Steiner responded to criticism that Hitler 's speech in this book is unchallenged by saying that it had been done before : for example Satan 's speech in Milton 's Paradise Lost ( 1667 ) , and The Grand Inquisitor 's speech in Dostoyevsky 's The Brothers Karamazov ( 1880 ) . He also reminded the reader that Hitler 's speech is balanced out earlier in the book by Lieber 's long monologue on the horrors of the Holocaust . Finally , Steiner said that his Hitler ( A. H. ) is " a fictive figure " , and that it is not he who has the last word , but Teku , the Indian tracker , who shouts " Proven " . Teku is also the Hebrew word used to indicate that " there are issues here beyond our wisdom to answer or decide . "