Language, Form and Structure in Kindertransport
In an essay on Kindertransport for the Edexcel IGCSE English Literature exam, you need to explain how Diane Samuels presents characters, relationships and themes.
This means considering:
- the language characters use
- the dramatic form of the play
- the way Samuels organises the structure
These areas often work together. A character’s words, the actor’s performance and the position of a scene within the play can all contribute to its meaning.
For exam more practice, visit our full collection of Kindertransport past exam questions.
Language in Kindertransport
Language includes the words characters use, their style of speech and the images they create.
Eva’s changing language
When Eva first arrives in England, she speaks limited English. She asks:“What good me to be safe?” Eva’s simple grammar reflects her unfamiliarity with the language. Her question also expresses her distress. She cannot feel secure while her parents remain in danger.
As Eva settles in Britain, she begins to use more English. When Helga returns after the war, Evelyn struggles to speak German. This change reflects the distance between her adult life in England and her childhood in Germany. Samuels therefore uses language to explore identity, adaptation and belonging.
The way different characters speak
Each main character has a recognisable way of speaking. Helga often gives firm instructions. Before Eva leaves Germany, she tells her: “You have to be able to manage on your own.” Helga knows that Eva will have to cope without her parents. Her direct manner reflects the urgency of the situation.
Lil uses informal, colloquial English and Manchester expressions. Her humour sometimes confuses Eva when they first meet and emphasises the cultural differences between them.
Adult Evelyn usually speaks in a controlled and practical way. She changes the subject, gives instructions and avoids Faith’s questions. As the pressure increases, her speech becomes more emotional.
Faith asks direct questions and continues to press Evelyn for answers. The differences between their speech help create the conflict between mother and daughter.
Pauses, silence and unfinished sentences
Characters sometimes struggle to express painful feelings. Evelyn also avoids questions and tries to leave the attic. Her pauses, silences and movements reinforce how difficult it is for her to discuss the past.
These moments remind us that Kindertransport is written for performance. The audience learns from what characters say and from what they cannot say.
Imagery
Samuels uses vivid images to express difficult emotions. Evelyn tells Faith: “One prick, Faith and I might bleed forever.” Evelyn compares her memories to a wound. She fears that speaking about the past will release emotions she has kept under control for many years.
The Ratcatcher also uses violent and threatening language. His words express the fear that Eva develops during childhood and continues to carry as an adult.
Form in Kindertransport
Form refers to the type of text and the dramatic methods available to a playwright.
Kindertransport is a play written to be performed on stage. The audience understands the story through dialogue, actors, stage directions, lighting, movement, music, sound and objects.
Eva and Evelyn played by separate actors
Eva and Evelyn are the same person at different ages, although two actors usually play them. This allows the child and adult versions of the character to appear on stage together. The audience can watch Eva’s childhood experiences while also seeing how Evelyn responds to Faith in the present.
The two actors make the contrast between them visible. Eva is a German Jewish child who hopes to reunite with her parents. Evelyn is an English woman who has kept much of that childhood hidden. Samuels presents memory through performance, allowing the past to appear directly on stage.
Learn more about how to analyse the Key Relationships in the Kindertransport play.
The Ratcatcher
The Ratcatcher comes from Eva’s German storybook and becomes a symbolic figure within the play.
He is connected with:
- separation
- Nazi persecution
- abandonment
- guilt
- childhood fear
The Ratcatcher appears in different forms and becomes associated with threatening characters and situations. His presence allows Samuels to give Eva’s fears a visible form. The family scenes often resemble ordinary life, while the Ratcatcher introduces a more stylised element through costume, movement, music and lighting.
Read Symbolism in Kindertransport: The Ratcatcher, the Attic and Important Objects for a fuller discussion of his role.
Music and sound
Sound helps connect different scenes and time periods.
- Pipe music signals the Ratcatcher’s presence and reminds the audience that Eva’s fear continues throughout her life.
- The harmonica links Eva’s journey with Faith’s discoveries in the attic. Eva carries it to England, the Nazi border official forces her to play it, and Faith later finds it among Evelyn’s belongings.
- Train sounds recall the journeys that separate Eva from her family and help move the action between different places.
Structure in Kindertransport
Structure refers to the way Samuels organises the play and reveals information:
Two connected time periods
The play moves between:
- Eva’s childhood from 1938 onwards
- Evelyn and Faith in the attic during the 1980s
Samuels moves between these periods throughout the play. The childhood scenes gradually explain Evelyn’s behaviour in the present. This structure helps the audience understand how early experiences continue to affect Evelyn’s identity and relationships.
A non-linear structure
The story is not presented in one continuous chronological order. Faith’s discoveries in the attic lead into scenes from Eva’s childhood. At first, Faith does not know that Eva and Evelyn are the same person.
As the play continues, Faith and the audience gradually uncover the truth. This creates tension and encourages the audience to piece together the family history.
The attic and simultaneous staging
The attic contains letters, photographs, toys, religious objects and other belongings from Evelyn’s childhood. Evelyn has kept these items away from Faith. When Faith opens the boxes, she begins to uncover the past that her mother has hidden.
Samuels sometimes presents past and present on stage at the same time. In the opening scene, Eva and Helga appear in the attic while Evelyn and Faith sort through boxes nearby.
The characters from different periods do not see one another, but the audience can compare them.
This simultaneous staging connects:
- Eva and Evelyn
- Helga, Lil and Evelyn as mothers
- Eva leaving home and Faith preparing to leave
- childhood objects and the memories attached to them
The attic allows different moments in Evelyn’s life to appear within the same stage space.
Repetition and parallels
Samuels repeats actions and situations across the play. Helga teaches Eva to sew before she leaves Germany. Later, Lil sews Eva’s hem in England. The repeated action connects the two women who act as Eva’s mothers.
Eva leaves Helga as a child. Years later, Faith prepares to leave Evelyn. Faith’s departure brings Evelyn’s fear of separation into the present.
Packing, trains, journeys and boxes also recur. These details connect different stages of Eva and Evelyn’s life.
Gradual revelation
Samuels reveals Evelyn’s history slowly. Faith first discovers objects and papers in the attic. Lil answers some of her questions. Evelyn later tells Faith more about Helga, Werner and her childhood.
This gradual revelation increases the tension because Evelyn becomes more distressed as Faith learns the truth. It also allows the audience to make connections and discoveries alongside Faith.
The ending
At the end of the play, Faith leaves with some of the objects from the attic. She plans to learn more about her family history. Evelyn remains behind. She has spoken about parts of her past, although the pain connected with those memories remains. The Ratcatcher’s shadow appears over her. Samuels uses this final stage image to show that fear and memory are still present in Evelyn’s life. The ending leaves Faith looking towards further discovery while Evelyn continues to learn to face the past she has tried to suppress.
Why language, form and structure matter
Language, form and structure help Samuels present the emotional effects of separation across several generations.
When revising, consider:
- how each character speaks
- what the audience sees and hears
- how past and present are connected
- how symbols and objects appear on stage
- how information is revealed
- how the ending develops the main ideas
For guidance on turning these points into a focused exam response, read How to Write a Strong Kindertransport Essay for Edexcel IGCSE.
