Echo: A Masterpiece by Pam Munoz Ryan
Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan intertwines the stories of three musically gifted children who are exceptional harmonica players. Friedrich in Nazi Germany, Mike in the Great Depression, and Ivy during World War II share uniquely captivating stories. The characters experience hardships and discrimination and are forced to cope in their everyday lives. The musical prodigies, however, are unaware that they are fulfilling a prophecy set in motion by a mysterious young boy named Otto.
On the surface, Friedrich is a normal schoolboy in Nazi Germany. However, his family hides their jewish sympathy and even keeps medical secrets from Friedrich, which causes life to become increasingly difficult after Friedrich’s sister declares her allegiance towards Hitler. Friedrich, an apprentice in a harmonica factory, discovers a mysterious harmonica with an M engraved on it. To cope with his increasingly dangerous circumstances, Friedrich loses himself in music and is known to his peers as “monster boy” for conducting imaginary orchestras in class. Eventually, his family is caught in the Nazi crossfire and must make a life or death choice after Friedrich’s father is sent to Dachau for opposing Hitler...
Friedrich’s story impacted me through desperate acts. Throughout his story, he is forced to mature quickly to meet the demands of the environment surrounding him. At one point during the story, he must embark on a fateful train ride, but his young, nervous mindset takes a toll on his composure and he begins to conduct a Tchaikovsky’s ballet: “Friedrich heard the Sleeping Beauty waltz played by a symphony orchestra - strings, winds, brass, percussion.” His family must also face criticism from Hitlerite musicians who oppose jewish musicians like Josef, a family friend. The realisticity of their predicament altered my perception of a traditional empathetic German in the context of Nazi Germany.
Mike and his younger brother, Frankie, live in an orphanage during an economically unstable time in the United States. They live under in a cruel, money-driven orphanage run by a woman with no tolerance toward children misbehavior. Their saving grace is the amazing piano talent that Mike possesses, passed down from their deceased grandmother. With Mike’s transfer to a farm inevitable, they are saved miraculously by a woman with a mysterious background. Due to unforeseen circumstances, Mike cannot stay with the adopter and must audition for an exclusive harmonica band that will provide him a place to live. The harmonica that he ends up practicing with has a mysterious M marked on it…
Mike’s story of constant struggle appealed to me the most out of the three characters because I play the piano and can relate to many of his musical moments. His story is also less extreme in my eyes and he deals with struggles that are easier to relate to. My favorite moment of Mike’s story was after he tried out for the harmonica band, in the final stage of the competition: “When he finally lowered the harmonica and looked up, the judges stared at him. Awkwardly, he shifted from one foot to the other. Had he played poorly?” Most musicians can probably relate to this particular moment of a performance, where the audience has yet to applaud the performance, resulting in anxiety.
Ivy lives with her parents in La Colonia, a small city that has provided work for her parents, who are constantly on the lookout for farming work in Southern California during WWII. When her parents get the opportunity of a lifetime to look after an entire farm in a large city with a reputable school, Ivy unknowing takes her belongings, including a harmonica (with an M marked on it) into a racist community with a war-first vision. She must attend a shoddy annex of a prestigious school because she is Mexican and must be “cleansed” and kept from American schoolchildren. With her loving brother at war, she lives constantly in fear of the Japanese and on the verge of discovering a massive secret on the farm they are currently looking after. Her one solace is her special harmonica…
Ivy’s story was probably the most realistic. In Friedrich and Mike’s stories, they have extremely lucky moments where they seem to have overcome the impossible. In Ivy’s case, she seems to be part of an average, stereotypical low, middle class family that we have all heard or read about in realistic fiction. Her story doesn’t have as many ups and downs but she has her fair share of disappointment when she learns they must move: “‘But...what about my friends and Miss Delgado?’ Disappointment slapped her as the news sank in. She blurted out her secret: ‘And the performance on the radio!’” Her disappointing moment was the most realistic because most of us have probably felt “betrayed” in some school-related way and can sympathize with Ivy.
The stories in Echo captivated me especially because the characters have a special musical background. The musical aspect of the story focuses mostly on their successes in the harmonica and the emotional peace that they achieve while playing it, but the characters are built well so they aren’t one-dimensional characters that are simply instrument prodigies. Although the book was especially long, each of the characters’ unique struggles resonated with me and never once felt bored while reading the book. I must say that Echo is a ten out of ten book. The character stories are completely understandable and the story connects beautifully in a wildly unexpected plot.
Good job on this blog post. I liked how you went in depth about each character and their situation, and how this impacted you or how you related to the character. I find it interesting how something as seemingly insignificant like music can bring these people together, and can help them cope in a such a distressing and hard time, like the great depression, and apposing Hitler views in Nazi Germany. Overall great job on this blog post!
ReplyDeleteI think you did an amazing job on your blog post. Generally speaking, your use of vocabulary and format made your post feel exceptionally high quality, more so than other posts I have read. I appreciate how you use quotes when talking about the plot because it gives us more insight into how the story is written. Not only did you talk about the plot, but you also explained how you felt in terms of how realistic it was and how you related to the characters. Your length also allowed for many specific details to be added in which further helped me understand the book's plot and your stance on the book. Great job!
ReplyDeleteGreat job on your blog post. I read this book a few years back and had forgotten how much I had enjoyed it. I liked how you presented the different story lines, and discussed their similarities and connections as well as differences and shortcomings. You did a nice job of letting the reader know about the story and plot, while also focusing in on the analysis of the book and how each character resonated with you. Good job!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your analysis of this book. It seems very interesting, and I think the way you summarized the content of it was really well done. The times of Nazi Germany were not pleasant, and very heavy to think about. Regardless, this book seems very interesting and I will have to check it out!
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job explaining why each characters story was important. I appreciate how you described the circumstances of each of the main characters, as well as why they were important. I also like how you explained how realistic each of the characters circumstances were, as that is really important when looking for a good book to read. Excellent work!
ReplyDeleteI like how you were able to explain each character's story and how they compared, as well as what impact the had on the overall book. It was also interesting to see you share your opinions on what the most appealing, as well as the most realistic stories were. Good job.
ReplyDeleteI like how you were able to provide a basic understanding, for the readers of this blog post, of the characters and their backgrounds. This allowed the reader to see what you meant when you claimed that the stories were unique but also correlated. I also liked how you showed the reader why and how you related with a character. Great post!
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