The+Shawl

//The Shawl// by Cynthia Ozick Age: 16+ Keywords: Holocaust, concentration camp, family, representation,

A loving mother desperately tries to keep her baby alive during the Holocaust. The baby, Magda, is protected by her mother's shawl. The shawl magically hides, quiets, and feeds Magda, despite the omnipresent danger of the Holocaust. Unfortunately, Rosa is constantly threatened by her surroundings. Her oldest daughter Stella is very jealous of Magda. She is a thin girl of fourteen, too small, with thin breasts. She wants to be wrapped in a shawl, hidden, rocked, and protected just like her baby sister, but this isn't possible. Her jealousy makes her act in very selfish ways towards both her mother and sister. The constant fear of death also gets in the way of Rosa's ability to protect her baby. Rosa dreams of giving Magda away in one of the villages, but would the person actually take the baby or simply let it fall? If she steps out of the line they're walking in, there's the fear of being shot. What decisions will Rosa make? What will happen to baby Magda?
 * Somebody include a summary.**

//The Shawl// is a short story orginally published in //The New Yorker// by American Jewish writer Cynthia Ozick. The story is written with beautifully crafted figurative langauge. At times the language is disturbing as the subject and the metaphor are worlds apart: a horrific reality being represented by a beautiful image. A sophisticated audience, who are attuned to the issues faced by writers of the Holocaust, would understand the uncomfortable position that Ozick purposely places them. For this reason, //The Shawl// is most appropriate for upper-year high school students. It is also best suited for an older audience because of the horrific violent act that takes place at the end of the story.

The short story is best read with its accompnied text //Rosa//. //Rosa// is a novella about the protagonist from //The Shawl// living thirty years later in America. Rosa Lublin, Magda's mother, lives a meager life while still grappling with the horrors of her experiences in the Holocaust. Ozick again uses the story to express the difficulties with writting about the Holocaust. //Rosa// implies that the effects of the Holocaust reach far-beyond the limits of time and space. It also suggests that writting about the Holocaust is extremely important. **Unfinished

What would students learn about the Holocaust?**

In order for students to understand this text, they need to be aware of the cruel reality of the Holocaust. They need to know the Jews were persecuted by the Nazi's and that they were sent to concentration camps. By reading this story I believe the students would learn about the experience of being persecuted and marched to concentration camps. The fear, the hunger, the unbearable fatigue, hope, and sadness are all represented through this story. We discover a part of what the Jews had to endure for over a decade. The Holocaust was a horrible event and no one can describe enough how awful it was. The audience will become aware of the horrible truth of the Holocaust.