Chapter 14: The Army of the Silver Firs

By now the war is full fledged and the only people left at the house are Delphine and Fidelis. Perhaps the most difficult thing for both of them to handle is that two of their sons are fighting on the American side (well Markus is not fighting, but he is in the military), and two are on the German side. This type of thing is what made that era so confusing for so many. There were tons of German and polish and all sorts of other immigrants living in the United States with loyalties to both their own countries and America. They will have family living in both countries, be familiar with both cultures, etc. How does one transcend the political and social implications of this and worry about his sons perhaps killing each other or dying at the hands of either Americans or Germans? This must have been a difficult thing for everyone involved. Even Erich had completely forgotten his upbringing in America, and experienced something that I think could easily have happened to anyone in his situation, especially with nationalism running so high in those days: he became a Nazi. "That is, he'd replaced the childhood with a new wash of purity. Belief, death loyalty, hatred of the weak. He lived simply, by one great consuming oath" (Erdrich 352).