Maestro Timeline

By DamonG

  • Meeting the Maestro

    As Paul meets Herr Keller for the first time, he notices all of the physical features such as, the ‘red glow of his face, the pitted sun-coarsened skin and the eyes’. This experience allows us a glimpse of Paul’s immediate character. He does not think much of Herr Keller during his first visit to his house and this is due to selfishness. Paul wanted to play to impress the Maestro, but Herr Keller already knew what it would sound like and refused and this is what sparked Paul’s instant dismissal.
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    Paul's Timeline

    This is the life of Paul Crabbe from the age of 15 to the age of 25. Paul lives in Darwin and this is a timeline of the significant events which created changes in his character/personality.

  • The first song

    After the lessons on how his fingers work together to play the piano, Herr Keller finally allows Paul to play a song. ‘Chopin?’ replies Paul and at this choice, Keller Grimaces and says ‘If you must’. At this point, we are able to see Paul’s unwillingness to accept the Maestro's judgment as he continues to attempt to play his song.

  • The Dry season

    'What is the difference between good and great pianists?' Still in the year of 1967, with Paul's realization of what a great teacher Herr Keller is, we can start to see Paul's way of thinking; always inside the box, but still looking at both sides of the argument, a fence sitter. This shapes his character as it presents his black and white view of the world.

  • Background History

    In this part, Paul's mother asks Keller where he is from/what nationality he is. 'I am Austrian.' Keller replies. This leads Paul’s mother to delve further and assume that he speaks German. From this information, we are able to say that Herr Keller has been involved in the Nazi war in some way. This reveals another aspect of Paul’s personality as he becomes nosy and butts into Keller’s earlier life, even though he has no right.

  • Fun in the Library

    After hearing and witnessing small parts of a man and woman having sex in the library, Paul is ‘trembling with excitement and terror’ and thinking of fantasies for his first time, ‘which was not – I desperately hoped – too far away’

  • Meeting the new student

    The arrival of Rosie Zollo was one that displeased Paul at the start. This is due to the fact that 'she was too much like me. Also, I worried; I now had competition.' This shows us that Paul does not view playing the piano as a pleasure, more a competition that he must win at. By bullying Rosie and making her feel less important, Paul believes he is more important and his self esteem increases, but for all the wrong reasons.

  • The concert in the Botanical Gardens

    Here, Paul’s opinion of Rosie changes with her change in appearance; she becomes a beautiful teenage girl. This shows us that Paul is shallow as he only looks on the outside of items of beauty, not the inside. Now that Rosie looks beautiful, he desires her.

  • The Band

    Paul shows us his startling ability to adapt in the school yard as he spends time with the school bullies. This shows a change in personality as last year, he was unable to be around the bullies due to his distaste for them.

  • I love you Rosie

    After Paul has sex with the girl of his dreams, he realizes that what he has with Rosie is too important to waste. ‘I wasn’t so much guilty, I was terrified, terrified that I might lose her’. This shows us that Paul is able to demonstrate his emotions, more importantly his love for Rosie.

  • The idea of being friends

    Here, we get a real look at why Paul is now friends with the bullies. He states to Bennie Reid ‘They're not my friends’ and this shows us that he is only pretending to be friends with them so that he does not get bullied or picked on. He is a coward and shallow, shallow enough to dob in the only person to befriend him on his first day of a new school.

  • The Adelaide Concert

    'You are my best student, yes. One in a thousand, but a concert pianist in one in a million.' Here we can see Herr Keller's high praise of Paul. However, Paul's selfish demeanor makes him want to continue lessons so the Maestro can teach him everything he needs to know in order to be the best concert pianist.

  • The arrogance continues

    Now that Paul has finished his school life and will soon be traveling to study law and music performance at his chosen university, he takes his last lesson with the Maestro. In this lesson, he spends his time talking with Herr Keller about his family and the war. In this, we can see the final attribute of Paul’s personality, his inability to face the truth of Keller’s words.

  • The Christmas letter

    Here we still see Paul is as arrogant as ever when he gets overly frustrated with Keller's Christmas letter of musical advice. 'The Children's Bach? Still?' He is determined that he is the best and that he shouldn’t have to listen to anyone else’s advice.

  • The life of the Maestro

    Paul finally learns of Herr Keller’s role as Hitler’s personal pianist. As Henisch talks of Keller’s refusal to be known as an Austrian, Paul believes that this is silly and Herr Keller was a fool. In Paul’s arrogance, we can see that Keller did as he did to attempt to protect his family from the concentration camps. Henisch gets angry at Paul when he plays for him because he doesn’t believe that he learnt from the maestro.

  • Reminiscing about the past

    Paul, now 25 years old, reviews the life he has lead up until this point, and is disappointed for how little he has done for himself. He realizes that if he had been a more attentive student instead of being an arrogant prat, he may have learnt more from the maestro and fulfilled the life he so desired.