The Tale of the Sick Princess (Allegory)
Jacob's fairy tale illustrates the power of belief and hope. In the story, the princess is cured because she believes she receives a cloud from the garden boy. Similarly, Jacob's lie gives the residents of the ghetto the ability to persist in a difficult situation. Yet, in neither case—Jacob's or the princess's—does the supposed "cure" have any basis in reality. This seems, therefore, to be a commentary on the power of belief to ensure survival; however, this is complicated by the fact that the residents of the ghetto die at the end of the narrative.
Trees (Symbol)
Throughout the text, the narrator repeatedly refers to trees in reference to what he has lost. Trees mark the novel's beginning ("I can already hear everyone saying, A tree? So what’s a tree") and its end ("For I can still see the shadows of trees, and I can’t sleep"). Accordingly, trees serve as a symbol of just how much the Nazis take away from the Jewish people. Trees are fundamental to life on Earth, yet "trees are not allowed in this ghetto." In taking away the trees, the Nazis literally control the environment in which the Jews live. For the narrator, trees also carry a personal significance: we learn, among other things, that he lost his virginity under a tree, and his wife was killed under a tree. Thus, the symbol of trees shows all that the Jews and the narrator have lost under the rule of the Nazi Party.
Music (Motif)
Music, a rarity in the ghetto, represents freedom and the joy that comes with it. Early in the novel the narrator tells us that "Since being in the ghetto Jacob has never heard any music, none of us has, except when someone happened to be singing." Music is an expression of emotion that is denied to the ghetto's residents. Later, Jacob creates music by mimicking an entire brass band by himself, which causes him to lose "as one says, all inhibition." Yet this music, like the radio itself and the freedom it promises, is ultimately unreal.
In another example of this motif, Mischa's first gift to Rosa is a book containing poems and songs. This gift is meaningful not just because it is thoughtful but because of the rarity of music in the ghetto. By giving Rosa music, Mischa is gesturing at a world outside the ghetto where the two of them could be together and free.
Herschel's Earlocks (Symbol)
Herschel Schtamm is a devout Jew who wears prohibited earlocks hidden under a hat. These earlocks are a symbol for private resistance against Nazism. While the narrator tells us that "Not a single righteous shot was fired" in resistance to the oppression, this does not mean that the ghetto's inhabitants completely gave in to the Nazi regime. Private resistance did occur and was essential for the survival of many in the ghetto. Herschel's earlocks, which he says he would not give up "for all the money in the world," symbolize this form of small yet essential resistance.
The Farmer (Symbol)
In Chapter 32, a farmer who is prohibited from speaking to the Jews arrives at the ghetto. His job is to drive the contents of the outhouse out of the ghetto after they have been scooped into the tank on his wagon. Not only does the farmer not speak to the Jews, but he refuses to drop some food on the ground for one of the workers to eat. The farmer symbolizes the complacency that is required for hate to spread. In going along with what the Nazis tell him to do, the farmer aids the Nazi project and makes the Jews even less likely to survive. Though he is not Jewish nor, apparently, a Nazi himself, he is effectively siding with the Nazis when he follows their rules. The farmer represents all of the people who refused to speak up due to fear or apathy, allowing Nazism to spread across Germany and Europe.
