Bomb shelter question
Where did the Miniver's maids and cooks go during the bombing?
shareEither home or the basement.
and why were heavy canned food items placed on that upper bunk? When the place was rocking and they were falling down, she kept putting them back up there instead of leaving them on the floor.
shareThere are two answers: one is that the picking up
up of cans is a literary device intended to show that
Mrs. Miniver had a commitment to show bravery and
leadership to her family--she would keep things under
control regardless of the chaos and danger.
The other is, that people often do not think clearly
during moments of chaos and extreme danger. A former
college instructor of mine and her family--her husband
was a rabbi--went to Israel before the '67 war during
his sabbatical. They went to live for a few months in
a kibbutz near the Golan Heights. Every morning, one
of them stood kitchen duty, arising at 4 a.m. to help
prepare breakfast for the kibbutz. One morning, she
half awakened because her bed was shaking. She was irritated
because her husband was known to be a practical joker, and
she presumed that he was bumping her bed to irritate her.
Suddenly, the door slammed open and the rabbi attired in
kitchen garb, was shouting something at her which, because of her sleepy condition, she didn't understand. But the bed kept shaking. Finally, she
understood that he was yelling at her to get to the shelter,
that a Syrian artillery barrage was walking up the hill toward
the kibbutz. Because she was a proper rabbi's wife, she
arose and was attempting to put on her robe, still not quite
understanding. The rabbi snatched her hand they ran for the shelter.
Mrs. Miniver's actions in the moment are completely realistic.