Motif in The Assault

Dice

Motif:

Symbol:

Mens erger je niet

Steenwijk laid down his book. A moment later the only sounds were those of the dice being shaken and the pawns being moved across the board. It wasalmost 8 o’clock: curfew. Outside all was as still as it must be on the moon. (page 15 – 16)

• foreshadow the fateful event which is about to occur in the lives of the Steenwijks.

• The Dutch word for “die” is “dobbelsteen”

• Any stone or rock will signify fate to Anton; although he will do all he can to forget the events of that night, stones and rocks will continue to appear in the narrative as stumbling blocks placed in his path.

Dice constitute a carefully chosen symbol (that evolves into a motif) for Anton’s experience:

• On page 16: Anton, about to throw the dice, froze and looked at his mother … * The moment the shots were heard. * Fate and circumstance altered by the dice.

• On page 19: He noticed that he was still holding one of the dice in his hand and put it in his pocket. * Writer’s craft: the symbol of the dice has now advanced to a motif.

The night of the assault ends forAnton with a sign, although he does not consciously interpret it at the time:

… he walked out into the winter day. He was sobbing but hardly knew why, as if his tears had washed away his memories. His other hand felt cold. He stuck it into his pocket, where he touched something he could not place. He looked: it was one of the dice. (52)

The dice will recur throughout the rest of Anton’s recovery as a reminder of the arbitrarinessof his family’s fate.

* He views his parents’ and brother’s deaths as an example of essentially arbitrary fortune –

* A fate so inexplicable and meaningless that he blocks it out or isolates it in his memory.