Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Forum administrators, Interface administrators, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
116,263
edits
Fatherland (novel): Difference between revisions
tropelist
(Import from TV Tropes TVT:Literature.Fatherland 2012-07-01, editor history TVTH:Literature.Fatherland, CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported license) |
Looney Toons (talk | contribs) (tropelist) |
||
| (4 intermediate revisions by one other user not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{work}}
'''''Fatherland''''' is a 1992 [[Alternate History]] novel written by Robert Harris. [[Fatherland (
It's the 1960s, in a version of history where Nazi Germany came out of [[World War II]] intact. A German policeman on what seems at first to be a routine murder investigation finds himself on the trail of an explosive political secret -- the long-hushed-up truth about the [[Final Solution]].
''Fatherland'' takes place in a Nazi-controlled Europe in the days leading up to Hitler's 75th birthday, where Berlin is rebuilt to [[Bigger Is Better|Speer's designs]] and the main character is trying to uncover the big hushed
{{tropelist}}
* [[Allohistorical Allusion]]: One rather subtle difference is that just as you start to wonder why "President Kennedy" is still alive and acting so [[Out of Character]], the realisation dawns that America elected former ambassador ''Joseph'' Kennedy, [[John F. Kennedy|JFK]]'s father.▼
▲* [[Allohistorical Allusion]]: One rather subtle difference is that just as you start to wonder why "President Kennedy" is still alive and acting so [[Out of Character]], the realisation dawns that America elected former ambassador ''Joseph'' Kennedy, [[John F Kennedy|JFK]]'s father.
* [[Alternate History]]
* {{spoiler|[[Big Bad Friend]]}}
* [[Can't Stop the Signal]]: Very ambiguously done; we only see what the main character is believing to be happening, not what is ''actually'' happening.
* [[Empire
* [[For Want of a Nail]]: The [[Allohistorical Allusion]] mentioned above might seem like a minor detail, but it may be a hint at the story's "point of divergence". When Joseph Kennedy was ambassador to Britain he was strongly in favour of appeasement with Germany well into 1940, and lost a lot of public face because of it. If he's popular enough in this world to be elected President, it could indicate that America stayed out of World War II altogether.
* [[Foregone Conclusion]]: A rarity in an [[Alternate History]], but the event itself has already happened - it's [[The Reveal]] that [[You Should Know This Already|You Should Know Already]]; the protagonist is investigating some deep political conspiracy that has something to do with the Nazi party and concentration camps.
* [[Gender Blender Name]]: Charlie, a ''female'' ambassador.
* [[In Spite of a Nail]]: Played with; the English rock-and-roll band who are often mentioned as becoming increasingly popular with the youth are never explicitly named, but it's pretty clear that they're either supposed to be [[The Beatles (
* [[Minor Crime Reveals Major Plot]]: Doesn't get much more major than [[Foregone Conclusion|this one]].
* [[Nazi Protagonist]]: Averted. Despite holding the SS-rank of Sturmbannfuhrer (which equates roughly to Major in the wehrmacht and Komissar in the pre-Nazi Germany police force), it's mentioned several times that, despite being a very capable investigator, the protagonist hasn't progressed further in his career because of his outright refusal to become a party member. It's why he has such a poor relationship with his ultra-Nazi son {{spoiler|and one of the main reasons that the kid betrays him.}}
* [[Out, Damned Spot!]]
* [[Released to Elsewhere]]
* [[You Cannot Kill an Idea]]: "Cut a clearing in the forest of your mind, the trees are just waiting to reoccupy it." (rephrased)
| |||