Echo

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2015

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Part 1, Chapters 6-10Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Chapter 6 Summary

Elisabeth returns home and cooks a dinner for her family. She announces that she will not, however, be staying in Trossingen as planned; instead, she will begin her internship at a Berlin hospital. She reveals that she in fact requested to be reassigned so that she could continue her involvement with the League of German Girls, a Nazi organization.

Part 1, Chapter 7 Summary

The family debates Nazism. Elisabeth shares that the harmonica is not “traditional and [is] thought to be offensive,” but that is the least concerning of her views (85). Her father asks how she can believe that all non-Germans are enemies, and she replies that his rhetoric simply encourages pride. She also encourages Friedrich to join the Hitler Youth. She requests that her father give Elisabeth her baptism papers. Their father goes to bed. Uncle Gunter arrives, and when he learns of Elisabeth’s new views, Friedrich watches Gunter “grow more and more quiet” before excusing himself” (91).

Part 1, Chapter 8 Summary

Friedrich looks over the birth and baptismal records that his father has compiled and finds a birth certificate listing him as dead—the cause of death is stated as epilepsy. He shows it to Elisabeth, and together, they ask their father, who confirms that Friedrich had seizures as a newborn.

Part 1, Chapter 9 Summary

Martin explains that their family doctor, Dr. Braun, made a death certificate to comfort Friedrich’s mother in case he did not live through the night. However, he did. His mother asked that his father never tell anyone, as the stigma of a birthmark was already bad enough. Elisabeth states that the record of this illness means that members of his family must undergo sterilization under The Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring. She will volunteer, and she recommends that Friedrich do the same. She also asks her father and brother to cease speaking ill of Hitler around her, stating that when she is inevitably questioned, she wants to say she “[has] no reasons to suspect” her family (102). Father tells Friedrich to stop speaking ill of Hitler.

Part 1, Chapter 10 Summary

Friedrich stews in his room, and Elisabeth comes to talk to him. She explains her perspective. Growing up without a mother and as a caretaker for “Monster Boy,” she felt socially isolated, and her involvement with the Hitler Youth has given her a new sense of community. When Friedrich says that her views are hurting Martin and himself, she prioritizes her own happiness, and encourages Friedrich to join her at a League meeting. Friedrich is upset and blames his appearance for her behavior.

Part 1, Chapters 6-10 Analysis

Elisabeth’s return highlights that the threat of Nazism is closer to home than Friedrich and his father thought. While the initial chapters imply that most residents of Trossingen only comply with Nazi law to avoid persecution, Elisabeth is a clear believer. This is all the more surprising because Elisabeth is highly aware of the discrimination Friedrich faces for his birthmark. She nonetheless joins the Nazi party and takes steps to prove her “pure” background.

Elisabeth is not painted as a character that is hateful or prejudiced; rather, she is one of the German citizens who is drawn to ideals of togetherness, unity, and pride. She perhaps naively believes that, if Friedrich joins the Nazi Party and volunteers for sterilization, he will face less discrimination.

Even when she realizes that she will need to undergo sterilization, she toes the party line rather than thinking about the fairness or rightness of their ideology. Elisabeth is an idealist who believes that the Nazi Party creates laws that are for the best; however, her idealism poses a clear threat to her family’s survival. When she asks her father and brother to avoid speaking ill of Hitler, she is as much as admitting that her allegiances lay with the Nazis, rather than with her family.