Consider the importance of the characters names in Kindertransport I think that in Kindertransport the writer, Diane Samuels uses the names of the characters as a huge way of showing their personalities and their life’s worth. The very first character that we are introduced to is Eva, now this is the younger and former self of the later introduced Evelyn. The name ‘Eva’ is a Hebrew name which is biblical and means ‘life’ but also ‘God’s grace’.
This is very fitting as when Eva is introduced to her foster mother during the war, Lil, she is a very calm, collective and polite young girl, she had been brought up in a high middle class house with wealthy parents of whom taught her well of right and wrong, Eva was a very good Jewish girl and she did everything to stick to the Jewish ways of life even at the young age of which she was sent to England. The name of Eva is even more well fitted as it means ‘life’ and this is something she may have lost if it wasn’t for her parents sending her to England and Lil taking her in.
But in the same sense Eva lost the old life that she once lived and became a different, English person due to Lil’s actions and some could argue that she was almost born again. She changed her name to Evelyn and also her birth date to the day she first came to England. The name ‘Evelyn’ is said to of originated in Germany which is ironic as that is the part of her image that through changing her name she is trying to cover. The name then went on to be popular in England and was said to be an English name. Evelyn’ is said to mean ‘light’, ‘birth-giving’ and ‘wisdom’, the fact that it means ‘light’ I think is a big issue as she herself doesn’t often find herself in the light about her past, she isn’t aware of the life of her biological family and doesn’t let her daughter into the darkness of her true self. Also the idea that Evelyn hasn’t lived a happy life because of her fear of certain things due to her past of the war and abandonment shows that she in fact isn’t a very ‘light’ and bright person.
You could say that Evelyn herself has been quite hidden and secretive of herself which creates a quite sinister image of her to her daughter of whom she has told nothing of her past life. Evelyn is so very in the dark about what actually happened to her true family that she could not possibly be ‘wise;’ about life. There is a deep sense of irony by the use of this name in Kindertransport. The name ‘Evelyn’ obviously came from the holy name ‘Eve’ who was believed to be Adam’s wife in the garden of Eden, the idea that her name is strongly linked to God and goodness such as ruth conflicts with the truth that she tried to live a life of lies with not only herself but daughter and I’m sure others around her too. At the very beginning of the play we are introduced to Helga who is Eva and Evelyn’s biological Jewish mother from Germany. ‘Helga’ is a not so common girl’s name, most widespread in Nordic and Germanic countries. The name has now become somewhat a cliche, regarded by some with too many negative connotations, mainly because of the popularity of the name during Hitler’s Nazi Germany. The name is said to mean ‘holy’ and ‘blessed’ also ‘strong’, ‘vibrant’ and ‘determined’.
The words that really stand out to me are ‘blessed’ and ‘determined’. Near the end of Kindertransport we find out that Helga surprisingly survived Nazi Germany and the awful things that happened to the Jews in this time. Helga says that the thought of being back with her daughter Eva kept her going through the whole misfortune. Some would say along with me that Helga must have been blessed to have survived such a rough and dreadful time. She is put across by Samuels as being a very good Jewish mother who has enforced the Jewish ways onto her child.
Helga and her family were true Jewish people and they were holy which is why I think her name is so clever and fitting to what she goes through. In the scenes within the play, mostly at the start with Helga and Eva sharing conversation, we get the idea that Helga is a very strict mother, almost mean to Eva when she keeps denying Eva help when she is trying to learn to sew a button onto her new coat for going away. We as the audience know that Helga is just trying to help Eva as she will not be there in England to look after her and do things for her, the harsh truth is Eva needs to learn the survive and be a mother to herself.
But as Eva is young and doesn’t understand this concept she takes the memory of her mother always saying ‘No’ and not helping her to England to her new life. Helga in fact is just being ‘determined’ to help her child and give Eva what she will need, even if Eva never sees’s it like that. Helga is shown to us as being a very strong woman who in the end survives and still sticks to her morals, she has been a wonderful mother to Eva shows compassion through reading books with Eva of which she takes with her her entire life. Lil, probably short for Lilith is Eva/Evelyn’s foster mother when she comes over to get away from Nazi Germany in the war.
