36 pages • 1 hour read
Władysław SzpilmanThe Pianist
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 1946A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 16-18Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 16 Summary: “Death of a City”
The sleeping pills do not kill Władysław, and he wakes up the following morning with “joy to find myself alive” (160). He leaves his flat and finds that the building is still smoky and partially on fire. Exiting the building, he stumbles across the burnt corpse of a resident and sees many more corpses in the streets. The fighting and shooting in the streets continue, and Władysław seeks shelter in an unfinished hospital building on August 13, 1944. He hopes to find supplies there but discovers only insect-filled water and moldy bread, which make up his only sustenance for the next two weeks.
On August 30, Władysławchanges his hiding place and returns to the ruined building, which has since stopped burning. At first, he hides on the third floor then moves into the attic. Here, Władysław subsists on dirty water that has collected in bathtubs and rusks, a type of biscuit. Ukrainian soldiers raid the building several times, but Władysław escapes detection.
Throughout this time, fighting continues in the city, along with air raids and shelling. On October 5, the Polish rebels are defeated, and the German soldiers escort the last of the fighters out of the city. The last of the civilians exit on October 14. Władysławremains hiding in the building, questioning how he will survive the impending winter.
Chapter 17 Summary: “Life for Liquor”
Władysław remains alone in a “city of rubble and ashes,” and spends his days hiding in the attic of his apartment building (166). Looters come to visit the city, some of whom are shot by German soldiers. As November approaches, Władysław fears the cold but tries to live as “disciplined a life as possible” (168). In the mornings, he lies on the floor, to conserve strength, and mentally goes over all the compositions he has ever played. In the afternoon, he goes over the contents of the books he read and gives himself English lessons, going over vocabularyand asking himself questions. Around 1am, he scavenges for food in the other abandoned flats, finding mostly oatmeal, bread, and flour. At one point, he finds an “unexpected treasure” of a half litre of alcohol and promises himself he will drink it when the war ends (169).
Throughout the day, Germans and Ukrainians come into the building to look for loot but do not discover Władysław in the attic. One day, however, Władysław is cooking in the kitchen and encounters a German soldier. He strikes a bargain with the solider, giving him the alcohol in exchange for leaving him alone for the time being. The German agrees but promises to return. In the meantime, Władysław hides on the roof and remains undiscovered when the soldier returns. Władysław maintains this new hiding spot until Germans discover him later on and shoot at him from a neighboring roof.
Władysław escapes again and hides in the attic of another building. He notices a troop of civilian workers and feels the strong need to speak with them for the sake of human interaction. The leader offers him soup in exchange for work, but Władysław’s “common sense prevailed” and he rejects the offer (174). He goes to a villa to pretend as if it is his hiding place but later slips out. Władysław sees the worker return with police to his decoy hiding place.
Once again, Władysław scavenges for food, and as he is raiding a larder in a neighboring building, he encounters a “tall, elegant German officer” (176).
Chapter 18 Summary: “Nocturne in C Sharp Minor”
The German officer is not named in the memoir, but the back matter reveals that he is Wilm Hosenfeld. After learning that Władysław is a pianist, Hosenfeld asks him to play the piano in the next room. Władysław plays Chopin’s Nocturne in C Sharp Minoron the out-of-tune piano. Hosenfeld offers Władysław aid, helping him find an even better hiding place in a loft. Władysław is confused over the assistance and asks if Hosenfeld is German, to which he replies, “Yes, I am! And ashamed of it, after everything that’s been happening” (179).
Over the next several weeks, Hosenfeld brings Władysław food, a warm coat, and news of the war.Hosenfeld assures Władysław that the war will be over by the spring and urges him, “You must hang on, do you hear?” (180).Hosenfeld visits for the last time on December 12, 1944,bringing news of an imminent Soviet victory.Władysław tells the soldier his name, urging him to remember him when the war is over.
On January 16, 1945 Władysław hears the broadcast detailing the German defeat and the liberation of Warsaw. When Władysław emerges from the building, Polish soldiers at first mistake him for a German, exacerbated by the fact that he is wearing a German coat. The Polish military cares for him, and he becomes “a free man, for the first time in almost six years” (186). When the chapter ends, Władysław moves towards Praga, a remote suburb left intact during the war.
In the postscript, Władysław reveals that a colleague of his, Zygmunt Lenicki, encountersHosenfeld in atemporary prisoner-of-war camp. Hosenfeld shares the fact that he helped Władysław. Lenicki is unable to learnHosenfeld’s name at the time, and though Władysław “did everything in my power to track down the German prisoner,” he is unable to do so (189).
Chapters 16-18 Analysis
Music resurfaces in these chapters as a transcendent object and conduit to mental and physical survival. While Władysław is in hiding, totally isolated and with very little food, he goes over compositions in his head. He notes, “Later, this mental refresher course turned out to have been useful: when I went back to work I still knew my repertory and had almost all of it in my head, as if I had been practicing all through the war” (168). Even without an instrument, Władysław strives to maintain his connection to music mentally and spiritually. It also serves as a bridge back to his career after the war ends.
Music also serves as a connective thread between Hosenfeld and Władysław. When Władysław reveals he is a pianist, Hosenfeld encourages him to play the piano, thus opening himself up to an enemy of the state. Here, music serves as a conduit between two people on opposing sides of the war. As an art, it transcends boundaries. After hearing the Nocturne, Hosenfeld allows Władysław to remain in hiding, and brings him food supplies. Here, the memoir suggests that music is the key to this connection and thus to Władysław’s ultimate survival.
As a character, Władysław again moves through bouts of hope and despair. After his suicide attempt is unsuccessful, Władysław feels “a boundless animal lust for life at any price” (160). Thus, he goes from embracing death to embracing life. As he continues to hide out in the abandoned city, this lust for life diminishes, and Władysław focuses on surviving. He is uncertain if he will last: “How much longer could I hold out in these circumstances, in view of thecoming autumn with its shorter days and the threat of approaching winter?” (166).
His isolation and despair are so great that he risks his hiding place in order to speak to what appear to be civilian workers: “I was seized by a sudden longing to hear human speech, and my own voice replying” (174). This moment speaks to his deep need for human connection after so much isolation, as he notes, “And now I was lonelier, I supposed, than anyone else in the world” (182).
Ultimately, Władysław survives the war, but the final chapter ends on an uncertain note: “Tomorrow I must begin a new life. How could I do it, with nothing but death behind me?” (189). He is uncertain of himself and leaves the reader at a loss as to what is next for him.
