Milkweed is a novel by the author Jerry Spinelli and was published in 2003 by HarperCollins Publishers. The novel follows an innocent boy who gets called Stopthief, Misha, Jack or Poppynoodle throughout the book. The story takes place in Warsaw, Poland during World War II. Misha’s age is not given in the novel but by reading you can tell that he is somewhere around nine years of age. It is no doubt that Misha was not quite like most boys his age. Misha was small, curious and clueless of the world around him and by that time he had stopped growing. Misha had experienced horrible things. He had an astounding imagination and was often clueless of the situation he was in, some which we think benefited him in the war and helped him keeping the right …show more content…
mindset. In his days things were not like most children would have experienced childhood. Innocent people murdered and houses being blown up in front of him. His cluelessness of what was going on in the war was a good thing and his tough childhood and upbringing played a big role in his maturing and behaviour as an adult. Misha’s first memory was running from a person he was stealing food from. Misha stole a bread from a boy named Uri who had also stolen the bread. Uri caught him and they split the bread. When Misha met Uri he did not have an identity and Uri made up his name, Misha Pilsudski, and gave him a background and a made up family. Misha was found by Uri wandering all alone on the streets of Warsaw. Uri took care of Misha like his own little brother, he looked out for him and cared for him, like his lost family. Misha had raised himself on his own and therefore knew nothing about how to behave in a society. He did not know the difference between right or wrong, good or bad since he had no adult guidence. Misha had no family nor home and had to steal his food. His childhood was in Warsaw in a dark time, World War II. In the beginning of the book, Misha idolized Nazi soldiers which he called “Jackboots” and dreamt to becoming a Jackboot one day. He did not understand what they did or stood for, he only saw the magnificent outfit they wore and really liked it. When Misha is put in the ghetto he slowly starts realising the brutality of it all. The Ghetto was a place surrounded by a wall, guarded Nazis and Flops, it was a place where Nazis put jews, they gave them no food and it was very tough. Misha’s lack of understanding is clear to the reader.
It is for example shown by how easily he was attracted by the outward glamour of the Nazis without any real understanding of what they were attempting to accomplish. The shiny black boots worn by them blinded Misha to their real actions and made him wants to be one of them to have the boots. He did not really understand that they wanted to extinguish an entire race of people. When the Nazis parades were ongoing he wondered why no one was cheering or clapping. He looked at the Nazis and their boots and thought to himself that he wanted to be like them one day. He saw no difference in the Nazis and Jews at that time in his …show more content…
life. Misha and the kids around him were almost all jews and many of them died during the War. He had no idea if he was a jew or not, so he said he was a gypsy and was proud of it. When the war was over Misha was almost an adult. While forgotten Misha was on his expedition to the ovens, he suddenly woke up in a farm where a farmer and his wife lived. The farmer’s wife was a very kind hearted person unlike the farmer and she helped Misha a lot with getting his wounds healed. Misha started working at the farm and was eventually settling into life after the war. After working at the farm for three years Misha starts selling goods in the streets of Warsaw.
Following a lot of stealing and selling in the streets he had enough money to buy a plane ticket to America. America was a completely new environment for him and unlike everything he had witnessed. With an incompatible background, Misha did unfortunately not quite find himself in America. He had a hard time finding a job because of his strange behaviour and weird looks and was forced to begin stealing again. One arguably positive thing stood up in his behaviour and that was talking. Misha wandered the streets of Philadelphia talking about his story and background. Not all people were interested about his talking but one time a woman named Vivian stopped by and listened. Vivian listed for 5 minutes and then brought him roasted chestnuts. Vivian began stopping by every day and soon enough Misha and Vivian got married, but sadly it only lasts few months because of his unstable character. Years after the separation he realizes he has a daughter and a granddaughter, he finally has family. He is a grandfather of a girl who calls him Poppynoodle and for him this is a new identity given by a family member. Something he had lacked all his
life. It is clear how his childhood and rough life managed to have a huge effect on how he behaved and what he did when he moved to America. The war had enormous effects on Misha's adult life in a very negative and sad way. He could not function properly in the society and continued stealing and screaming in the streets. He had been through hardship and feels like he was “born into craziness” (p. 203). Misha tells us the story of an orphaned boy with no identity, his childhood during the Second World War in Poland, difficult upbringing and how this affects his life. He witnessed and survived the horrors of the war without any support or adult guidance. He went through hardship and saw things no human should ever witness. This experience and difficult status in society affects his life a lot although you could say that his innocence protects him at times during his childhood. He never fully understands the horrors of the Holocaust going on around him, and for a boy without any support or family it is a positive thing. The tragedies he went through were tough to read at times, but what was amazing to experience, was that even though he was different and mentally unstable he managed to live his life, start a family and grow old with his own identity as a grandfather. Misha is a very powerful character, clueless but positive despite his difficult situation. He childhood hardship thought him never to gave up on life and that sent a strong message throughout the book and affects the reader in a positive way.
