Bohumil Hrabal was born in , and lived through some of the most tumultuous years of Czech history. Hrabal grew up in the time of the First Republic, when literature moved away from nationalism to a more aesthetic view.
The main character of each book is different, yet strangely similar in their symbolic representation of the Czech Nation and People. Neither is seeking what they eventually find: the hero, the individual, and the Czech Spirit. The characters themselves have a very basic carnal nature, with a magical realist attitude. The humanistic elements of their adolescence, including their desire to discover sex and money, allow the reader to become the characters.
However the characters actions and reactions are so extreme, that the reader is still anchored in the reality of the world. This humanistic experience becomes warped when we learn that this is the reason he slit his wrists. On the other hand, Ditie garnishes the naked lap of a prostitute, who immediately falls in love with him for such a tender act. The said prostitute comes to the restaurant where Ditie works to bring him back his money and asks him to come again because she loves him.
The most obvious paronomastic name is the protagonist of I Served the King of England, Ditie, which means child in Czech. The character Ditie is not only physically small like a child, but his ambitions and goals are childish. Even though they do not understand the meaning of his name he is still thought of as a child. Another important paronomastic name is Mr.
This is a reasonable association, with the brick and bricklayer conjuring up the image of the Communist ideal of the Worker. The Czech word hrma means mons pubis. When he was taken on to one of the German trains as punishment, he reminisces about his unsuccessful sexual encounter with his girlfriend, Masha, rather than whether the Germans will kill him. Both novels contain an idealized character, someone that the protagonist looks up to and admires.
