Question

what is the central idea of the final assault?

Answer 1

The Assault is an historical fiction novel written by Dutch author Harry Mulisch. First published in 1982 under the Dutch title De Aanslag, the novel was translated and published in English in 1985 and later translated into over a dozen languages. Mulisch was born in Haarlem, Netherlands, the same setting in which The Assault occurs. The story is based on actual events and Mulisch’s experiences during German occupation in World War II. The narrative is told in the third person omniscient and is broken into five episodes—the years 1945, 1952, 1956, 1966, and 1981—that follow the life of Anton Steenwijk from ages twelve to forty-eight. 

The Assault opens on a January evening in Haarlem, Netherlands, in 1945. The city is under Nazi occupation, and the Steenwijk family—Anton, Mr. and Mrs. Steenwijk, and the eldest son, Peter—live a piecemeal existence within their home. They are subject to food and goods rationing as well as a strict military curfew, and they have moved their entire life into one room in their house. The family home stands on a quay surrounded by three other family homes.