For my ELA performance task I read both Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli and The Diary of Anne Frank(play) by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. Milkweed is about a boy named Misha Pilsudski who lives in the ghetto on the street and has no identity including name. As time goes on he gets a name and finds a new family who welcomes him into their home. All the while he is trying to learn about his surroundings, as he is unsure whether he is a Gypsy or a Jew. He attempts to make life as happy as possible and fix things that he doesn’t realized cannot be fixed. For my performance task I have chosen to show two things that are different about these books and one thing that is similar.
...aVaughn a story about a blind lady, Jolly’s point is that you have to be careful with who you trust and that you can’t change your past. Plus, LaVaughn states,“I suddenly see the sign of her life: Nobody told me.” She also understands that Jolly didn’t get herself into her mess. Jolly learns from LaVaughn how to prioritize and that getting an education was a good idea. Jolly becomes more dedicated and responsible after she goes to school and it made her life easier. Jolly and LaVaughn may have diverse personalities, but they still learned something from each other.
He criticizes his family and their background when he says, “when my parents have somebody over they get lemonade and if it’s a real racy affair, Schlitz in tall glasses with ‘They’ll do it every time’ cartoons stenciled on.” Sammy desires to move from a blue collar to a white collar family to differentiate him from his family. He shows his growing maturity when he says, “the girls who’d blame them, are in a hurry to get out, so I say ‘I quit’ to Lengal quick enough for them to hear, hoping they’ll stop and watch me, their unsuspected hero.” He wants to be noticed by the girls for his selfless act of quitting his job for them. His plan does not work though, and the girls leave him to face Lengal alone. Lengal confronts Sammy and says, “Sammy, you don’t want to do this to your mom and dad.” Sammy ponders Lengal’s comment and thinks to himself, “It’s true, I don’t. But it seems to me that once you begin a gesture it’s fatal not to go through with it.” Sammy has begun to reach maturity and now wants to make his own decisions concerning his future and how he spends
The book Motorcycles and Sweetgrass by Drew Hayden Taylor is considered by many that it is one of the best Native American book ever made. This novel shows how people have to adapt to modern day living while still being like their ancestors. These characters are trying to stay true to the indigenous way. John uses dancing to maintain Ojibway tradition. Maggie eats things like Italian food and she needs someone like John to help her believe in Ojibway beliefs and tradition. Wayne uses a twist on martial arts and isolating himself on an island to live like his ancestors. In the Novel Motorcycles and Sweetgrass, John, Maggie, and Wayne all try to maintain their Aboriginal roots while adapting to modern day life.
The book “Milkweed” by Jerry Spinelli tells a story about a boy who survived the horrible days of World War 2. He struggles every single day to find his identity and what is happening in the world. The book “Milkweed” itself shows many signs of survival. Both literally, and figuratively. This novel describes what the Jews did to survive and how they survived. The theme of survival is represented by different objects. The author, Spinelli, uses many literary elements to describe and support the theme of survival. The main three are: setting (where and what time), symbols such as the plant Milkweed that represents a new hope, and conflicts (what is the fight/fighting in the story).
Johnny was a Greaser and had bad parents. Johnny had gotten into a terrible situation. Johnny got jumped in a lot by a group of Socs, Bob and his friends. Bob is known to be wealthy and has a Mustang, he was a Soc, had blond curly hair, and known for his rings which he was so proud of. Johnny was the pet of the gang. Ever since he had gotten that day Johnny was always scared he would get jumped again. He would always make sure there were no Socs around him when he was walking. He was the scared one of the
His annotation of the “women with six children and varicose veins mapping their legs and nobody, including them, could care less” (Updike 159) and “the sheep” (Updike 162) in the checkout lines are an illustration of his everyday repetitious life working at the A&P. He compares these women to animals showing his undeniable sophomoric juvenile behavior. John Updike depicts Sammy’s character as a typical young boy who thinks he is invisible to the idea that consequences apply to him. However, Sammy is granted the harsh actuality that he will no longer be given slaps on the wrist for radical decisions. His coworker Stokesie is twenty-two, married and has two children. Generally speaking, Sammy may still have childish actions but he understands that he does not want to work at the A&P the rest of his life.