This is a really interesting name as in ancient mythology Lilith was known as the queen of all demons and the very first woman, even before Eve. But Lilith was expelled from Eden for not sleeping under her husband Adam, and from there she became the first succubi, a killer of newborn babies and seducer of sleeping men. The important part is that she killed and consumed newborn babies, and I think this could be a strong link to how she has consumed and taken away Eva’s heritage and past, and almost transformed her into the new person of Evelyn.
Lil in the play did this without even realising at times for example when Lil says “I’m sorry, love. Don’t speak German”, by this Lil means she is sorry that she doesn’t speak German and therefore can’t understand her, but instead of saying “I’m sorry, love. I don’t speak German” therefore Eva takes this as a command of “Don’t speak German” as if she is almost being told off by Lil at their first encounter, this makes Eva try harder with her English language and may of even forced her to lose a bit of herself and her nationality.
Lil is a big factor of why Eva became Evelyn and suffered a huge sense of loss of identity. Evelyn went from being a small young Jewish girl, of who was from a high up middle class family and well mannered called Eva who starts the process of denial of her roots but is still haunted by her memories and becomes an older Christian girl with a different birthday and different name of now Evelyn.
Lil tries hard to help Evelyn to hide her past and when Faith asks questions about her mother Lil is very protective almost as if she hates the fact that she is not Evelyn’s biological mother and wants her to always be her child and not Helga’s, again an image of Lil consuming Eva and keeping her away from Evelyn and Faith. Faith is Evelyn’s only daughter who finds out about Evelyn’s secretive past of being a Jew in Germany. The name Faith means ‘trust’, ‘curiosity’ or ‘belief’, this is a very English name, well suited as Faith thinks she is completely English.
Evelyn may have chose a very English name as she is now English and wanted to keep everything on a low about her German past. Faith has full ‘belief’ in her mother until the day she finds out that her mother isn’t the person she thought she was. Faith questions the trust she has had with her mother and grandmother and so questions who she herself is. Faith is positive unlike the other characters and wants to know her roots and unravel the mess that her mother and gran have made. Faith wants to open boxes whereas her gran and mother want to get rid and hide things away.
The ‘curiosity’ meaning of Faiths name is key to the play, and the name is perfect for the character. Finally the Ratcatcher, the meaning of this title is usually a man whose job is to destroy or drive away vermin. The character of the Ratcatcher plays an important role in the play as a vital symbol in the play’s context. During play, Eva’s mother, Helga is reading Eva’s favourite book about the pied piper of Hamlin. But also, during this scene there is cross cutting between Helga reading the book and Faith also reading the same book, but in a different setting.
The Ratcatcher in this scene is portrayed as an evil and dark mysterious figure, whose ultimate plan is not immediately recognised, but towards the end of the scene, the Ratcatcher is the symbol of separation, as the scene moves into another short scene which shows Eva finally on the Kindertransport leaving her family and heading for a new life in England. Throughout the plot of “Kindertransport”, the Ratcatcher takes the form of other characters in the play, such as the Nazi guard on the train. In this scene, Eva is sitting on the train too petrified to move.
This is ironic as the Ratcatcher is the personification of Evelyn/Eva’s fear and at that moment in the play, the audience would expect that a child of Eva’s age would be scared about leaving their family behind. The stage directions in this scene describe the emotion of Eva as being terrified and scared. This scene also shows what the Nazi supporters thought of the Jews as being scum as the officer takes Eva’s luggage and dumps it all on the train floor and draws a huge Star of David on her label. He also throws a sweet for Eva on the floor showing that he thinks he is of a higher standard than the Jewish children.
Every other character that the Ratcatcher plays are those of men, and always in high up uniformed jobs. This cause’s great fear in Evelyn anytime she comes into contact with anyone of this sort and has therefore affected her whole English life. This story of the Ratcatcher is the only German thing that she brought with her and passed down to her daughter Faith. The story book always told her that she should count her blessing and be grateful otherwise he would come for her and take her away from her family, which in Evelyn’s eyes is exactly what he did by taking her to England.
