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Herr Hagenbeck
Herr Oberndorff is Evelyn’s husband in “Red Peter’s Little Lady.” Just before the story begins, Oberndorff was called up to fight in World War I but prior to his departure, he trained Peter and then Hazel to become human. For much of the story, Peter describes Oberndorff neutrally. But after he and Evelyn get the news that Oberndorff died at the front, they admit that Oberndorff was both physically and emotionally abusive to them. For this reason, neither of them regrets his death.
Herr Oberndorff Quotes in Only the Animals
The Only the Animals quotes below are all either spoken by Herr Oberndorff or refer to Herr Oberndorff. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Red Peter’s Little Lady: Soul of Chimpanzee Quotes
I fell in love with you the first moment I saw you, before I was fully human, and from across that gulf of understanding and experience, somehow, miraculously, you felt something for me in return. You alone inspired me to become human, not your husband’s relentless mazes and sorting tasks and word repetitions, not his tantrums when I didn’t do what he wanted, not the whipping, not the sweet fruit he dangled just out of my reach. I wanted to be human so that I might reach out across that chasm and touch you, be touched by you.
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Herr Oberndorff Character Timeline in Only the Animals
The timeline below shows where the character Herr Oberndorff appears in Only the Animals. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Red Peter’s Little Lady: Soul of Chimpanzee (Died 1917, Germany)
...Peter to have more contact with his future wife. Herr Hagenbeck also shared that Herr Oberndorff is at the front. Peter apologizes to Evelyn, both for writing and for her husband’s...
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...and for his first trainer in Prague. He’s sending this letter to Hazel’s trainer, Frau Oberndorff, who’s taking over Hazel’s training while her husband is gone. She’ll read the letters aloud,...
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...her nostrils aren’t tiny and why there’s hair on her back. She’s been doing Frau Oberndorff’s assigned exercises for the ginger biscuits, which make her feces hard. Earlier, she saw women...
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...her letter to Peter, Hazel writes that the zoo is noisy. She’s itchy, but Frau Oberndorff won’t let her scratch. Instead, the woman bathes Hazel and combs her hair. Frau Oberndorff...
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...in love with her the moment they met. She inspired him to become human, not Oberndorff’s mazes or training exercises or beatings. He wanted to be human to touch her. She...
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...and appeared onstage with his namesake Peter. Herr Hagenbeck bought him there and then hired Oberndorff to train Peter in Hamburg. Peter then spent a few years in the lab where...
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...chops up a fly for him to make him violent. Earlier, Hazel went with Frau Oberndorff to stand in ration lines for food that upset the children’s stomachs. Hazel’s ears have...
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Hazel asks how they’ll play “bedroom games” when she’s Peter’s wife. Frau Oberndorff is reading The Entropy of Reason to her. In it, Dr. Mitzkin writes that humans...
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...starve in Hamburg. She adds that Hazel wrote this week, but Peter can’t visit. Herr Oberndorff will be on leave soon.
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Hazel writes that Frau Oberndorff’s hair is losing color. She recently took Hazel and the children to a soup kitchen,...
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...be fine now. Peter agrees that Hazel should stop her training and wait until Herr Oberndorff gets back. Now, Peter thinks of Hazel as one of Evelyn’s children. Perhaps they could...
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Evelyn writes again with the news that Herr Oberndorff is dead. She won’t miss him, and she’s so hungry it’s hard to grieve. Hazel...
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