Mood

Schindler’s List

by Thomas Keneally

Schindler’s List: Mood 1 key example

Definition of Mood

The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect of a piece of writing... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes... read full definition
Chapter 26
Explanation and Analysis:

The mood of Schindler’s List balances the horror and despair of the Holocaust with the hope and resilience of those resisting Nazi oppression, including imprisoned Polish Jews and sympathetic Germans like Schindler. Take, for example, the unlikely romance that blossoms between Rebecca Tannenbaum and Josef Bau, two prisoners at the Plászow concentration camp. The following passage describes how the older women in Rebecca’s barracks oversee the couple’s courtship:

If Josef required a traditional courtship, they would fall into their traditional roles as chaperones. Josef was therefore a gift to them too, a license to play their prewar ceremonious selves.

[…]

In fact, two of the older women would crowd onto one narrow ledge so that Josef could have a bunk of his own. The discomfort, the smell of the other body, the risk of the migration of lice from your friend to yourself—none of that was as important, as crucial to self-respect as that the courtship should be fulfilled according to the norms.