The Boy At The Top Of The Mountain Quiz

Answer: Both French and German

The boy was born in 1929, and no one has any idea what he will experience or witness before he becomes a man. Pierrot's father, Herr Fischer, is German and his mother is French. The Great War took its toll on the father, and he commits suicide before his son starts school.

The poor mother dies of tuberculosis a few years later, and Pierrot is sent to an orphanage. He is resentful when his Jewish neighbours say they cannot take him in - despite his close friendship with their deaf son Anshel.

Answer: Bruno from "The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas"

At the French orphanage Pierrot receives an unexpected letter. His father's long-lost sister Beatrix has heard what happened, and wants her nephew to come live with her in Austria! Pierrot is glad to be leaving the orphanage. He has few friends and gets bullied a lot - by a Jewish boy no less, which helps fuel Pierrot's later antisemitism. Pierrot has to travel alone, taking no less than three trains. Before he boards the final train to Austria at Munich, a man in a Nazi uniform smirks and stands on the poor boy's hand.

He stops when his wife Elsa appears with their baby son Bruno. (Bruno's father Ralf eventually becomes commandant of the concentration camp in "The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas". Ralf's family move there when Bruno is eight.) Poor Pierrot meets another antagonist from that story on the train. Kurt Kotler is now a member of the Hitler youth and he and his friends help themselves to Pierrot's sandwiches.

Answer: Pieter

His aunt think it wise, because her "employer" dislikes French people. It turns out Aunt Beatrix is housekeeper of a large property in the mountains, known as the "Berghof". When Pierrot arrives the staff are told to make him feel welcome. He settles in, wondering why everyone looks so nervous when someone mentions The Master. Pierrot has no idea that the name of this mysterious owner of the Berghof will go down in history.

Answer: Adolf Hitler

Pierrot/Pieter finally meets the strange "Fuhrer". But Hitler is very kind to the boy, and takes him under his wing. He is quite happy to let the orphan live there, and even organises a Hitler Youth uniform for him. Hitler is like a father to the boy and Pierrot/Pieter does anything he asks, and believes everything he says.

When he reads books supplied by The Fuhrer, his anger about Jews increases. Growing up in the Berghof, Pierrot gets to meet a lot of famous people, including Edward, the former King of England, and Wallis Simpson.

Not to mention Eva Braun, Heinrich Himmler, and so forth.

Answer: The chaffeur

Aunt Beatrix and Ernst her lover are very kind to Pierrot, but every so often the boy sees the two of them looking nervous and guilty about something. He wonders why; not until 1942, as the war enters its third year, does he understand.

Answer: Someone tries to poison Hitler

Pierrot accompanies Beatrix and Ernst one day as they drive down the mountain to buy food for The Fuhrer's Christmas party. The boy wonders why the two look more nervous than ever. They stop off at someone's house who quickly passes them something before shutting the door on them. That afternoon as the feast begins, the couple present a cake to Hitler. Only Pierrot seems to notice how huge their anxiety levels have become.

Then he puts two and two together and shouts "STOP!" before Hitler takes a mouthful.

At first Hitler is annoyed, then Pierrot suggests Ernst the chauffeur eats it instead. The poor man turns pale and refuses. Hitler demands to know what's going on, and Pierrot tells him. From that moment on, Hitler trusts the boy wholeheartedly. That night, from his bedroom window, Pierrot witnesses Beatrix and Ernst (beaten and bloody) dragged before some soldiers in the yard and executed. Strangely, he doesn't feel guilty at all, despite all the kindness from his aunt and Ernst. As far as he's concerned, they deserved it. Pierrot himself can't see it - but the other staff at the mansion see he's changed.

Answer: True

Hitler often invites officers and associates to his mountain retreat. At one point Pierrot meets the very same SS officer (Ralf, Bruno's father) who stood on his hand at the Munich railway station years ago. (This time Ralf is not looking so smug; his son Bruno has been accidentally gassed in the concentration camp.) When Pierrot writes down things like "towers", "gas chambers", or "population reduction" he does not know what The Fuhrer and his companions are talking about. Having said that, he feels his innocence slowly drifting away.

Answer: False

Despite repeated pleas from Pierrot/Pieter throughout his time on the mountain, Hitler refuses to allow his surrogate son to join the military. Nevertheless, Pierrot/Pieter becomes a monster. After witnessing the executions of his aunt and her lover, he has convinced himself Hitler is right and everyone else is wrong.

At school he has a crush on a girl called Katarina. He invites her and her family to one of Hitler's parties. Her parents are too afraid to refuse, despite their daughter's protests. Pierrot shows the girls around, and once they are alone in his room, he tries to rape her.

The cook intervenes in time, knocks Pierrot out, and poor Katarina gets away. But when Pierrot awakens he's informed the Fuhrer has "got rid" of the cook. Next time Pierrot goes to Katarina's father's stationary shop, he's told that family "had to leave".

But still, the boy is convinced he is right and everyone else is wrong.

Answer: He is captured by American soldiers

As 1944 becomes 1945, it is obvious that something has gone horribly wrong. All the adults keep saying "the enemy" is getting closer. Hitler starts frequenting the mansion less and less. The Fuhrer is more stressed than Pierrot/Pieter has ever seen him in his life.

He even slaps the boy across the face when he offers to help. Pierrot is now more confused than ever. The Fuhrer is God, what is going wrong? Finally, The Fuhrer and Fraulein Braun stop coming to the mountain. Shortly after, all the remaining staff leave one by one, but Pierrot is determined to stay out of loyalty.

The last person he sees is one of the maids. She looks at him coldly. She tells him he will have to answer one day for what he has done. Pierrot does not understand. She says coldly "You were present at The Fuhrer's meetings. You heard every word they said. Don't pretend you don't know what they discussed." Actually Pierrot did NOT know...but nevertheless his conscience suddenly feels very troubled. One day he wakes up to the sound of jeeps coming up the mountain.

He is sent to an internment camp, and eventually released. But he is homeless, friendless and with no family. He does not know what to do. The months he spent in the interment camp have convinced him he was on the wrong side all along. He has become a monster.

Answer: Anshel is still alive

At the story's conclusion the author suddenly talks about himself in the first person. He is Anshel, adult, still deaf, but now an accomplished writer. When he met grown-up Pierrot he listened to his friend's guilty confessions. He promised him he'd write it all for him. The two men hugged each other and forgave each other for everything.