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Time and place of the book
1) It is taken place in 1939 in Buczacz poland. That is where Alicia begins her story. -
Description of main character
The main character in the novel is Alicia, she is the writer of the book based on her life experience through the holocaust. She was 9 years old when she was told to leave her home. Alicia lived through the holocaught and she was 13 when the war had ended. alicia wad brown hair and blue eyes. -
Description of minor characters
Alicia had 4 brothers, a mother, and a father. the 4 brothers were Moshe, Zachary, Bunio, and Herzl. Moshe was killed in all-boys school in Russia. Bunio was taken to a work camp and was killed shortly after by the Germans. Zachary was caught betraying a polish friend and was hung to death. Herzl was killed right in front of Alicia and her mother. Alicia’s mother was shot in jail and Alicia’s father was taken from the polish police and was never returned back home. -
Relationship between two characters
Alicia, and her mother were extremely close together because throughout the holocaust that was the only thing Alicia had left in her family. Alicia formed a great bond with her mother and always took care of her when she was extremely sick. Alicia always but her mother first and made sure nothing bad ever happened to her; For example when the germans broke into the house they were hiding in she would hide her mother before she would find a hiding spot. -
Major event in the novel
The major event in the story is when Alicias mom get taken away from the germans and gets shot right away in prison while alicia was hiding in a tree so the Germans wouldnt find her. This is the biggest even in the story because Alicia protected her mother all the way to the end. The holocaust was just about to finish before Alicias mom got killed. This is climax in the novel because Alicia was extremely close to her mother and after Alicia lost her mother, Alicia had no family to run too. -
One specific aspect of the culture described in the book
Many countries disliked Jewish people because Germany got other countries against them such as Russia, Poland, and Ukraine; For example teh polish police kicked all the jews out of there own house such as Alicia and her family because Germany made an agreement with them. -
Thoughts and feelings about the novel
I thought that the novel was extremely well, but at sometimes it was hard to read because there was many disturbing chapters, such as when Brunio got randomly picked out of the group at a working camp and was shot at random. I found that extremely hard to read. This novel was based on a true story so it made it that much harder to read at times. -
Specific event or behavior in the book that relates to real life
In the novel the Germans and the Jews never got along at all and Germany started a War to invaid Poland at take away the Jews in World War 2 because Germany wanted the land. Now since Jewish people have lived in Israel there is conflict between the Jews and the Israelis always fighting because of land. -
General feeling or mood of the book
Depression is the mood of the book because alicia lost everyhting she had such as her friends back home that she never saw again and that she lost all her brothers and her father without saying goodbye to them. Alicia was extremely depressed that she helped her mother all the way to the end of the War then she gets taken away and shot. It was a depressing story because of what Alicia had saw while she was in the Holocaust. -
Narrator of the book
The narrator of the book is Alicia because she is talking about her life experience during the holocaust and how she survived it without getting killed. -
How the book is written
the novel is written in first person point of view because Alicia talks about her Journey during the Holocaust. Writing it in first person point of view is usually based on true events also life experience. That is what Alicia did when writing her novel. -
special language used in the novel
In the last chapter in the book they used a word called Aliyah in hebrew it means going up. They used this word because at the end of the holocaust they all went to IsraeI to start a new chapter in there life and that they over came a huge obstacle in life. -
Author using symbolism
In the novel, Alicia always talks about the gold Star of David on her chest to show that she is Jewish. People who would see the star on her chest would try to avoid her because people didnt want anything to do with Jewish people. -
the climax of the novel
The climax of the novel is when Alicia loses her mother because Alicia was extremely close to her mother and took care of her all the way to the end of the holocaust till she got shot. This is the climax because this was all Alicia had for family till her mom died. Alicia always put her mother first before herself. She always made sure her mother had a place to sleep when she was sick, had food to eat at all times and had a hiding spot when the someone would invaid the house. -
The the theme of the novel
The main theme in the novel is depression, and strength. Alicia was extremely depressed when she lost all of her family members and took it extremely hard, but also handled it very good by showing her strength by not letting it get to the best of her. Even though she knew deep down that they were gone she didnt express her emotions out or take her agression out on someone else. This Makes Alicia a strong invidiual. -
What I learnt from the novel
I learnt that Polish police teamed up with Germany and helped with kicking out all the Jewish people out of there homes and pushed them to the ghetto. I also learnt that Germany tried to get multiple countries against Jewish people and help with the invasion of Poland. -
Character changing from beginning to end
Alicia changed throughout the novel because when she first was taken away she was only 9 years old and when the holocaust finished she was 13. Alicia grew stronger than ever as an individual because she saw her family get killed infront of her eyes and without saying goodbye. Alicia became extremely mature by getting a job in field working on crops for a Polish family. Alicia worked 12-14 hour days to support her mother because she was extremely sick.She became extremely mature towards the end.
