The Assault By Harry Mulisch: Chapter Analysis

Harry Mulisch’s novel The Assault depicts the aftermath of the murder of a young boy’s family during World War II. Mulisch explores the young boy’s, Anton’s, life and how it was changed dramatically because of the death of a German collaborator named Fake Ploeg; this resulted in Anton’s family being murdered for revenge. The night, in which Anton’s family was murdered and of which he calls the “incident”, is shrouded in mystery and the details of what exactly happened is not clear; Anton throughout his adult life seems to want to avoid any mention of that night. Anton witnessed many terrible things on that night, such as his childhood home being burned down and his parents being taken away by Nazi soldiers. After the “incident”, Anton is taken to …show more content…
In the jail cell, Anton later meets a young woman, named Truss, who seems to comfort Anton by talking about the “light”. The light is a very important symbol in Mulisch’s novel but the meaning of it is very abstract. Mulisch delves into the paradoxical conception of the light and how it applies to Anton’s unraveling of the truth about the “incident”. Mulisch conveys some of the meaning of the “light” through the vulnerability and familiarity Anton and Truss have when first meeting the cell. The moral ambiguity that is discussed by Truss, about the “light” reveals more about it overall complexity. The meaning of the light also helps Anton understand and have closure about his family’s death.
In The Assault, Harry Mulisch first introduces the “light” after Anton is separated from his family and is taken to a police station; this is where he meets Truss, and where they both share a jail cell while being unable to see the other. When he entered the jail cell, Anton was very traumatized because of the immense violence that he witnessed that night and felt that he was in danger; As Mulisch introduces Truss’ character to Anton, his diction makes it very clear that