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"GENTLEHANDS"
The story Gentlehands takes place in the late 1970's. This story
mostly revolves around one of the main characters named Buddy, who
is a middle classed teenager that has is having a relationship with
and upper class, older girl, named Skye. Buddy's chances of
impressing Skye on his own are very slim to none so he decides to
introduce her to his grandfather, Mr. Trenker. Buddy has not seen
his grandfather since he was just a little child because of
disputes between Buddy's parents and Mr.Trenker, so he was not
quite sure what to expect from him. Buddy and Skye both come to
realize the Mr. Trenker is very educated in many topics and also
extremely well mannered. During this same time Mr. De Lucca, a
reporter for many newspapers, is living with Skye at the time for
unknown reasons. The only reason he is staying in that area is
because he is trying to write a story about somebody who used to be
a SS officer in WWII with the nickname Gentlehands. At the end of
the story grandpa Trenker is the one that is believed to be
Gentlehands. When Grandpa Trenker heard of these accusations he ran
away to live with a friend of his. In the story Gentlehands there
were a few major characters, including Skye, Buddy, and Grandpa
Trenker. Buddy is presented as a teenager who had few experiences
in life and he showed it many times throughout the book. An example
of Buddy having only few experiences in life is on page 80,
paragraph 7 when buddy was pouring a glass of wine. It said "I put
my hand around the bottle and began pouring, and he said, 'Wait a
minute, Buddy.' 'What?' 'Always grab the bottle of wine by the
neck,' he said, 'and never fill the glass to the top." I think that
this is a good example because it shows how buddy had very few
experiences in life by not knowing how to pour wine. I also thought
that he was extremely kind hearted and he also sticks to what he
believes in, even though there are overwhelming facts that are
against him, which he showed at the end of the book. Grandpa
Trenker seemed like a very pleasant person to be with, but as the
book goes on it seems like he was only polite because all he wanted
to do was make up what he had done in the Holocaust by killing a
young girl by ordering a dog to kill her. Skye was also a teenager
and seemed to think she knows what is always right for her. She was
somebody who knew how someone felt even without them showing it,
examples of this are on page 162 last paragraph when Skye says "and
I'm telling you right now that I'm going anywhere I feel like
going," She also showed examples of being very giving throughout
the story an example of this is when she bough Buddy a blue
cashmere sweater. The book title was very significant in relation
to the story. Gentlehands was a poem that a girl in the Holocaust
wrote before she died. This is what she wrote: "I can see your
beauty But you can see mine, And you have a gun. The only Music I
hear Is what you play for me. It is beautiful, too, But it does not
speak To you about me. You listen and Smile. I wait to die, And
call you Gentlehands." In the poem Gentlehands was the SS officer
who was the one that killed her. And close to the end of the book
you find out that Gentlehands was Grandpa Trenker. I think that a
major theme in the story was appearance versus reality. I think
that Grandpa Trenker's appearance was totally different than the
reality. He seemed very well mannered, courteous, respectful and
also very polite. However he was just acting like that just because
he was trying to makeup for what he had done in the past. 2) What
do you question? There are many things that I question about
Buddy's behavior. One thing, which I think Buddy could have done
differently, was tell his parents he went to his grandfathers
instead of lying to them. Another thing that he has done quite a
few times in the story which I feel he could have done differently
was once again not lie to his parents, but this time about going
over to Skye's house. I think that if he had been completely honest
to his parents then they wouldn't feel so much bitterness to her as
they did. The only reason that they felt that way about her is
because she is from an upper class family. There is one poem in the
book on page 152 that I did not completely understand. It said: "If
you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and
blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting to; If you can wait and not
be tired from waiting, Or being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or
being hated, don't give way to hating, And yet don't look to good,
nor talk to wise..." But my interpretation of it was if you can do
what the poem says then you are a man. There is one thing in the
book I do not think was too realistic. It was how everything
connected way too perfectly. First, there was Mr. De Lucca living
with Skye at the time even though nobody knew why. Second, Skye was
going out with Buddy. Third, Buddy's Grandfather was Gentlehands.
Four, Mr. De Lucca exposed Grandpa Trenker A.K.A. Gentlehands.
