The Assault
Encyclopedia
The Assault is a 1982 novel
by Harry Mulisch
about the Second World War. It deals with the consequences for the lone survivor of a Nazi retaliation on an innocent family after a collaborator named Fake Ploeg is found killed outside their home.
The novel takes readers on the journey through the main character, Anton's, life. Anton struggles through the book to accept his traumatic memories from the book. In the beginning Anton's way of dealing with his tragic past is by suppressing all his memories of them, and that night. However just as he begins to forget, fate steps in, and challenges him to unearth what really happened all those years ago. Slowly, as he pieces together what happened that night, he begins to face and accept his past as a part of him. The theme of the novel is the development of the past into the present, and heading into the yet to be determined future as is shown in the prologue by a man walking backwards to push a boat forwards. Recurring motifs and symbols include a symbolon representing Anton piecing his life back together, Rocks depict hatred and unhappiness, and a recurrent theme of darkness and light. The dark moments represent Anton's past which carry negative connotations, and the light represents his future and the prospect of discovery and enlightenment.
A subcutaneous underlining of the plot is random truths and irony of "what are the chances that...", an example being that Anton later meets at a funeral of his father in law's friend, the man who murdered Fake Ploeg. Fake Ploeg's murder led to the arrest and execution of Anton's parents, the death of his brother and the torching of his childhood home.
The novel ends with the discovery of truth, and the harsh irony that Anton's family died instead of his neighbour's collection of lizards.
by Fons Rademakers, who produced and directed the film. It stars Derek de Lint
, Marc van Uchelen and Monique van de Ven
. The film won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by Harry Mulisch
Harry Mulisch
Harry Kurt Victor Mulisch was a Dutch author. He wrote more than 80 novels, plays, essays, poems and philosophical reflections. These have been translated into more than 20 languages....
about the Second World War. It deals with the consequences for the lone survivor of a Nazi retaliation on an innocent family after a collaborator named Fake Ploeg is found killed outside their home.
The novel takes readers on the journey through the main character, Anton's, life. Anton struggles through the book to accept his traumatic memories from the book. In the beginning Anton's way of dealing with his tragic past is by suppressing all his memories of them, and that night. However just as he begins to forget, fate steps in, and challenges him to unearth what really happened all those years ago. Slowly, as he pieces together what happened that night, he begins to face and accept his past as a part of him. The theme of the novel is the development of the past into the present, and heading into the yet to be determined future as is shown in the prologue by a man walking backwards to push a boat forwards. Recurring motifs and symbols include a symbolon representing Anton piecing his life back together, Rocks depict hatred and unhappiness, and a recurrent theme of darkness and light. The dark moments represent Anton's past which carry negative connotations, and the light represents his future and the prospect of discovery and enlightenment.
A subcutaneous underlining of the plot is random truths and irony of "what are the chances that...", an example being that Anton later meets at a funeral of his father in law's friend, the man who murdered Fake Ploeg. Fake Ploeg's murder led to the arrest and execution of Anton's parents, the death of his brother and the torching of his childhood home.
The novel ends with the discovery of truth, and the harsh irony that Anton's family died instead of his neighbour's collection of lizards.
Film adaption
The novel was adapted to film in 19861986 in film
-Events:*April 12 - Actor Morgan Mason marries The Go-Go's Belinda Carlisle.*April 26 - Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger marries television journalist Maria Shriver.*May - Actress Heather Locklear marries Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee....
by Fons Rademakers, who produced and directed the film. It stars Derek de Lint
Derek de Lint
Dick Hein de Lint is a Dutch film and television actor.De Lint was born in The Hague. In 1977, he played the character Alex in the film Soldier of Orange, directed by Paul Verhoeven. In 1986 he played the role of Anton Steenwijk in The Assault, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language...
, Marc van Uchelen and Monique van de Ven
Monique van de Ven
Monica Maria Theresia "Monique" van de Ven is a Dutch actress and director.From 1973 until 1988 she was married to Dutch cinematographer and director Jan de Bont, with whom she lived in Los Angeles for a number of years. She is now married to actor and writer Edwin de Vries.Her film debut as an...
. The film won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.