly astounding how the author can interweave the events of the nineteenth century with those of the twentieth century and still manage to bring out the correlation and relevance that each of them has to the other.

This strength of the author portrays him as a great historian who is in a position to create an amazing connection between historical events that happened at different times and in different places. The events happened at different times because there is a gap of more than a hundred years between them.

They happen in different places because while the story of the Modris Eksteins’ great grandmother takes place in German, the second part about the story of the author’s family takes place in the lowlands that border the Baltic Sea.

The Second World War

The book is not only about the history of the Baltic nations during, before and after the Second World War but is also partly a personal autography of Modris Eksteins. The story is majorly about the state of the author’s family before, during and after the Second World War.

Through the author’s first person narration, the reader gets an insight into the devastating effect that the Second World War had on the families that were victims to the war. Before the war, the family that is described in the earlier chapters of the book is one that is happy, big and has almost anything that they could ever wish to have.

However, in the course of the war, the author sadly recalls as he loses everything that he once held dear. It all begins with the massive loss of property. The property was either looted by soldiers or other people or was set ablaze by arsonists from their opponents.

As Modris Eksteins watched as their property went up in flames, little did he know that this would translate into the loss of human lives and not just other people but his own family members. The history professor from the University of Toronto vividly recalls as one after another of his family members were lost to the Second World War.

It all began with his younger and more energetic brothers and cousins who were forcibly recruited into the on-going war. Because of lack of military experience, they were easily taken down at the first shootout. Other people were lost through imprisonment, brutal murder and displacement.

The most painful part of it is when the author’s home was raided by armed soldiers who then killed almost everyone including those that were too weak to fight back in retaliation. The seriousness of the situation is brought out when the author narrates how he narrowly survived the whole tragic period.

Any reader would agree with the writer that it is through a series of luck that the author of the book was able to live till the end of the Second World War. The book therefore serves as the most appropriate outlet of Modris Eksteins’ tormenting experiences and thoughts. In writing this book, the author hoped to get rid of the nightmares and wild dreams that had never ceased tormenting him ever since that tormenting fateful war.

Hour Zero

It was almost unbelievable that after what seemed like an everlasting storm, there suddenly came a period of total silence, hour zero². With Hitler’s death, it was the conviction of every mind to recollect on the ugly experiences of that war.

Although almost everything had been turned into heaps of smouldering rubble, the very thought of peace at last was overwhelming, especially due to the high level of insecurity and turmoil that had rocked the Baltic nations. It was a time to rebuild what had so far been lost. It was also a time for getting rid of the experiences and building a new life that won’t be ruined by the effects of war ever again.

Key Themes

In this book, Modris Eksteins tactfully includes key themes that are the heart of this century’s political world. These themes include totalitarianism, self-determination, fanaticism and war. The author keenly looks into each of these themes and their effect on the war and its outcome.

The reader does not miss to get the role that such factors played in the cause, propulsion and even the stoppage of the war. The author’s story is one that appraises the great values in society that lead to liberation and disregards some of the traits that are likely to lead to a repeat of the Second World War.

It is indeed true that the author of this book portrays life in the Baltic nations and the troubles their citizens had to go through during the Second World War. All this is evident in a statement the author makes at the beginning of the story when he describes the whole situation as “images of civilization in ruins.”

The heartrending experiences that the Baltic republics went through because of their positioning between Russia and German are emphasized throughout the story. The nationals of these republics suffered continuous abuse from these two nations which were superior to them³.

Shortcomings Of The Book

Modris Eksteins’ maternal great grandmother, Grieta Pluta, is the main focus in the whole book because she is mentioned on virtually every page of the book. The main subject of discussion about Grieta Pluta is her involvement with the aristocratic German baron.

However, one shortcoming of the book is the thoughts and speculations that Modris Eksteins has concerning his great grandmother. Although they never met, it is quite strange and unexpected that the author goes ahead to draw conclusions about her basing on the German baron’s obsession with her.

This could be misleading because the author never had the chance to know his great grandmother on a personal basis. The second shortcoming of the book is its lack of organisation. It is not clear whether it discusses the author’s autobiography, the Second World War or the history of the Baltic republics. It simply intermingles these three into the text at the same time.

Latvia

One of the things that the book successfully puts across is the way of life of the citizens of Latvia. This is where the author was born. The book focuses on a brief history of the same. It tells of the struggle of the author, his family and other countless people in a bid to survive those trying moments during the Second World War.

Latvia is first brought into context with the mention of Grieta Pluta, the author’s great grandmother. She was also a native of Latvia before she moved to work for the German baron who then became her husband. The author inherited the aristocratic blood of the German baron when one of the couple’s daughters got married to one of the Eksteins.

Summary

After a critical analysis of the book Walking Since Daybreak: A story of Eastern Europe, World War II, and the Heart of our Century by Modris Eksteins, the position of the writer of this essay has not changed. Although the book may contain a number of flaws, it is still the best resource for the history of the Baltic republics and the Second World War.

It can also be helpful to those who want to get a glimpse of the author’s biography. It also exposes the tragic circumstances that the author, his family and other people went through during the Second World War.

Conclusion

From the foregoing discussion, it is evident that Modris Eksteins’ book is an expansive historical account of the lives of the citizens of the Baltic republics as well as their tragedies during the Second World War. Most specific, though, is the author’s biographical account which is dominated by thoughts of his great grandmother, Grieta Pluta.

The book also presents an insight into the culture and history of the author’s birthplace and hometown, Latvia. In addition to that, it is also clear from the above critical analysis of the book that there are many untold stories of the victims of the Second World War, especially the Jews.

Reference List

Gilbert, Martin. The Second World War. London: Phoenix, 2009.

Jardine, Bayne. World War Two. Harlow: Longman, 1968.

Keegan, Jerry. The Second World War. London: Penguin, 1989.

Footnotes

¹ Martin Gilbert, The Second World War (London: Phoenix, 2009), 31.

² Bayne Jardine, World War Two (Harlow: Longman, 1968), 201.

³Jerry Keegan, The Second World War (London: Penguin, 1989), 13.

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