Since M.E. Kerr was alive during World War Two maybe that is why
she felt she should write a story in it. 3) What do you relate to?
There were a few things in this story that I have learned about the
Holocaust. The first major thing that I have learned is how much
young people are influenced by what adults say. The example of this
in the story is that Buddy's little brother wasn't even sure what a
Nazi was, but he thought that all Germans were Nazis. When he found
out that someone on the next street to him was German, he was
breaking all of her windows because of that. I think that the
reason you see so many young people in wars and other things people
fight for is because in some ways they are unintelligent and very
naive. When the person gets older and can think for him or herself
they soon realize how stupid their actions were like Grandpa
Trenker who was very young when he was an SS guard. Grandpa
Trenker's life was very tragic because he was brainwashed at a
young age the punished at an older age for what he learnt was
right. Grandpa Trenker's past as an SS officer affected his family
because the felt embarrassed and ashamed of him and they did not
want their name to be published in the report made by Mr. De Lucca.
4) What do you feel This book annoyed me a slight bit because of
its ending. I think that there were two problems with the ending.
The first problem was about the climax. The climax of the story was
when Grandpa Trenker was accused of being an SS officer. I feel the
climax was so close to the end and it ended so quickly after the
climax. The second problem I had was the actual ending of the book.
I did not like how it ended because I would have preferred it to be
a little bit more of a more contented ending. I do not feel
differently about the Holocaust, but I feel differently about the
Nazis who were in it. If we try to look at it in their perspective
maybe we would have done something similar or the same if we also
had been young during this time. I think this because as it was
proved before if you are told to be the more superior one then you
will feel you are the more superior one. When some of the surviving
Nazis got older, they have realized what they had done and I think
that is enough of a burden to carry on their shoulders because I do
not think that you should be getting in trouble for getting
brainwashed. I would like to find out what happened to the actual
Nazi survivors in the Holocaust not just the Holocaust survivors. I
would recommend this book to people who enjoy reading fiction books
about the Holocaust. I also would recommend this book to somebody
who is mature for this subject because at the end it gets quite
emotional. Someone who wants to hear what happens to a Nazi
survivor from his or her perspective should also read this book.
Bibliography Bibliography: Kerr, M.E. Gentlehands, New York, United
States: First Harper Keypoint, 1990. Word Count: 1508
GENTLEHANDS
What would you do if your Grandfather were accused of being a
sadist in WWII? That's exactly what happened to Buddy Boyle.
Gentlehands by M.E. Kerr is about Buddy Boyle, a lower class man
who lives year-round in Seaville, and Skye Pennington, a rich girl
who only spends her summer there. Skye and Buddy fall in love. On
one of their dates, Buddy decides that they should go to his
grandfather's house. Near the end of the summer, Buddy's
grandfather is accused of torturing people during WWII. Buddy and
Skye's love leads into many events in this book.
One of the events that Buddy and Skye's love causes, is Buddy
getting in trouble with his parents. At dinner one night, Buddy
keeps tell his family about how wonderful Skye's house is. His
father gets annoyed and asks him to step outside for a talk. Once
outside, Buddy's dad starts to beat him. "What is was a punch to my
neck, so hard I fell down from the weight of it." Although he knows
what will happen when he goes out with Skye, he still goes out.
Another event that their love leads to is Buddy getting to know
his grandfather. On one of their first dates he wants to go
somewhere special, so he chose to go to his grandfather's house.
After that day, he becomes close to his grandfather. He starts to
live with his grandfather. If Buddy never met Skye, he probably
wouldn't have became close to his grandfather.
Despite the relationship between Buddy and his Skye, Buddy's
little brother was suffering. Buddy promised Streaker, his brother
that he would go to the bay with him. Instead, he told him that he
would turn the sprinkler on for him. "Then I stuck two dimes in his
piggy bank because I felt like a real rat." He had a commitment to
take care of his brother and he broke it.
Buddy and Skye's love lead to many events. A few of them
include, Buddy getting in trouble with his parents, Buddy getting
close to his grandfather, and disobeying his promise to his little
brother. Anyone that is interested in love books, or WWII, would be
interested in this book. It is good book to read. It makes you
think about the pass.