"The Baleks owe me eighteen marks and thirty-two pfennigs."(898): the discovery of a young boy who changes the entire perspective of a town living and working in the shadow of a rich and powerful family, the Baleks von Bilgan. In The Balek Scales, by Heinrich Böll, a young boy unravels his town's dark secret. The Baleks von Bilgan, the aristocratic family that is the pulse of the village, have a scale rigged to pay families less than they deserve for their gathered good brought in from the woods by the children. In this short-story, the author uses tone to show how the character goes through three significant steps of emotion, from playfulness, to sadness, to anger.
             This story paints a picture of children running off into the woods to gather mushrooms and flowers. In that image, one can't help but think of playfulness. It also describes the village as simple and cheerful. Using the quote, "A race of cheerful people who ate goat cheese, potatoes, and now and then a rabbit"(894), implies the type of people they are. The playfulness of the children in the story creates a theme. The first half of the story follows this theme and the emotion is so strong it pulls the reader into feeling the same way. I think that the author did a fine job of making the emotion so clear and receivable for the reader.
             As soon as you are captivated by the story's cheerfulness, the theme takes a big swing in another direction. The main character makes a discovery that changes everything. The boy puts 5 pebbles he had in his pocket on the scales and discovers the scales are rigged. He walks through the woods and into another town where there are more scales and asks them to weigh his pebbles to be sure of his discover. The scales take the weight of fifty-five grams out of every set of goods brought it. The reason the Baleks were so rich had finally been proved. When the boy discovers that he is being cheated by the Baleks, he expresses sadness throug...