Hitler 's speech at the end of the book disturbed many readers and critics . Steiner not only lets Hitler justify his past , he allows him the ( almost ) last word before the outside world invades . The fact that Steiner is Jewish made this speech in particular even more contentious . One critic , while acknowledging that Steiner always saw Hitler as " the incarnation of unprecedented and unparalleled evil " , felt that there was no clear distinction in the book between Steiner 's own views and those of his fictional Hitler , even going so far as to accuse Steiner , who rejects Jewish nationalism and is a critic of Israel 's treatment of the Palestinians , of anti @-@ Semitism .