As the student develops his essay, Sammy begins to compare the girls to other customers in the store. From “houseslaves in pin curlers” to “an old party in baggy gray pants” (2192 ), Sammy negatively characterizes customers in contrast to the leader of the girls, Queenie. To Sammy, the girl is someone that is not from their town. She is everything that every girl envies and wants to be. In contrast to Sammy, she will spend her summer vacationing while he spends it working. It is clear to Sammy that their worlds are different, however it is also obvious that he would like to explore hers.
Sammy in “A & P” by John Updike is a developed typical teenage boy, who goes through many changes throughout the duration of the story. It all started when he saw three girls walk in the store about his own age wearing only their bathing suites, it flattered him. It caused Sammy do a lot of thinking throughout the event. He did not like his job and he expressed his opinions throughout the story. As Sammy was seeing the three girls, he analyzed everything around him, from the girls, his town, and to the customer and employees in the store. When he watched the girls walk around the store with their heads held high. Sammy the round and dynamic character he is, started to face many challenges in which he had to decide how he wanted his life turn out, rather by staying or moving on to bigger and better things.
Sammy is astounded by three young girls that walk into his store in their bathing suits. He follows their every move as they peruse over the cookies and other goods. The first thing this typical nineteen boy recognizes is the one girl’s “can”. But then he goes on to say that this girl is one that other girls seems to think has potential but never really makes it with the guys. One girl though especially catches his eye. He starts to call her “Queenie” because of the way she carries herself and that she seems to be the leader of the pack. Sammy does nothing but watch her every move as they parade about the store. He even daydreams about going into her house with her rich family at a cocktail party. He notices everything about her and thinks there was nothing cuter than the way she pulls the money out of her top. His immature infatuation with this girl is one of the reasons Sammy makes the hasty decision to quit in the end.
Sammy is clearly intelligent, although still uneducated at nineteen, and capable of creating striking images, such as calling a girl’s hair “oaky” and describing the sunlight as “skating around” the parking lot. He is opinionated, sarcastic, disaffected teenager with a healthy interest in the opposite sex and a keen observational sense. Sammy thought of his community boring with nothing to do. He sees most adults as "sheep" or followers “sheep pushing their carts down the aisle”, all indistinguishable from one another, and symbolizes every costumer. Sammy shows no interest in his job what so ever, he demonstrates that when he says he made up a song with the cash register sounds “hello (bing) there, you (gung)hap-py pee-pul (splat)”(Updike) Since he doesn't enjoy his job he looks for something to do, he is the kind of teenager who notices everything around him. One day at the store three girls walk in with nothing but their bathing suits he didn't hesitate to start analyzing them. He drinks
Sammy’s decision in the end to break away from the conformity that is in the A&P to establish himself is a raw truthful decision. He has chosen to follow his heart which Updike shows is what every person should do. This story is great for readers of all ages, because Sammy could be any person in modern contemporary society who is struggling to find themselves in a world dominated by conformity, rules, and standards of norms. Updike’s story is a powerful message to seek individualism. Although sometimes the road to self-identity is not known the journey getting there is worth all the while.
The story begins through Sammy, the narrator, working at the local A&P supermarket. He not...
The clients of Sammy’s workplace are described as having “Six children”(Updike 645) with “Veracious vein mapping their legs”(Updike 645) and ”haven 't seen the ocean in twenty years”(Updike 645). Through the details Sammy provides about the clients explains that Sammy is starved from the sight of a girl his age, and upon the first sight of a girl nearing his age, he is instantly attracted to her. The three girls in the store are Sammy’s rescue from the small tiresome town. The final point that proves Sammy’s heroic action are because of his lust for the girls is the theme of the whole short
Set in Warsaw, Poland during World War II, Jerry Spinelli's Milkweed appeals to readers because of its naive perspective on the horrors of the Holocaust and the innocent hope that exists in the protagonist. Nameless and forced to thieve in order to survive, the main character exists only as a dirty orphan until a group of older Jewish boys take him in. Since one's identity in this time period decides their fate, Uri, the group's leader, decides that the main character needs a background and deems him Misha Pilsudski, an orphaned gypsy. As World War II progresses, food becomes increasingly hard to locate and the Germans or "Jackboots" take more and more control, relocating Jewish citizens including Misha into ghettos where