A Change in Society After the War
Throughout the story “The Reed”, written by Anna Seghers, the reader dives into the life of the main character, Marta Emrich, as she lives by “herself” on a small farm in a town outside of Berlin, during World War II. By reading the short story the audience realizes that not only did Marta Emrich have a similar life to most women during the early 1940s, but she also matured extensively during her time “alone”. While stepping up to take care of her family farm by herself, the reader notices that while it may appear as if Marta is a shy and lonesome girl, she is actually an extremely powerful and independent women who lets her hard work show for her success.
From the beginning of the story, Marta was a shy, but curious girl who was extremely empowered and willing to do whatever it took for her family's farm to thrive. We first begin to notice Marta’s curiosity when first meeting Kurt Steiner. While she may have been afraid, she ended up giving him a safe haven, but was afraid of talking to him in fear that she would realize her decision was wrong. Overtime though Marta “...left the cellar trapdoor open and switched on her radio…” allowing Kurt to hear. (Seghers 232) This is one of the earliest examples of the reader finding out Marta sometimes takes risks. Eventually we find out that Marta gains the courage to begin talking to Kurt and overtime share the same bed with him showing us that Marta is a very trusting and caring girl. This spirit of extending out of Marta’s usual loneliness is one of the major factors that led to her being able to eventually stand up to people and meet someone else.
Later in the story, the reader recognizes signs that Marta is a very self - reliant women. We originally see her willingness to fight back after cycling to ...
