1. In The Invisible Wall, there are several events that seem to slowly chip away at the wall between the two groups. One of these events was when Lily earned herself a full scholarship to the Grammar School, a feat never before accomplished by a girl from St. Peters. As soon as the news spread, Bernstein says, 'The neighbors continued to come in to congratulate Lily and help or make new suggestions about the new dress. It was still being talked about up and down the street (')' (Bernstein 134). Neighbors from both sides were astonished and congratulated her on her success and even went so far as to congratulate her and her mother (Bernstein 133). When Lily was forced by her father out of the house to work in the tailor shop, there was such a fuss that neighbors on both sides felt pity for the poor girl (Bernstein 139). Another major event that brought the street together was the war. It didn't matter which side you were from, chances are, if you were an able young man, you were going to get drafted. Both sides held their breath in the hopes that the next telegram wouldn't come to them. Both sides were patriotic and were brought together in their grief for Freddy and his injury (Bernstein 159, 160). However, the event that broke down the wall seemingly completely was not the marriage between Arthur and Lily, but instead their child. The innocence of the baby helped people to realize that Jew or Christian didn't matter- they were all the same. They faced this truth at the party in the baby's honor: Jews and Christians alike interacted with one another and treated everyone equally (Bernstein 284). This isn't to say that there wasn't residual emotions of reluctance and disdain, although no specific events were stated within the novel. However, Rome wasn't built, nor was it destroyed, in a day.
2. Harry's mother often spoke of leaving for America. She had a dream to go to America and live the American dream: work hard and get rich. Like any mother, her true dream was to give her children the life she felt they deserved: a life of comfort. They would have riches and a real parlor. It wasn't as far-fetched as one might believe. Though they were dirt poor, Harry's mother had in-laws in the States (Bernstein 28). She believed that if only she made it to America, she would become rich and be able to give her children a life of ease. We see how desperately she wants this when she speaks to Lily after Lily refuses to leave for America. In this exchange, Harry's mother is astonished at her ignorance, 'The ticket finally arrived, an occasion for another outburst of joy on my mother's part. Here it was actually, the thing she had been waiting for so long, a large pink slip of paper that would give Lily passage on a steamship ('). She showed it to Lily as soon as she came home from work that night. Her own face was shining she thrust it into Lily's hands, made her take hold of it and look at it, feel it, stroke it, as she had done. 'Now you're practically on your way to America,' she exulted. It was the same as before, however. Silence. Lily obediently took hold of the ticket and looked at it, but said nothing. Her face was stony. My mother grew a little angry and impatient. 'Aren't you glad you're going to America?' she said. 'My God, any other girl would give her right arm to be going. And you- you don't seem to care at all.'' (Bernstein 248). In this exchange, Harry's mother is clearly baffled on why anyone would not want to go to America. After all, that is what she'd been trying to achieve for most of her life and something she would sacrifice a lot for. Her hope to go to America and the rumors of riches made her ignorant to the flaws and become dead set in her thinking that America was the perfect world and unfortunately when she eventually made it, along with many other immigrants, was deeply disappointed.
3. On the street, there were many different things that separated the Jews from the Christians. It all boiled down to their core beliefs. Many people believe that Christians and Jews have very similar beliefs. However, this is untrue. While both believe in the same God, study the Hebrew bible (but Christians study the New Testament as well) and have similar morals, they vary greatly on many topics. One of these is the Jews belief in keeping the Sabbath holy by not doing any work. They're not even allowed to lift the pots and must hire a Christian to do it for them (Bernstein 38). Christians clearly don't have this rule. They also consistently ridicule the Jewish people by saying, 'Who killed Christ?' The Christians believed that it was the Jews fault that Christ was crucified and resented them for this. These were just the start of their differences.
4. Harry's father had a rough childhood. Growing up in Poland, he was unruly and often disregarded. At work, he was often beaten and told of how worthless he was. Because of this, he often became drunk, much to his parents dismay. They then attempted to escape from him by moving to England, but later on he managed to track them there. He made a huge scene while his mother plotted on how to best be rid of him. Unfortunately for Harry's mother, that plan included setting her up with Harry's father and ditching them for America (Bernstein 108). As one can see, he was consistently abandoned and disregarded and become angry because of it.
5. I don't believe that Bernstein has fully forgiven his father by the end of the novel. After all, it would be difficult for anyone to forgive abuse and neglect. However, isn't that the point? In his childhood, Harry's father was neglected and abandoned. Not only that, but his own family fled the country to be rid of him- twice. Who wouldn't be bitter? He'd never had anyone care for him and never had anyone teach him how to love. He didn't know how to deal with these emotions because no one had ever taught him how. Sure, he did a lot of bad things, but you can't completely blame him. This doesn't justify his abuse and actions, but perhaps that's the point. He never received loved, so he didn't know how to give it to his kids. If it weren't for their mother, his kids probably would've turned out the same as him because they wouldn't have a good example either. It's all a cycle. I believe he should be forgiven. However, people often mix up forgiving with forgetting. They are NOT the same thing by far. Just because you forgive him does not mean that his actions are justified or to be forgotten; that's just how people stay in abusive relationships because they become oblivious to the danger they are in. But maybe if someone finally took the time to care for him as Larry did, like we saw when he hung out with Larry, he could change. After all, no one truly deserves forgiveness.
