From: SChmielarz at aol.com <SChmielarz>
Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2004 20:38:09 EST

In a message dated 3/24/04 8:21:27 AM, ALevine at Scholastic.com writes:

<< he doesn't think once about the older brother, Duvid, who led them out of the ghetto just pages before. Or any of the other siblings that were in the ghetto with him. Is this to be taken as a sign that already, even before the events of the novel, the oppression of the Polish Jews was having a dire effect on this one boy? Or is it an authorial slip? >>

This is a problem. I want to believe it is the former, that the oppression of the Polish Jews had "a dire effect on this one boy." How else could he renounce his brother and siblings? I was in Poland, Krak?w, last fall; in the Jewish section, Kasimierz, Jews could live a rather normal life before the war. But even in 19389 I believe they encountered a distinct chill
(understatement) when they walked into non-Jewish neighborhoods. It isn't hard for me to suspend disbelief that a boy might not help his own brother if the conditions were life or death. We almost need to rely on historical data here: exactly how difficult was it to live among non-Jewish Poles in 1939, say? Does that support what a character does? If the story is grounded in substantial research, the writer can feel confident of his/ her position. If it's at all shaky, perhaps the reader will intuit "something" is not quite right. Or? Sharon Chmielarz
Received on Wed 24 Mar 2004 07:38:09 PM CST