Symbolism In The Shawl

Good authors can create wonderful stories, but it all starts with the setting. Without the setting, the story will have no plot and the characters will have no reason to be there because the setting is a crucial element. Barry Callaghan, the author of “Our Thirteenth Summer” can effectively use setting as an important part of a story. The setting of “Our Thirteenth Summer” is in Toronto’s Annex District during the 1840’s, when the Holocaust was occurring. The setting influences the behaviour of the characters and reflects the society in which the characters live.

The two stories were alike in the fact that both authors lost their parents at a very young age. Since they lost their parents at a young age, they were both raised by their grandparents. Both stories also begin with a safe arrival to a new country. Both also said the journey to the new country was a two month long trip. And lastly, the the refugees and the pilgrims traveled to a completely different continents and had to adapt to new cultures. These are all the similarities between the two stories.

The similarity and connection existing between the two stories is the point of view in the two essays. The stories are both written in the first person perspective and that

The stories bear minor similarities and differences that the setting influences the plot development by era and place, main characters backgrounds, and environment /time frame of stories.

In some ways both short stories were written with some similarities in mind. In both of the short stories that were told there was a death taken place which is a sad thing in stories that could affect the mood of the reader. After the death there is someone to clean it up and keep it secret so no one would know In both of the stories there is unique writing styles used to add effect to the story. These are some of the things that were used in both stories that kind of put them together as

During the course of the two stories there start and End was almost the same. Elli and Wladek Both grew up in a town/city that was taken over by the nazis. Their families had plenty of time to leave and didn't because they thought the war was about to end. In the case of Elli his dad thought he was too old to move away so they didn't leave the town. In the movie Wladek was in a jewish Ghetto for awhile before his family was shipped to camps.

In “The Shawl”, Cynthia Ozick uses vivid details throughout the story to engage the reader. The story portrays the hard times Jews had during the Holocaust in a concentration camp consisting of three main characters: Rosa, Stella, and Magda who are trying to survive the horror of Nazism through a magical shawl. Rosa is the mother of Magda, a fifteen month baby and the aunt of Stella, a fourteen year old girl. The shawl is the only thing keeping them alive throughout the story and at the end it leads them to their death. The author’s use of symbolism is very significant to the story. Cynthia Ozick use of symbolism helps the reader visualize the setting by using symbols to convey different meanings and understand how these symbols characterize the experience of the holocaust survivors.

It may be the same era and the same basic theme between both writings, but there are two significant differences -- social class and physical location. The

Both readings give the daily life of a child during the time of the Holocaust.

The settings in the two stories are similar in the way that they both take place in a small town with a sense of poverty. The adults are portrayed as authoritative and the narrators feel trapped.

Rosa tries her best to ease her baby by chasing after the shawl, but she is not fast enough. This results to the guard taking Magda and throwing her onto an

While each story had their contrasting elements, the base theme of each was remarkably similar; Both of the authors manipulate the theme of motherhood to examine the ideas of slavery, home and forgiveness during two very different time periods.

Suffering becomes a way of life for Magda, Stella and Rosa, as they struggle to survive during the Holocaust. During these trying times, some cling to ideals and dreams, while others find unusual vessels of hope – like the shawl – to perdure in their austere living conditions. Although the shawl becomes a source of conflict between Magda, Stella and Rosa in this narrative, it also serves as a pivotal force and a motivational factor. In Ozick’s “The Shawl”, a small wrap allows its owners to triumph over the adversities of a concentration camp, the “magic shawl” comforts, nourishes, protects and prolongs life.

The shawl symbolizes the necessity for illusion as defense against struggle in uncomfortable circumstances. In “The Shawl”, Ozick highlights the process in which said illusion can easily shift into a dehumanizing delusion. The characters share their perception of the “magic shawl” (517) as a source of hope and comfort. For Magda, it makes her “dumb” (518) to the reality she lives in. Although the infant’s use of the shawl is understandable, Stella and Rosa’s belief in it is a sign of desperation, regression, and the breakdown of rationality in the face of extreme deprivation and loss. Stella suffers inadequate mothering and as a result desires the shawls powers to revert to infancy as an escape from responsibility. For Rosa, the shawl acts as an illusionary umbilical cord between her child. Once cut, she is stripped of her motherhood and is forced into a delusionary sense of helplessness. In dire

The ending of the story is packed with imagery and the reoccurring shawl symbolism as Rosa goes to get the shawl in hopes of saving Magda. While getting the shawl Rosa thinks of life on the other side of the fence where there laid “green meadows speckled with dandelions and deep-colored violets,” showing simple beauties of life they were deprived of in the camp. However while getting the shawl Magda gets taken by a guard, as Rosa sees from a distance she waves the shawl for Magda to see in giving her hope to live but as the shawl and her become more distant she gets killed by hitting