6. I believe that Lily's father prevented her from going to grammar school for a variety of reasons. One would be that he saw her as mainly a source of income and looked at the here-and-now value of her work, rather than her getting a better job in the future. Second, he felt insulted because his kid would get a better job than what he had and he had never had the privilege to go to a nice school because he had been deprived of his childhood. He felt that if he couldn't have it then she couldn't either. To a certain degree, je must've felt jealousy and anger. His pride was insulted because so many people forgot about him and never even gave him a chance; they just forced him to do things and here his children were, privileged and they didn't even realize how lucky they were.
7. The war changed the talk of the town significantly. War forces people to look death and loss in the eye. When people look death in the eye, they often become their true selves. When they looked around, they stopped seeing the petty lines but instead saw people as they truly were: no better or worse than the other. They saw how similar they all were: they all had something to lose. They all shared the same fear of death, losing their belongings, and losing one another. They were forced to figure out the truth in things rather than the facades everyone puts up. They were united as a country rather than separated by a religion. They stopped their judgments. The wall was still there, but the war made them start to realize the need to tear it down.
8. The Invisible Wall teaches us many lessons about religious coexistence. For one, it teaches us that we should peacefully coexist with one another. Over the years, hundreds of wars have been waged in the name of God or gods. The Invisible Wall teaches us that it is possible to overcome these differences because at the end of the day, we aren't as different as we seem. However, it will never be fully possible to coexist in complete peace because where there are opposing opinions, there is conflict. However, we can limit the conflicts to a less deadly level. Even then, conflicts will rise and grow larger to this point; there is no stopping it, but we can limit it. But certain religions still teach that it is okay to murder and even encouraged to harm those with different beliefs. But despite all this, we must be careful to be tolerant, but not tolerant to the point of intolerance; not everyone will agree with this because they wish to prove that their religion is correct but we must be careful between the line of tolerance and ignorance and pride.
9. If The Invisible Wall took place today, it would be drastically different. This generation has grown up with images of war, violence, and murder. Another thing we have grown up with is extreme pride and tolerance to the point of intolerance. It is similar to the French Revolution: the committee for public safety was so determined to keep the revolution that it destroyed the smallest threat and ended up massacring thousands of people and caused people to live in fear. Similarly, in nowadays settings, there is so much tension between groups. Republicans and Democrats are neck and neck with the past presidential election. Likely, if they were on the same street and voiced their opinion, their houses would be egged or a war within the street would be waged: ranging from TP-ed houses to shootings. Nowadays, if a street was divided between black and whites, I would never be more thankful because I wouldn't have to go on either side. All jokes aside, once again, even more so, there would be tension because of the Black Lives Matter movements and the anti-white people sentiment they share because of ancestors past mistakes. As has been already seen, there'd likely be mobs, riots, and a huge, violent mess. Jews and Muslims would also have high tension, although I'm not convinced that it would be violent. It depends on what denomination of Islam the Muslims belonged to, I suppose. Generally, besides the radicals who make up a very small percentage of Muslims, Muslims tend to not meddle and are peaceful. Jews tend to be more civil and are not as traditional in modern times, so they wouldn't need Muslims to do their work. I believe that it would definitely be a lot more tense if the Jews had to have the Muslims do things for them, but I don't believe it would escalate quite as quickly as the other two.
10. As I previously stated, when most people face death or adversity, they often reveal their true nature. Strong men start to bawl, the scrawny stand up and look death in the face, and both surprise the other. Of course, this is not always true, but is a general rule. I believe that when people face adversity is when they show their true colors. After all, it is when you're threatened when you realize the value of life and everything you've taken for granted. Today's society is so 'soft' that we don't face daily dangers. We have all the time in the world it seems and have the time to criticize one another and put up our walls. I do agree that all false barriers disappear with the threat of death, but not all with war because as I sit here in my house typing this, I am not worried about being shot. But there is a war in the Middle East. But though there is war, I could just as easily keep up my walls. It is when one is met with the very thing they fear most that they take down the false walls and are left with the truth.
11. To a certain degree I agree and disagree. Yes, we are all the same as in we are all human with the same basic desires and emotions. However, besides the petty details, we are vastly different. Our childhoods have nurtured different emotions and values. When we break all of our false walls down, you are left with a raw being. And each raw being is similar: we all have brains, hearts, etc. We all must eat to survive. We feel emotions. But beyond that, we are vastly different. Our true walls shape our individual feelings and desires. Our true walls are formed by our deepest values and who we truly are when the facade we put on in day-to-day life. Our true selves are shaped by our experiences and no two experiences are exactly the same. There are some that are similar and they are all vulnerable, but our true selves have different values and desires than each other. Our faith can shape us and our values and can make us drastically different.