Garden, Ashes: Analysis of Major Characters
"Garden, Ashes" delves into the intricate dynamics of the Scham family against the backdrop of pre-World War II Europe, exploring themes of identity, loss, and the complexities of familial relationships. Central to the narrative is Eduard "Sam" Scham, a multifaceted character depicted through the subjective lens of his son, Andi. Eduard emerges as a dreamer and poet, marked by eccentricity and a profound restlessness, which is exacerbated by his Jewish heritage and the societal persecution he faces. His inability to form stable relationships, particularly with Andi and his wife, Maria, highlights his character flaws while also underscoring the poignant love he harbors for his family.
Maria Scham, Eduard's wife, is portrayed as a pillar of strength and understanding, adept at navigating her husband's complexities while nurturing their children, particularly Andi. Through her stories, she instills in Andi a sense of beauty and resilience amidst the harsh realities of their lives. Andi, at the tender age of eleven, serves as the narrator, grappling with the weight of his father's legacy and the looming threats to their family. His youthful imagination and artistic inclinations are mirrored in his father, forming a deep, albeit enigmatic bond. Meanwhile, Anna, Andi's sister, remains a less developed character, primarily serving to highlight Andi's perspective. Together, the Scham family embodies the struggle between personal aspirations and the harsh realities of their world, making "Garden, Ashes" a poignant exploration of love, loss, and the enduring power of memory.
Garden, Ashes: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Danilo Kiš
First published: Basta, pepeo, 1965 (English translation, 1975)
Genre: Novel
Locale: Northern Yugoslavia
Plot: Impressionistic realism
Time: The late 1930's and early 1940's
Eduard “Sam” Scham, a railway official, poet, and world traveler. The character of Eduard is seen through the eyes of his son, Andi; the perceptions are necessarily subjective and biased. What comes through is a portrait of an eccentric, an incorrigible dreamer, and a man of many talents. He is a poet and a philosopher whose abilities are unfulfilled and squandered, partly because of his circumstances and his Jewish background, but partly because of his several character flaws. A railroad inspector, he is drawn to his profession by an insatiable urge to travel, which, in turn, reveals a basic instability and restlessness. As a Jew, he is persecuted, at first subtly but later, during World War II, openly. He also is a drunkard, a man who cannot hold on to steady relationships, whether with family members or with friends. Eduard's aloofness to Andi is especially revealing. Despite his obvious love for his son, he frequently calls him “young man,” as if he were a stranger. Eduard also is aloof from his wife, without being unfaithful. An amateur philosopher, he adopts a fatalistic point of view that makes it somewhat easier for him to accept his final tragic fate. He lives his life as a free spirit, as a misplaced wanderer from some mysterious, exotic land. Even though he fades away into nothingness in the pogrom, he remains alive forever in his son's memory and, even more poignantly, in his imagination.
Maria Scham, Eduard's wife, a perfect example of an understanding and forgiving wife. An intelligent and well-educated woman, she seems to know her husband better than he knows himself. She is thus able to tolerate many of his idiosyncrasies and weaknesses, weighing the pluses against the minuses and realizing that one's personality cannot and should not be changed. Whatever she is missing in her relationship with her husband, Maria compensates for by devoting herself to her children, especially Andi. A rock of granite, she is often the only safe mooring onto which her family can hold. It is primarily through her tales of the past that Andi develops an artistic inclination and a sublime sense of beauty in life and nature, despite the accompanying ugliness and sorrow.
Andreas (Andi) Scham, their eleven-year-old son, the narrator of the story. Although he is too young to understand fully the problems facing his parents, especially his father, he senses instinctively an almost mystical bond with his father. Moreover, Andi develops traits similar to those of his father, such as the inclination toward poetry and a desire to travel. On the other hand, he acts his age as he plays, fantasizes, suffers bouts of anxiety and insecurity, and lives in his own world. From his mother, he has inherited sensitivity and confidence; from his father, wild imagination and the desire to excel. Both parents have imbued him with an artistic inclination that results in his first attempts at writing poetry. What Andi loses through the physical absence of his father, he gains by developing a myth about Eduard that sustains him throughout his life.
Anna Scham, Eduard and Maria's daughter and Andi's older sister. Although still a child herself, Anna is able to cope slightly better with the threatening events swirling around the family. She is apparently just as affected by the predicaments, yet Andi, preoccupied with his own perception of events, seems hardly to notice her presence. As a result, Anna is left undeveloped as a character and used primarily as a prop to bring Andi's world into a sharper focus.