P A R T I
1944-1945
"Into the Fray" || Marc Streitenfeld || The Grey
A wartime child is exactly that: an innocent born into the fray without any permeable wish to partake in battle.
See it as a calf. An naive infant who is treated like a pet, pampered and petted and provided for with utmost care. They are treated to delicacies, to treasures of livelihood, in order to fatten them for the slaughter. And they are taken...just as they overcome their innocence only to come under a butcher's knife. They are treated kindly to be killed cruelly.
Or take it as a deer. A innocent creature, born under a heard and protected from all the dangers of the outside and predatory world. And yet, they see it all...the predators rip mother to shreds and fathers fight for the upper hoof. Through this, they gain muscle upon their bones, learning to avoid both the human and animal predators. But in this way, they become the best prey, the largest deer specimen, a prize for the conquerer. They must strengthen themselves in order to become the best meat.
Both wartime children, yet shaped into different adults through the environment of their childhood. They are both shaped by men, by the delusions of their society, and the state of their homes. Innocent turned good and evil, calf and deer, Harry Potter and Tom Riddle.