The Boy Who Dared

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2008

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Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Pages 1-38

Pages 38-78

Pages 78-127

Pages 128-165

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

Radio

In the beginning of the novel, Helmuth’s family often listens to Mutti’s radio. When Hugo replaces it with a People’s Receiver that only has government-approved stations, Helmuth is unable to access foreign news stations. The physical radio itself, created by Hitler’s government, is a powerful propaganda tool. Hitler acts as if the radio is a blessing because it is affordable, when actually it censors the news and prevents the German people from hearing more accurate reports. Limited to the RRG, at first with the People’s Receiver and then with the Radio Law, the Nazis lie to the Germans and make it difficult to even know that they are being lied to.

Helmuth learns the truth about the war when he listens to Gerhard’s contraband French radio that receives BBC reports in German. By comparing the news on both radios, he is able to determine that the RRG is dishonest. Because other Germans do not have access to foreign radios, they fall prey more easily to Hitler’s propaganda. Hitler’s control over the radios in people’s homes and the airwaves shows how powerful the media is: the person who controls the media creates the news.

Helmuth and his friends break the law by listening to Gerhard’s radio. Hitler makes it challenging to access foreign radio; he also uses the RRG to spread fear and prevent Germans from even trying to listen. This shows the dual way that Hitler prevents the dissemination of truth: he bans foreign radio and uses his own station to scare his people into submission. Listening to the BBC is an act of rebellion; the information Helmuth learns show the power of an unbiased media. He notes that the BBC “just give[s] the information, without telling us how to interpret it” (120). The BBC news in German, which is designed “for Germans who dare to break the Radio Law” (102), gives him the information he needs to start his pamphlet campaign against Hitler. The radio can both intentionally mislead and empower its listeners.

Floating

Floating symbolizes Helmuth’s closeness to God. Helmuth first feels a floating sensation when he discusses the vastness of heaven with Gerhard. He feels himself “floating toward heaven until he falls fast asleep” (7). Throughout his life, Helmuth “floats” when he prays. The feeling is not one of idle suspension: he floats toward heaven, suggesting that God’s presence is pulling him closer. Helmuth floats again when Gerhard leaves for army training and while he sits in prison. Helmuth finds comfort in praying to God and the floating sensation it gives him; his sense of God’s presence makes Helmuth’s burdens feel lighter. He physically and emotionally feels lighter as he draws near to God.

Helmuth experiences the floating feeling at different times in his life, indicating that his strong faith does not waver despite his trials. At the time of Helmuth’s execution, he comforts himself by thinking of that night with Gerhard long ago. The novel’s last line— “Helmuth is floating” (165)—may mean that he is dead and on his way to heaven. Or it may mean that Helmuth feels God’s nearness in his last moments on earth. Either way, it demonstrates that Helmuth feels close to God and that he feels pulled toward heaven.

Flags and Uniforms

Flags and uniforms are symbols of the Nazi party’s extreme nationalism and self-promotion. When Helmuth is a young boy, these things impress him. He remembers a parade when he is three. Here, he sees the “[b]rown-shirted men wearing red-and-black armbands and tall, black, shiny boots” (4). A few years later, he observes that the older boys in his school who are in the Jungvolk wear “brown shirts and swastika armbands, shiny belts and buckles, and best of all, daggers inscribed with the words Blood and Honor that glint from leather sheaths” (13). After Hitler’s appointment as chancellor, Helmuth longs to attend the parade and imagines “the sidewalks jammed with revelers sporting swastika armbands and wearing red, white, and black flags” (20). The author’s language in these examples reveals Helmuth’s then-positive attitude toward the Nazi flags and uniforms: “shiny boots,” “shiny belts and buckles,” “best of all,” and “revelers.” The uniforms and flags and their recurring, matching color schemes are impressive to look at. They create an enviable image of togetherness, elevating the status of the Nazi Party.

However, Helmuth’s attitude shifts as the flags and uniforms blanket Germany and symbolize Hitler’s repressive regime. Helmuth grows to resent the Nazis, in part because of Hugo’s behavior. When he watches Hugo with his friends, he notes that “they stand proudly as if their uniforms make them something” (70-71). Helmuth resents the way Hugo and other Nazis feel self-important and get away with bullying others, all because they wear the Nazi uniform. Helmuth also notices the way Nazi flags overwhelm the city. The flags, along with portraits of Hitler, are posted along the streets and even in Helmuth’s classroom. Helmuth can’t escape the visual reminder of Nazi control. Their self-promotion creates an illusion that Germans are united in supporting them; the ever-present swastika and militaristic imagery imply that the Nazis are all-powerful and cannot be defeated.