The Meaning Of The Title “Our Secret”, A Chapter From “A Chorus Of Stones” by Susan Griffin

Truth is possibly one of the most powerful forces in humanity. Truth has the power to set people free, change lives and end them. Because of this, the truth is usually feared and often concealed. In Susan Griffin’s “Our Secret”, the concealing of the truth become a major theme in the advancement of the plot, and also carries the meaning to the work’s title. The title of “Our Secret” refers to the secrets that the individual characters in the story keep from others reference to the fact that humanity is keeping secrets from itself. As the story opens, already the reader is confronted with the topic of concealing the truth. The narrator speaks
The secrets that this family keeps from others means that they have not accepted who they actually are. The secrets they keep from others mean they are actually keeping secrets from themselves. The finest example of concealed secrets in Our Secret is related to the topic of the Nazis, the Concentration Camps, and Henrich Himmler. Himmler, head of the Nazi S.S., led a very troubled and traumatic childhood. Constantly hounded and smothered by his father, Himmer was never allowed to have his own individual thoughts or feelings. He was constantly trying to live up to the image his father had made for him. Griffin’s interpretation of the situation is that, “He harbors his secrets in fear and guilt, confessing them to no one one until in time the voice of his father chastising him becomes his own.” (Griffin, 306). The secrets Himmler kept from his father prevented him from truly knowing himself as a child. This, in turn, caused him to continue this habit for the rest of his life. Himmler’s unusual upbringing contributed to who he became as an adult: the chief overseer of the Nazis’ horrible Concentration Camps. Called “The Final Solution”, these camps were used by the Nazis to systematically execute Jews and others who they deemed to be different. This horrible practice was kept a secret from the Allies.