Jerry Spinelli's Milkweed

The Key to Survival

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

disease runs rampant and starvation affects the majority of the population. Although most people there become miserable and pessimistic, Misha remains hopeful because of a few symbolic objects that help him survive even though his situation seems bleak. Numerous symbols in the novel Milkweed prove that one needs hope to persevere through distressing situations. Story components like buttercream chocolates, angels and milkweed symbolize hope and prove the essentiality of optimism for joy in troubled times.

Misha's favorite candy, buttercream chocolates with hazelnuts inside, represent hope and demonstrate the necessity of positive thinking during periods of affliction.

In the few years he spends with the boys before relocation, Misha finds and receives these chocolates multiple times and comes to adore them. However, they become difficult to come by in the barren ghetto; so, when Misha gets one from Uri, he remembers the times when candy was abundant and feels hope for the future. Consequently, these candies represent hope because they remind Misha of the upside to every situation and make him optimistic for a brighter future. This denouncement supports the claim that one needs hope to survive hardship in that Misha overcomes Olek’s death and regains hope when he eats a candy that Uri gives him. A murder clearly distresses all of those who know the victim, thus Misha becomes pessimistic about the future when he discovers Olek hanging in the street. Uri realizes this and knows that buttercream chocolates give Misha hope in times of trouble, so he gifts him one and Misha finds the strength to overcome Olek's death. Misha announces Olek's death to Uri simply and states "'Olec is hanged.' Uri stared at me. He reached into his pocket and handed me something. 'Here.' It was a buttercream with a hazelnut heart (170.)". Immediately after he hears about this murder, Uri gives Misha a candy, which proves that Misha needs the hope that the candy provides to endure the sorrow that

Olek's death results in. As a result, one needs hope to survive trials.

Further evidence that verifies that suffering people require hope to survive exists in angels which symbolize optimism.

Uri and the group of boys first introduce Misha to the concept of angels in a cemetery and explain that they reside inside everyone. Misha holds this knowledge close to his heart the entire novel and remembers it especially in times of need. The idea of a protective and strong angel inside of him gives Misha optimism that he can make it through the trials of the Warsaw ghetto; as a result, angels symbolize hope. This conclusion substantiates the claim that one needs hope to get through misfortune on one snowy night where the Jackboots force all the Jews to stand in the streets at attention for hours. In order to struggle through this torture, Misha imagines himself as an angel, which proves that one needs hope to survive difficult situations because Misga persevered through this trial with the hope that an angels watches over him. While he stands in the frozen winter night, Misha observes "By now people were falling all over the courtyard, falling and staggering to their feet and falling again. I thought of the stone angel. I pictured the snow falling over it, two crests of snow rising on the tops of the wings. I pretended I was the stone angel. I closed my eyes and pretended as hard as I could, and after a while I was convinced I could feel wings sprouting from my shoulders (98.)" When Misha pictures himself as an angel, it gives him hope that he can

make it through the bitter cold night; hence the conclusion that people require optimism to persist through dolor.

As the only plant able to grow in the barren ghetto, milkweed represents positivism and validates the claim that one needs hope to endure hardships. Because of their symbolic nature, Spinelli brings up milkweed plants multiple times in the novel, including in the title of the book itself. Unfailingly, this dull little plant amazes the characters again and again because not a single other plant grows on the ghetto yet this one manages to appear precisely when the characters start to think negatively about their situation. As upon the sight of this dull plant the characters experience temporary relief and feel as if they can persevere similarly to the plant, milkweed represents hope. This optimism proves itself necessity to the characters when Mrs. Milogram, Misha's only mother figure, passes away and receives a brief and unglorified funeral which a bombing interrupts. In order to protect themselves from the oncoming threat, Mr. Milgrom and the children must lower themselves into the unfilled grave that contains Mrs. Milgrom while violent tremors shake the earth around them. In response to this dreadful circumstance, Janina retrieves milkweed pods from her pocket and softly blows them into the smoky dusk with the intention to return hope to herself and her loved ones. When Misha and Mr. Milgrom see the puffs float through the night having survived thus far, they realize that they can also survive and endure the death of Mrs. Milgrom and the bombs falling around them and therefore require hope to endure trying times. Misha describes his circumstances with "We curled around each other on the scrap of wool at the feet of Mrs. Milgrom. The earth was thumping like a heart... Janina pulled something from her pocket. It was a milkweed pod.... It looked empty. She blew into it. Three or four puffs rose into the air. They sailed up and out of the grave, past Mr. Milgrom and into the rectangle of gray sky and the black falling teardrops of the bombs (151.)" Just after the guards lower Mrs. Milgrom's deteriorated frame into her grave, Janina takes the milkweed pod out of her pocket so as to inspire herself and her grieving loved ones.
Symbolism behind multiple elements in the story supports the essentiality of hope during tribulation. Buttercream chocolates, angels and milkweed all display that people require hope to make to through hardship. Candies made of buttercream provide Misha with positivism that aids his perseverance through persecution in the ghetto. Misha also receives hope from the angel symbol which comforts him and gives him the strength to overcome trials. With its inspirational growth, Milkweed gives characters optimism for the future that assists their endurance. Through these hope symbols, not only to the chapters become optimistic, but also the readers do as well.