Bomb Shelters (Germany)

Summary:
 Bomb Shelters, are commonly known as Air-raid shelters. They were built for citizens as protection during bombings in WWII. Bomb shelters could also be thought as bunkers. Recently, an old WWII bomb shelter that protected many citizens in Carshalton Park, has been found, in Germany.

This bomb shelter could hold up to a thousand people. Historians have said that the Carshalton Park was hit many times due to the German Luftwaffe bombers during the war. Historians believe that the shelter “consisted of a rectangle of four corridors, approximately five feet across”.

This was the only way for anyone to survive bombs and other massive weapons that were used to attack, in WWII. Not many civilians died because when the sirens began - most civilians, like Liesel’s family and friends, fled to their nearest bomb-shelters for protection.

Relevant Quotes:
This Bomb Shelter can also be related to the Book Thief. One example is during the air-raids or bombings in Germany, Liesel and everyone else on her block flee to 45 Himmel Street’s basement.
Their basement was approved to be safe and had protection against any air-raids that might fall towards them. Hans Hubermann states during the first air-raid or bombing, “This way…..we can hear when the raids are coming even before the sirens start. They make a cuckoo sound and then announce the regions at risk.”

This siren will make sure the people are aware of another air-raid and that they should move to a safe place. The Narrator says that, “Even from the cellar, they could vaguely hear the tune of bombs.” This shows how loud and violent the air-raid was.

The Narrator once again says, “…to shut out the din of the basement, Liesel opened one of her books and began to read.” This shows how she kept everyone calm and entertained in the cellar while the real air-raid ended.

Interesting Facts:
People would bring games, books, food and bottled drinks inside these shelters to keep themselves entertained while the air-raids took place.

Several people and many families sheltered themselves under their staircase for protection because they thought it was the best place to be.

One in every five schools and buildings were destroyed or damaged by bombs.

Here is a video for you to watch about an air-raid shelter recently found in Devonport Park;

Thematic Comparison

Harrison Bergeron vs. Matilda

Kurt Vonnegut’s Harrison Bergeron and the novel Matilda by Roald Dahl both demonstrate that society has neutralized people’s advantages.  These texts show how Matilda’s and Harrison’s talents have been restricted and how these characters stand up to it to reveal their talents.

Both texts depict the characters talents are restricted.  In Matilda, Matilda is a four-year old genius but has grown up in a family that hates reading for enjoyment and demands that the family eat their dinner in front of the television every night.  Matilda really wants to go to school and the public library, but her parents say no.  Therefore, Matilda teaches herself to read, do double-digit mathematic problems and make things move with her mind.  As Roald Dahl points out they are parents who were “so wrapped up in their silly lives that they failed to notice anything unusual about their daughter.”  Her abilities are wasting away in a home that values TV more than literature, and Matilda does not discover that until she meets the librarian Ms.Phelps.  Similarly, in Harrison Bergeron, Harrison is a genius and an athlete who is handicapped, and is known as “extremely dangerous.”  Harrison has a talent, so he was put into jail.  The Handicapper General punished him with the following consequences, “He wore a tremendous pair of earphones, and spectacles with thick wavy lenses, the spectacles were intended to make him not only half blind, but to give him whanging headaches besides.”   Therefore, in Matilda and Harrison Bergeron both demonstrate powers of the characters are limited. 

Both texts also demonstrate that the characters stand up for their talents in the society.  Matilda had finally decided that every time her father or her mother was restricting her from reading, she would get them back in some way or another, and Matilda says “her father was first on the list.”  Matilda plays her first prank on her father by squeezing superglue inside the rim of the hat her father wears.  As a result, his hat becomes glued to his head and he is unable to move it, but when he does he loses part of the hair.  Matilda thought, “This was too much to hope that it had taught her father a permanent lesson.”  Matilda plays the second prank on her family, using a friend’s parrot she manages to convince her parents that there is a ghost in the house.  However, after all this Matilda’s father accuses her of being “cheat and a liar” instead of being impressed by her cleverness.   Similarly, in Harrison Bergeron, Harrison stood up for his talents.  As Vonnegut points out, “Harrison thrust his thumbs under the bar of the padlocks that secured his head harness.  Harrison smashed his headphones and spectacles against the wall.  He flung away his rubber-ball nose, revealed a man that would have awed.”  Therefore, Matilda with her clever pranks and Harrison taking off his handicaps prove that both of these characters stood up for their talents.

In conclusion, Matilda and Harrison have been restricted but in the meantime they also stand up for their talents.

                                                                            

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