63 pages • 2-hour read
Fatherland
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Symbols & Motifs
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death, graphic violence, religious discrimination, and racism.
The Weiss Family Photograph
The photograph of the Weiss family that March finds in his apartment symbolizes the importance of remembering while developing the theme of The Dissolution of Objective Truth. March discovers the photo before the start of the novel, and it exacerbates his disenchantment with the SS. He finds the photo hidden behind the wallpaper in his apartment. It’s dated 1929 and shows a woman, her husband, and their child, who is Pili’s age. He notes how “for years he had wondered, but hesitated” to discover who they were until “no reason he could properly define—vague and growing uneasiness”—led him to seek the truth (33). March finds their name in the landlord’s records, but no one will speak about them until an old woman living in the attic tells him that they’re Jewish. In hindsight, he marks this as a point “when his relationship with Pili had started to go bad; the time when he had started to wake up before it was light and to volunteer for every case that came along” (34).
Through the actions of the SS, the people in the apartment complex become afraid to speak about the events of World War II with relation to the Holocaust. The photo represents the larger issue that March discovers: the Party’s fear that the world will discover the truth about what happened during World War II and their deep-rooted corruption aimed at hiding and ultimately destroying the truth. For March, the photo humanizes the Holocaust and, by extension, the dangers of fascism, highlighting Fascism’s Tendency to Breed Corruption. It’s a catalyst for his change, ultimately leading to his desire to reveal the truth of the Final Solution to the world even if doing so means that he must sacrifice his life.
Water
Water appears in various forms throughout Fatherland, becoming an important motif in the text. From the beginning of the novel, rain plays a prominent role, as the novel’s opening lines indicate:
Thick cloud had pressed down on Berlin all night, and now it was lingering into what passed for the morning. On the city’s western outskirts, plumes of rain drifted across the surface of Lake Havel like smoke. Sky and water merged into a sheet of gray, broken only by the dark line of the opposite bank (3).
These words create a dark, dreary atmosphere, conveying feelings of bleakness and discomfort. The setting reflects the theme of Fascism’s Tendency to Breed Corruption, as the novel reveals that Berlin as a whole is corrupt and dangerous. As March travels around Berlin investigating in the days leading up to Führertag, he sees people practicing their marching and routines for the celebration, ignoring the rain around them. March has spent his life feeling uncomfortable with the Nazi Party’s actions, a discomfort that is reflected in his views of the weather, while those around him acquiesce as if nothing is wrong.
The discovery of the body in Lake Havel furthers this motif, as the SS uses water to bury their secret. Just as March is forced to physically pull the body from the water with the other officers, he also searches beneath the metaphorical surface throughout the novel to discover the truth of the SS. March repeatedly revisits Lake Havel, eating lunch, discussing the case with Charlie, and noting the lake’s beauty while contemplating what else is hidden beneath the facade that the SS shows its citizens and the world.
When March finally learns the truth of the Final Solution through the papers that he and Charlie find in Luther’s briefcase, after he reads the reports several times and makes notes, he bathes for a long time, using water to try to cleanse himself from the horrors of what he discovers: “March [is] underwater, holding his breath, counting. […] With a roar he [rises] above the surface, sucking in air, streaming water. He [fills] his lungs a few more times, [takes] an immense gulp of oxygen, then [goes] down again. […] Would he ever be clean again?” (285). March’s physical attempts to clean himself reflect his efforts to wash away the emotional impact of what he has learned.
March’s Uniform
March’s uniform symbolizes his allegiance with the SS. Although he questions their actions, he never openly or outright defies them. Instead, he continues his work as a Kripo investigator, wearing the uniform and representing the SS through his work. However, the morning after his conversation with Nebe in which he learns of his impending imprisonment and his discovery that Jost was taken, March removes the uniform for the first time and investigates in his civilian clothes. This decision reflects his shift in attitude toward the SS, recognizing the corruption within the case and separating himself from that corruption.
March’s choices regarding the uniform thematically support The Value of Individual Responsibility in Fighting Corruption. As those around him continue to follow orders from the SS, including Jaeger, Globus, and Krebs, March finally makes the choice to separate himself from their control when he takes off the uniform. Although he pays for the decision with his life at the novel’s end, he finally takes responsibility for his actions and refuses to align himself with the decision to hide the truth about the Final Solution.
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