Milkweed theme blog

     Throughout Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli I learned many new things. Spinelli did a great job of squeezing in details in a fiction book. For example I learned that the Nazis moved the Jewish people into the ghettos before the concentration camps. I also learned that the Jewish people were actually tricked onto going on the trains to the camps. I learned that the Nazis wrote fake letters and sent them to free Jewish people to advertise how amazing the camps were. Spinelli squeezed in these facts in the dialogue of Misha and his Jewish friends. At the end of the book Misha is all grown up. He survives the Holocaust and raises a family, Misha has a job and everything is normal. He names his granddaughter Janinina after the girl he survived with. But the main character does not forget, he only tries to. Spinelli writes about how Misha couldn't return to normal at the same pace society was. This ending tells a lot about the Jewish people and how hard it was to come back. I believe Spinelli included Mishas struggle to rejoin society because it emphasized what other humans can do to each other and how much they can break down each other. The Nazis were really powerful people because they knew hot to take away everything from somebody.

~Rory Charles McNabb

After effects

    The part of the Holocaust memorial that most affected me were the parts that showed how many and how the Jewish people were killed. The museum showed shoes of all of the people who died, it also showed replicas of gas chambers and ovens where the Germans tried to cover up the genocide. This really impacted me because I actually felt fear. I really pictured all of those people being killed, or burned. The museums replica of the door really emphasized the locks and the size. The door was really large and lifelike, by just seeing the door you could picture what the room would look like to the gas chamber. It looked just like a door to your death and that's what it was. Visiting the Holocaust Museum really made my realize that the Holocaust actually happened. It made realize what humans are capable of and what a horrible time this would have been to live in. The memorial was frightening, but I am really glad I got the chance to see into the past.
~Rory  McNabb

Bear Witnness

     “For the dead and the living, we must bear witness” ( Wiesel). I believe this quote is meant to mean, for the people who have died we have have to accept that they are gone and that the awful truth must be told, we must protect the living. I believe bearing witness to something is watching the whole thing unfold. We the living beared witness to the after effects of the Holocaust. One bears witness by accepting the truth in what happened and not avoiding it. This quote does a lot for explaining the Holocaust. It tells people to accept the truth and not try to avoid it. The quote tells us to use what happened as a strength, instead of mourning over it. We have to bear witness to the Holocaust.
~Rory McNabb

Immersion

     Throughout Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli, Misha and his gang of outsiders do many nice things for others. An example of this is when Misha steals a cake from a Jewish family, after he realizes what he did he returns a new cake and even more food. Misha periodically repays this family throughout the book giving a share what he stole each day. Misha is not the only one who is nice, Uri the ringleader of the thieves gives coal and food to an orphanage every day and encourages Misha to do the same, this shows a lot of humanity and care. The group were all outcasts and they wanted better for the other outcast like them, so they do whatever they can to help others like them. This act of showing care towards the orphans show the thieves did what they had to do to survive, but also tried making it better by giving some of the wealth. Another act of humanity is when Misha goes to the other side of the wall and steals and brings back food for the Jewish family's. Throughout the book there is also many acts people being inhuman. One of these is when the Nazis humiliate the Jews by shaving off their beards.The Nazis also do not allow the orphans on the carousel showing they have no care for little kids. Lastly is the hate the Nazis show to the gang of thieves, they raid their farm and shoot a lot of the kids. Milkweed shows a lot of good but also a lot of bad.
~Rory McNabb

Kristallnacht

     Kristallnacht was a horrible point of the Holocaust, when 97 Jews died and many were sent to concentration camps they could not fight back. Kristallnacht was the point where the frog could not escape because it had already adapted so much. The frog started at a low boil and the water started to heat up and it was already used to it, just like the Jews. The Nazis started little and then decided to kill and it was to late. The Jews could deal with it but when the Nazis changed their perspective the Jewish people did not know what to do or how to act because the have been dealing with increasing pain for so long. Kristallnacht does means broken glass, but it also means shattered people. The Jews changed after this, their perspective changed and they became broken. Their families were like broken glass and nobody was trustworthy. Kristallnacht was a horrible point of time and it broke everyone.
~Rory McNabb

My two characters

     In Milkweed there are multiple main characters. The characters are introduced through physical actions. Misha the main character meets Uri a kid who's part of a thief club. Uri and Misha meet when they run into each other while stealing. Spinelli uses action to introduce each other, while describing their looks periodically with dialogue. The author makes sure to introduce the characters that will be important by showing them to you early on. Misha and Uri have a brother relationship. They are like family, Uri gives tips to Misha throughout the story. Misha actually was given his name by Uri. I know already that the band of thieves and Uri will be important throughout the story, they already have taught Misha so much. Spinelli shows characters emotions and feeling greatly through actions.

Connections

      The multiple activities we did in class last week all connected in some way. The project we did of the Essence of Humanity showed many opinions on what makes us human. When reading The Terrible Things I noticed something. The Terrible Things lacked most human traits, they lacked love, perseverance, etc. This brought me to think about the Nazis, the Nazis lacked all of these things too. They were people who killed others thinking only about themselves. They showed no signs of care or regret. Knowing what makes us human helped show me the truth in the Holocaust and how terrible it was.
~Rory McNabb