The novel was adapted to film in 1986 by Fons Rademakers, who produced and directed the film. Anton's uncle is located and picks him up, taking him home. However, it is too late when Peter reaches the body. One evening Anton comes home and finds protesters blocking the street before his building. '"[6] Anton learns more details of how Ploeg's assassination was planned and executed as well as the likely identity of the woman who comforted him that night. The Assault is a novel about how one event can have a lingering effects and can change a life. Mrs. Beumer also tells Anton that there is a memorial set in the spot where the murders took place. [10], In the New Yorker, John Updike called the novel "brilliant" and "a kind of detective story" that "combines the fascination of its swift, skillfully unfolded plot with that of a study on the [psychology of repressed memory".[11]. Takes becomes agitated at this news, demanding to know what she might have said to him. The Assault essays are academic essays for citation. The soldier takes Anton to a police station in Heemstede. In 1966, Anton attends a funeral of an older man, an associate of his father-in-law. Peter tells his parents they must move the body back or to their other neighbor's house, the Beumers. At home, Anton finds himself realizing that he married Saskia because she resembled the image of that woman in the cell he has carried with him all these years. The novel consists of a brief prologue and five "episodes" dated 1945, 1952, 1956, 1966, and 1981. Anton is placed in a car where he loses sight of his parents. Anton and Saskia have a four-year-old daughter, Sandra. However, as Anton grows and matures, he finds himself almost constantly running into people who provide small details of that fateful night, until finally Anton learns everything that happened and lead to his personal tragedy. The Germans takes Mr. and Mrs. Steenwijk outside. One morning Anton wakes with a bad toothache. Anton wants to know why they placed Ploeg in front of their house and not their neighbors, the Aarts. Fake himself had to drop out of school and became an appliance repairman to help care for his mother and two sisters. One afternoon Saskia is to go to a funeral for a friend of her father's who was a part of the Resistance with her father during the war. Socializing after the service, as many old resistance members debate current politics, Anton overhears someone recounting a resistance action and realizes the subject is Ploeg's assassination. Anton studies a picture of her and sees in her eyes that she is very similar to Saskia. As they talk, Fake begins to cry, insisting that his father was an innocent man and Anton was not the only one to suffer from the events of that faithful night. Takes shows Anton a gun and describes how Truus used it to murder Ploeg. Anton is adopted by an aunt and uncle in the aftermath and chooses to bury the events surrounding the deaths of his family rather than dwell on them. At the Ortskommandantur, Anton falls asleep again. Anton goes on to the beach with his family and then home, still thinking of his encounter with Takes. Mulisch was born in Haarlem, Netherlands, the same setting in which The Assault … The Germans retaliate by burning down the home of an innocent family; only twelve-year-old Anton survives. Takes admits that he knew there would be retribution for his actions, that the hostages might be murdered. Over the next few years Anton grows up, finishing high school and going on to medical school. Anton speaks to Mrs. Beumer for a while, learning that she saw the events of that fateful night. When all appears to be over, the German soldier comes back to the car and finds Anton there. This study guide contains the following sections: This detailed literature summary also contains Topics for Discussion and a Free Quiz on He praised Mulisch for his "exceptional skill and imagination" in establishing characters and social settings", with "a hundred small touches sustain the effect of psychological truthfulness". It narrates the story of the Twelve-year-old Anton Steenwijk, who lives in the outskirts of Haarlem (1945). GradeSaver, 2 December 2019 Web. However, he finds himself drawn to the party almost unconsciously. Copyright © 1999 - 2020 GradeSaver LLC. Before Fake leaves, he throws a heavy rock at a mirror on Anton's wall, destroying it. Demonstrations are taking place a few blocks from his building, causing Anton to have trouble with noise and simply reaching his own front door. In fact, Mr. Korteweg insisted on leaving the country, afraid that Anton would come looking for revenge when he became an adult. When he wakes, Anton is yanked out of the cell and taken to the Ortskommandantur, the Regional Command center. Ten years later, Anton is an anesthesiologist and has married a beautiful young woman named Saskia. Anton is placed in a dark cell with a young woman. Unfortunately, Anton cannot recall their conversation. According to the New York Times, this novel "made his reputation at home and abroad". However, Van Liempt is unable to ascertain what happened to Peter. In the Netherlands the novel's sale of 200,000 copies made it a "runaway success" even as it addressed the ongoing problem of reconciling the nation to its past, including its record of collaboration with its German occupiers. The Assault study guide contains a biography of Harry Mulisch, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. He soon comes across Fake Ploeg’s son who compares their lives and defends his father. He visits the monument that had been erected in honor of those who had perished that night with his family. First published in 1982 under the Dutch title De Aanslag, the novel was translated and published in English in 1985 and later translated into over a dozen languages. Anton recognizes him as Fake Ploeg, the murder victim's child. Anton decides he must see a picture of the girl, to know once and for all what she looks like. Takes tried to get Truus out of the area as the soldiers began approaching, but could not. With a pocketknife if necessary.

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