Then

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2008

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-6

Chapters 7-13

Chapters 14-21

Chapters 22-28

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Chapters 1-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 1 Summary

Content Warning: This section of the guide describes depictions of antisemitic discrimination, violence, genocide in the context of World War II, and death by suicide, which feature in the source text.

After leaping from the train and burying their friend Chaya, who was killed by a Nazi machine gun, Felix and Zelda must hurry on before another train comes down the tracks. Zelda is only six, and her slippers slow them down. They lie flat on an exposed hillside as another train passes; Felix prays to Richmal Crompton, his favorite author, to keep them hidden. The train passes, and they continue on up the hill toward the cover of the forest. Felix tries to distract Zelda with stories about food. Suddenly, they come upon a pit full of murdered Jewish children. Felix tries to cover Zelda’s mouth, but she cries out, alerting Nazi soldiers to their presence. Felix is frozen in shock.

Chapter 2 Summary

The Nazis shoot at Felix and Zelda, but the children manage to hide in the dark undergrowth. Felix is furious thinking about the dead children in the pit. Zelda asks if Nazis killed those children and declares that she hates Nazis. Her parents were also Nazis; they were killed by members of the Polish Resistance. Felix tries to comfort her; he asks her to think of happy memories with her parents. She recalls that they used to have chickens. Felix promises that they are a family and that he will always be there for her.

They decide to stay hidden for the night. Felix tells Zelda a story involving pet chickens and characters from Richmal Crompton’s writing. Zelda says her chicken is named Goebbels. When Zelda falls asleep, Felix tries to plan what to do next.

Chapter 3 Summary

The next morning, Felix explains that they are going to try to find new parents by going to the mass grave and waiting for the dead children’s parents to show up. They are suddenly greeted by a large, friendly dog. They come upon an old farmer who offers them a ride in his cart. However, his kindness is a ruse—Felix sees a poster advertising a bounty for turning in Jewish people. He also sees an unconscious (or perhaps dead) Jewish boy in the back of the cart. They narrowly escape, only to be caught by someone else.

Chapter 4 Summary

Felix and Zelda are captured by the owner of the dog, a farmer woman. Felix thinks that she is friendly, but she calls them a slur that only Nazis would use. Felix tries to save Zelda by saying that Zelda is not Jewish. However, Zelda proclaims that she is Jewish. Felix is under the impression that Zelda threw away her locket, which contains pictures of her parents, as a way to renounce them. The woman drags them toward town.

Chapter 5 Summary

Felix feels hopeful when the woman leads them to her farm; however, she locks them in a barn with a pig. Zelda is angry that Felix tried to leave her, even though he was trying to save her life. The woman brings them food and water, which they share with the pig.

Nazi soldiers arrive, and Felix and Zelda hide under a pile of hay. Felix finds Zelda’s locket—she had it the whole time. Felix plans to give it to the soldiers if they find them, as evidence that they are not Jewish. The farmer woman returns, wearing a dress and makeup. She discreetly sprinkles pepper around the barn to distract the soldiers’ dogs, and she flirts with the soldiers. One of the soldiers stabs the hay with his bayonet, but he misses the hiding children. The soldiers leave. Felix is excited; he thinks they have found a new parent.

Chapter 6 Summary

The woman introduces herself as Genia and her dog as Leopold. She invites Felix and Zelda in for hot food and baths. As she bathes Felix, she notices that he is circumcised; because this marks him as being Jewish, it could pose a problem if anyone were to find out. Although Genia was raised to dislike Jews, she likes Nazis and people who murder children even less.

Genia bleaches Felix and Zelda’s hair and helps them to create new identities to blend in. Zelda wants them to be called William and Violet, after Richmal Crompton’s characters. Genia agrees, but only if they make the names more Polish. Their new names will be Wilhelm and Violetta. Felix and Zelda share Genia’s bed with her. Felix tells Zelda a story to help her sleep. Genia asks him to tell a story about a Polish man, and Felix realizes that she is thinking about her husband, who is away working for the Nazis and whom she has not seen in two years.

Chapters 1-6 Analysis

At the beginning of the novel, Felix and Zelda are in a very vulnerable position; as Felix puts it, “the most powerful army in the history of the world is trying to kill us” (7). They have no allies, no sense of direction, and no idea where to go. Their only plan is to seek some kind of stable, long-term shelter from the Nazi soldiers who will kill them indiscriminately on sight. After the events in Once, Felix has accepted the fact of the Nazis’ persecution of Poland’s Jews, but he never understands the reason for it. Felix approaches the world with a child’s honesty and pragmatism, and this mindset allows him to recognize the simple truth that prejudice and persecution are purposeless and cruel. However, Felix begins to demonstrate a new characteristic, one that will become a central conflict in his character arc: The Desire for Revenge. He does have the advantage of being four years older than Zelda, however, and having Zelda to care for keeps him grounded despite his growing rage at the world’s injustice. Because Zelda is so young, Felix must take care of her. Felix’s love for Zelda demonstrates The Importance of Family; she is his only remaining family, and their bond is especially close because of all they have gone through together. This bond is why their vow never to leave each other is so important to both of them.

In addition to their mutual predicament, Zelda faces two additional problems. First, she is young and precocious. At only 6 years old, she finds it even more difficult than Felix to cope with the trauma of their situation. She also acts far more impulsively than Felix does, and although her heart is in the right place, she tends to think more in absolutes than Felix does. Her hatred for the Nazis and willingness to stand up against them is morally correct, but because she is a child who has no meaningful power with which to resist, her rash actions sometimes put them in danger, as later events in the story will illustrate more fully. Zelda’s other problem is contained in her locket (See: Symbols and Motifs). While Felix sees the locket as a form of protection for Zelda, it merely reminds her of the shameful fact that her parents were Nazis. Every time she thinks about them, she “has to think about her parents being part of a gang of brutal murderers” (11).

Genia is the first real ally that Felix and Zelda find in this new town. Genia’s character was inspired by Morris Gleitzman’s desire to write about “the generosity and bravery of the people who risked their lives to shelter others, often children, who were not members of their family or faith, and by doing so saved them” (115). Genia’s motivation comes from her hatred for those who harm children; this driving emotion overrides the culture of antisemitism that pervades her society, and thus she decides to keep Felix safe despite her longtime prejudice against those of Jewish heritage.