Milkweed Identity Quotes

There are characters, which the migrants in the novel encounter, who take risks to help a person in poverty. At the beginning of the novel, Tom tells the driver of the red truck, "´ But sometimes a guy will be a good guy `" (11). Mae, who is unwilling to give a loaf of bread to the Joads, finds herself selling two pieces of candy for less than their value. The man at the register in the camp were the Joads were picking peaches lent Ma a dime. Ma needed sugar for Tom's request for coffee but was a dime short. The man was not allowed to lend money without a slip. " He looked pleadingly at her.   And then his face lost its fear. He took ten cents from his pocket and rang it up in the cash register." He took a risk of losing his job for Ma. The people that seem unwilling to help out usually have a good heart. They don't want to see the anguish and the pain these migrants have suffered. They want to help, but there is only so much a person can or is willing to do. The man who owned the gas station had lent gas to previous migrants who gave him dolls, furniture, and other utensils. The junk he got in exchange for

What happens to a person who has no identity at a time when identity can be one’s last hope – their salvation or a mark for death. In his novel Milkweed, Jerry Spinelli invites readers to experience the Holocaust through the eye of a young boy who misunderstands everything except the love of family and the different forms it can take. Misha, an orphan boy is taken in by a young group of Jewish thieves. He is simple minded of his own identity because Misha adopts the identity of the people around him in his life, first as a gypsy, then as a Jew when he follows his friend’s family into the ghetto. Readers are forced to focus on the simple acts of caring that takes place in a time of suffering because Misha is unable to understand what is really going on around him. Hope and selfless acts of love still exists during a time of havoc in the Warsaw ghetto, is shown through the innocent eyes of Misha. By using techniques such as dramatic irony, revealing characters’ emotion, and a unique choice of a narrator, Spinelli successfully makes his readers to feel empathy.

The story is a documentary but in a cartoon, comic type of way and is like an adventure that makes you just reflect about your life and back then. LIfe was a struggle to survive during the war if you were a Jew for they would hunt you down. Also it just reflects on feeling of how you would feel if you lost your family and all you had, even if you were rich and wealthy you would be treated like less than a human. The book leaves you thinking on many concepts and it's true how could a human be treated as less just because of your religion.

At the beginning of the book, Misha is naive. For example, he wonders why the other people are not thrilled to see the Jackboots marching. Furthermore, most people obviously would not be excited to see Nazi soldiers marching in their city, but, because Misha is so naive, he is not aware that the Jackboots are the enemies. When he sees that the crowd is not as cheerful as he is, he says “I looked at the faces of the crowd. No one was cheering, or even smiling. I was

An individual’s identity is an ever changing composition of a person’s aspirations, beliefs and morality. Identity change is often influenced by many aspects of an individual’s life, but individuals must always return to their roots in order to stay true to their morality. This internal struggle over one’s identity is successfully illustrated in the characters of Three Day Road. In the novel, Joseph Boyden vividly recounts the journey of two Native Canadian soldiers, Xavier and Elijah, who struggle with identity loss from the adversity of the Great War. Through their harrowing experiences from the battlefield, they experience a dissipation of morals which is only recovered in Xavier, the sole survivor, through Niska’s stories of her past, his own past, and of the

37- 126) Milkweed takes place between September 1939 to 2001, where the book was published when Jerry Spinelli considered “Today”. A German invasion happened on September 1st, 1939. After about 8 years Jackboots started taking over small towns, finding any Jewish looking/related person and setting them off into concentration camps. This was taken in a slowly matter. They did anything, by just painting the words “Jew” on bakeries/shops to even painting people with yellow and white paint, closing down businesses. “ It says Jew.” (…) So Nobody will come to their shop and buy from them.” (pg.37) This slowed down resources to cause depression in the economy. One example is when Misha takes more than he needs. Stealing too much bread that’ll go to waste. Uri improvised, He took the unneeded rations they had and gave it to the orphanage. Misha thought this was a weird, unusual idea, but now slowly gives in and becomes his new “thing” as he progresses in the plot. Misha oftenly smuggles gives half to either to the orphanage or to “independent orphans”. The other half to a Jewish family with the surname:

To begin, in the book Night, the Jews were being judged because of the way they looked, the religion they followed, and their ethnicity. Moishe the Beadle was deported because he was a foreign Jew. Rumors were spreading about Nazis coming into towns and taking over. After some Jews were deported, life became normal again. Everyone was doing everyday activities. “The deportees were quickly forgotten. A few days after they left, it was rumored that they were in Galicia, working, and even that they were content with their fate. Days went by. Then weeks and months. Life was normal again. A calm, reassuring wind blew through our homes. The shopkeepers were doing good business, the students lived among their books, and the children played in the streets. One day, as I was about to enter the synagogue, I saw Moishe the Beadle sitting

