Genre
Autobiographical
Setting and Context
Poland, 1938-1941 during World War II
Narrator and Point of View
Alicia gives a first-person account of her experiences as a young girl during WWII.
Tone and Mood
The tone and mood change throughout this work, dependent upon what is occurring in Alicia's life. When the war begins, it is tense, scary and depressing. As Alicia survives each day and struggle, the mood is more hopeful despite the overwhelming sense of dread. The tone is serious, personal, and honest just as the person Alicia was.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Alicia is the protagonist as she fights against the odds to survive the mass killings of Jewish people. The antagonists are the German military and it's sympathizers as they attempted many times to kill Alicia.
Major Conflict
The major conflict occurs when the German Army takes over the Polish city of Buczacz in the fall of 1939. On the first day of their arrival, her father and others were summoned to the city police station and killed. Homes and businesses were stripped from their owners, and the residents who remained were forced to live in ghettos in the city. The military continues to take action to exterminate the Jewish population.
Climax
After the war, Alicia was offered a position with an organization, Brecha, that helped Jewish refugees exit to safer lands. It was then that Alicia, only fourteen years old at the time, was able to travel and assist others without the imminent fear of death.
Foreshadowing
The first lines of the book foretell the fate of Alicia and her family,
"First they killed my brother Moshe.
Then they killed my father...
Then they killed my brother Bunio...T
hen they killed my brother Zachary...
Then they killed my last brother, Herzl.
Only my mother and I were left. I vowed that I would never let them kill her, that I would protect my mother from the Nazis and their collaborators for as long as I lived.
Love and hate were what motivated my young mind and heart/ Love for my dear mother - and hate for the cruel murders.
And this is my story."
Understatement
Alicia speaks so non-nonchalantly about such hideous and painful experiences and sights she witnessed. The way it is described is a understatement to what enduring it must have been like.
Allusions
The main allusion is good versus evil.
Imagery
The imagery of the oppressed Jewish people, some of who hid underground in bunkers was a contrast to the nobility of their hearts.
Paradox
The relationship between Alicia has with the Nazi collaborators children, who were once her friends, is a paradox because Alicia continues to care about them even knowing what their family believes.
Parallelism
None
Metonymy and Synecdoche
None
Personification
"She looked to me like a branch dismembered from a tree, an arm without a body, a mind filled with grief, a bleeding heart, a walking tragedy."
