Otto of the Silver Hand

The novel’s climax and resolution largely reconcile The Tension between Family Legacy and Personal Ethics, for as Baron Conrad and one-eyed Hans rescue Otto and the Baron takes on his enemy for the final time, these moments collectively represent the culmination of years of feuding and vengeance. Notably, although Otto has been at the heart of this conflict, he maintains his determination to focus on Choosing Love over Violence. His pacifistic approach therefore stands in direct contradiction to the turmoil of his origins; Otto was born on the night of his mother’s death, to a Baron who made his wealth by pillaging from others. Although Otto grew up in peace, he was brought back into violence at the young age of 12 and expected to embrace a life of warfare. In his struggle to remain true to his own peaceful moral code, Otto must endure the loss of his hand, even though he bears no responsibility for anyone’s death. In this way, he is forced to endure the burden of his family’s violence and pay for the mistakes of his father’s past.

This section also complicates Baron Conrad’s position amidst The Dichotomy of Good and Evil, for he has an understanding of the damage that his actions have inflicted upon his son. His sense of guilt becomes clear when he sobs upon seeing Otto’s grave condition at the hands of his enemy. Although Baron Conrad may be brutal and unkind toward his foes, he holds faithful and unyielding obligations toward his family. Pyle’s multifaceted approach to the Baron’s characterization adds new depths to the plot, and the Baron ultimately takes full responsibility for his son and his bloodline when he challenges Baron Henry in an effort to protect Otto from almost certain death.

When Otto heals and makes an important trip to meet the emperor, he is rewarded for his strength and his refusal to engage in violence of any kind, and this benevolent conclusion highlights the importance of Choosing Love over Violence even amidst the dynamics of an unforgiving world. When he is taken into the Imperial Court and gains a silver hand to replace the one he lost, these events celebrate and reward his pacifistic ideals. Otto’s silver hand is therefore a symbol—not only of loss and of the burden of his ancestors—but also of his unwillingness to engage in the brutality that surrounds him. Otto leads with a “silver hand” rather than the “iron hand” of his father, and in this instance, the imagery of “iron” is a direct reference to the weapons of war.

While Pyle’s depiction of women is historically accurate to a degree, his narrative also shows women in exclusively vulnerable, unintelligent, and emotionally weak roles. For example, although the Baroness is wise and kind, she is also so emotionally fragile that she dies at the sight of her husband’s injuries: a deeply improbable circumstance. Likewise, Ursela is depicted as being utterly helpless in the face of male violence, and rather than defending herself, she begs the young Otto to save her. Women are also shown as targets of violence, as in the attack on Castle Drachenhausen, or they otherwise occupy positions of sheer naiveté, as when the girl lets Hans into the castle so that she can obtain free jewelry. The female characters in the story are also extremely one-dimensional; even Pauline, Otto’s romantic interest, is depicted only as a curious girl who quickly falls in love with Otto and then unconditionally awaits his return despite the fact that she barely knows him. However, such grand gestures of love are common within medieval-based literature, and Pyle rigidly adheres to these tropes.