An airplane, in the book Milkweed, is a symbol of fear. When an airplane flies by, bombs are dropped in Warsaw, Poland. At first it is the Nazis taking over Warsaw. They bomb buildings for the purpose of killing Jews or eliminating their homes. Then the Russians were bombing Warsaw to try to overthrow the Nazis and free the Jews. Whenever planes flew over the town, people knew that they had to take cover. People would stampede into buildings or hide in ditches in hope that they would not be targeted. The narrator writes, “Soon the airplanes came, adding their waspy buzz to the music. I wanted to see them, but Uri would not let me go outside” (16). This shows the danger of the airplanes and the fear that Uri has when he will not let Misha

Milkweed is a book written by Jerry Spinelli, who is a famous American author recognised for writing children's books that feature adolescence and early adulthood. Originally published by HarperCollins on the 9th of September in 2003. It is a book about a little boys perspective on the years that the Nazis infiltrated Warsaw, the capital of Poland. The little boy is an orphan named Misha Podolski by the man who took it upon himself to protect and guide him through the tough life that was living in Warsaw in World War II. Some might say that Misha's view on life at the time was ignorant but we like to say that he is just an innocent kid who doesn't know any better. Throughout the book you can see just how innocent Misha is, The book clearly shows that although Misha is a thief, he has the purest form of kindness and innocence, due to his unawareness of

The Holocaust becomes the center of this. Whether it be at his Hebrew school, where Jewish history shaped not only the curriculum they learn. But, also as a collective identity shared by a new and contemporary Jewish generation. While still being connected to the past. This is a struggle for Mark, who does not even identify himself as Jewish for most of the story, He is continuously challenged with where to place himself in this new world, as a second-generation immigrant to Toronto. For Mark, being a young Latvian Jew is not easy.

However, when their mother came through the door and told them of a hungry family, the 4 women did not hesitate in giving away their luscious breakfast to those in need. The children delivered the food to the family and “a poor, bare, miserable room it was, with broken windows, no fire, ragged bedclothes, a sick mother, wailing baby, and a group of pale, hungry children cuddled under one old quilt, trying to keep warm”(24). The sisters realize what a harsh environment they live in, and because the setting is so pessimistic, they try to share the little wealth they have so that everyone may live long full lives. The setting in which they live, houses many people who have even less wealth than their own family. However, because of this dreadful place, they try and make sure that their community, or their family, is taken care of, even at the expense of their luxuries.

Uri, another one of Misha’s most valuable allies throughout the novel, changes his identity drastically throughout the novel for the sake of his own survival. One of many of the orphans dining out in the horse stables is questioned by Misha as to what a Jew is, which he responds to by saying, “‘A Jew is an animal. A Jew is a bug. A Jew is less than a bug” (Spinelli 7). This portrayal of how the Jewish people and culture are viewed by society just goes to show that the dangerous mindset can put lives at risk. Additionally, as written by publishers for the Holocaust National Museum, “Of the almost 1 million Jewish children in 1939 Poland, only about 5,000 survived. Most of these youngsters survived in hiding.” Due to so few children surviving the Holocaust, and a vast majority of them only doing this by hiding their true self, it shows that Uri most likely chose to hide his own true self from the surrounding society in which lived because of the dangerous and harmful mindsets of those around him that threatened his well being. In short, Uri hid his

Everyone struggles with self-identity at some point in their life. Some people never find out who they truly are because they are too busy trying to fit in. The people who do have the luxury of being themselves feel free and they sometimes feel powerful. Identity is a common theme among the books The Maze Runner by James Dashner, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, and Birdwing by Rafe Martin.

Misha’s character begins with him being a foolish, oblivious kid, who would have died without the help of true friends. He learns that listening to his friend’s advice and keeping close to them can help him survive. As Misha had no one to help or love him while he was in the holocaust, he was alone on the streets, unaware of what was going on in the world. All he knew was that he needed to steal food to survive, but what he didn’t know was that the penalty stealing was death! Later, he meets Uri, a boy his age, who was aware of what the Nazis were doing and had more experience at surviving the harsh, cold environment. Uri saves Misha from being caught after Misha attempts to steal food from the Nazi. Uri takes Misha to a safe place, where he

The story takes place in Münich, a city in Germany, during the adolescence of the Nazi regime. The majority of the city is extremely poor and cannot afford basic necessities such as food and water on a regular basis. The Nazis often march Jews through the city to the train station, which leads to the concentration camps, and comb through the houses in search of refugees. This horribly depressing environment often builds to the character of the men and women who live there, making them aggressive and afraid at the same time.