Character Analysis

     Elise is a Christian girl in the Nazi Youth Organization. She is fifteen years old, and her dad is on the front line fighting in the war. Also, her brother had a disability and was killed in the Nazi T-4 program. Her mom does not keep proper care of her. In fact, Elise is forced to care for her mom because she is very worried and upset because her husband is fighting the war, and she lost her son. Like her mom, Elise's experiences cause her to often feel depressed and angry.  Though, she does try to remain a supportive friend to Ruth, a Jew, even after everything she has been through.  

     In Elise’s sections of Train, her depression is revealed as she tells herself that, “I’m bad luck,” or, “I always ruin everything,” showing that Elise does not feel confident with herself. However, when Elise begins to secretly cut herself is when the reader begins to understand the depths of her despair. She is haunted by the ghost of her brother Victor, and the ultimate knowledge that he was killed in cold blood by the T-4 program, ¨Viktor´s voice woke her. It was still dark outside¨(pg.187). It is only when Elise begins to feel confident enough to stand up to her mother for her anti-semitism and her role in Victor's death, that Elise makes peace with Victor's ghost and she no longer sees him.