What do we learn about Lieutenant Kotler's father? What did the conversation at dinner have to do with the way with how Lieutenant Kotler
treated Pavel when he spilled the wine?
please hurry

In chapter thirteen of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Pavel—an old Jewish man and former doctor who is now working as a servant in the house of Bruno's father—mistakenly spills wine on Lieutenant Kotler's lap. The arrogant Kotler then drags Pavel into the next room and beats him so badly that he dies, leaving the maid, Maria, to clean up the mess.

This is startling to Bruno, who has two reactions to the beating. First, he decides (much like his father) not to get involved in such situations out of a desire to protect his own self from harm. Second, it forces him to start questioning what is occurring at Auschwitz. Bruno is generally willfully ignorant of his father's involvement in the atrocities, despite the fact that his promotion to Commandant has caused the family to move to "Out-With" (Auschwitz); however, he can clearly detect that something is not right after this incident.

as for symbolic actions, the narrator's tearing down the wallpaper in an attempt to find the "woman" in the wallpaper represents her struggle to retain or regain her sanity.   the wallpaper has been part of her confinement and by her tearing it down, she is freeing herself from that confinement.

in the quotation from passage, connie willis states that literature is a way for authors from the past to communicate with readers of today. we can read their stories, books, and other texts to learn lessons about life. willis refers to these lessons as messages “from beyond the grave.” willis has a favorable viewpoint about the timelessness of literature.