The Last Green Valley

Though he was stopped by Lieutenant Colonel Nosske, Emil intended to follow Major Haussmann’s order to commit murder to save his family. Emil believes that his intention to pull the trigger makes him as culpable as the Nazis until Corporal Gheorghe changes his mind. How does Gheorghe’s reframing of the event shape the novel’s theme of The Importance of Faith?

Adeline tries to shield Walt and Will from seeing some of the more gruesome scenes on their trek, but Emil argues that they need to “understand what one man will do to another” (65). How do Adeline and Emil’s approaches to child-rearing serve as characterization devices in the novel? Do their approaches seem to evolve as the characters evolve?

Corporal Gheorghe tells Emil, “What you seek is what you will find, but only if you hunt it with all your heart and mind” (335). How do the characters’ fates in the novel prove, disprove, or otherwise complicate Corporal Gheorghe’s thesis?