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Themes of the Stromberger Gospel - Coggle Diagram
Themes of the Stromberger Gospel
Illusions and Idolatry
Stromberger brother's trust of their father
Matthäus
Distances himself, but does not take overt action
Markus
Lashes out, becomes withdrawn
Lukas
Make him mad until he cares
Take advantage of his not caring to get away with everything
Johannes
Illusion not yet shattered
Matija's family honor
Grandfather as a martyr figure
Nationalism
Yugoslavia is a failing state, and Matija feels like an outsider in Carinthia
Betrayal of what his grandfather fought for
Between a rock and a hard place: no home in Austria, Slovenia does not exist
Religion and Tradition
Matija as a defender of Rebeka's honor
Quixotic, knight-like role?
Purity
Rebeka must marry Markus for both Matija's spilled blood and her pregnancy, no matter the cost
Matija must be possessed if he can't resist sexual urges
Gender
Young Man's Anger
Masculinity is defined by heroism (Tragic [Romeo] for Markus, nationalistic for Matija [Enjolras], debaucherous [Don Giovanni] for Lukas)
To grow up, Johannes believes he must emulate one of these types of heroism
Rebeka as an object
Never appears in the original poems
Matija disallows her from freely choosing Markus in the name of her honor
Thinks she's avoiding the worst excesses of traditionalism by choosing Markus, but watches herself become irrelevant after birthing Miha
Miha should've been a girl
Rebeka believes it is inevitable that Miha will turn into Markus, so why even try?
Shattered Illusions
Self-awareness that not everything is how it seems
Johannes sees the effects of Lukas' alcoholism
Lukas knows that he's running out of time, but doesn't care
Matthäus knows how shitty his family is
Matija betrays his grandfather's ideals of Yugoslavia
Matija's family has no honor
The other brothers have their illusions shattered, but why is Johannes the only one who actively rejects it?
The veil
Power of perspective
Johannes' account of Matija's death
Markus uses Johannes' initial lie to control the narrative and defend both his reputation and Lukas'.
Only possible through prior mistrust of Matija
Matija's grandfather becomes a hero in Matija's mind
Language Barriers
Matija unable to articulate his defenses of himself as well as he'd like
"Morala bi biti dekle"
In Slovene because even though Markus isn't there, Rebeka doesn't want him to hear?
Fate
Markus blames fate for everything, but controls the fates of everyone else
Kills Matija
Abuses Johannes' lie, Matthäus' vows to absolve himself without admitting to the murder and keeping Rebeka.
Uses Miha as a proxy to atone for his mistakes, have a do-over in life, but dooms Miha to a terrible childhood
Literary devices
Blood symbolism
Family ties (Markus)
Blood on Markus' hands
Postpartum bleeding
Blood symbolizes both life and death
At the end of the fight, Johannes stands in both Lukas and Matija's blood, unable to discern them
Power of names
Even at the character's detriment, they are fundamentally unable to separate their identity from religion
Matija and Matthäus share the same name in different languages
There is only a superficial difference between the Strombergers and Matija
Isolation, Seperation, and Alienation
Distance catalyzes disenchantment
Matthäus separated from the rest of the family
Literally lives apart from them; metaphorically fails to understand most of them
Johannes despises Markus by the time he returns
Rebeka's realization at Klagenfurt
Factions in the Stromberger Family
Matthäus and Markus
Cope through complacency with their father's ideals
Lukas and Johannes
Cope through rebelling against their father
Family Ties
Stromberger brothers' loyalty to each other
Lukas' fear for Markus
Matthäus as the protector
Could not protect Lukas from himself