Milkweed Themes, Symbols, and Motifs
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Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli
By Liane Hicks
Milkweed is an award winning historical fiction novel written in 2003. The story is about a young boy fighting to survive the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II. It is a compelling novel that teachers may use to facilitate meaningful discussions with their students about the Holocaust.
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Storyboard Description
There are many themes, symbols and motifs present throughout the novel Milkweed including the obvious theme of the Holocaust: family, friendship, prejudice, courage, kindness, identity, dehumanization, survival, the triumph of the human spirit, and more. There are recurring motifs and symbols as well such as Janina's shoes, the stone angel, the carousel, milkweed, the missing cow, etc. Students can explore themes, symbols and motifs in a novel by identifying a few and creating images and captions depicting examples from the text.
Storyboard Text
- TRIUMPH OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT
- MILKWEED
- JANINA'S SHOES
- Terrorism, starvation, and death are constant in the Warsaw Ghetto. The Nazis do everything they can to dehumanize the Jewish residents. Mr. Milgrom manages to hang onto his and teaches the children that despite it all, the Nazis could not take away their spirit.
- Janina finds milkweed and Misha is able to name the beautiful, soft, angelic looking plant despite remembering little about his past. It grew beneath bombed rubble. Misha plants it in his yard as an old man, symbolizing that life and hope persevere despite the devastation of the Holocaust.
- Misha is enthralled to see Janina's shoes for the first time. They are shiny, black patent leather. As time wears on and they are subjected to the horrors of the Ghetto, the shoes become dirty and ragged. After Janina is thrown into a train bound for the death camps, Misha finds one tattered shoe.
- IDENTITY
- MILKWEED THEMES, SYMBOLS, & MOTIFS
- ANGEL
- Misha's search for identity is a theme throughout the novel. He is given many names by those he meets: Stopthief, stupid, Misha, Jack, and finally Poppynoodle by his granddaughter, which gives him the greatest sense of peace and purpose.
- The orphans discover a large angel statue. Misha is amazed by it and asks repeatedly about angels. The brutality the Nazis inflict on the people around him makes Misha want to believe in something greater than himself, to offer hope of something peaceful, beautiful, and loving beyond the war.
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