Frozen Jews
Have you seen, in fields of snow,
frozen Jews, row on row?
Blue marble forms lying,
not breathing, not dying.
Somewhere a flicker of a frozen soul -
glint of fish in an icy swell.
All brood. Speech and silence are one.
Night snow encases the sun.
A smile glows immobile
from a rose lip's chill.
Baby and mother, side by side.
Odd that her nipple's dried.
Fist, fixed in ice, of a naked old man:
the power's undone in his hand.
I've sampled death in all guises.
Nothing surprises.
Yet a frost in July in this heat -
a crazy assault in the street.
I and blue carrion, face to face.
Frozen Jews in a snowy space.
Marble shrouds my skin.
Words ebb. Light grows thin.
I'm frozen, I'm rooted in place like the naked
old man enfeebled by ice.
- Avrom Sutzkever
Response: This poem by Avrom Sutzkever can directly correlate to the political situation in The Book Thief as well as World War II. This poem contains two very powerful literary devices shedding light on the situation that was forming at the time of the poem. Firstly, the device of imagery. This whole poem shows how frozen and stuck jews felt at the time of Hitler's rule. Their opinions, wants, and needs were neglected because they weren't seen as equals at the time. An example of this imagery could be "Baby and mother, side by side. Odd that her nipple's dried." This sentence proves that the situation the jews are living is so cold and desolate, a mother cannot even provide milk to her baby. They are helpless to the vast majority of the power of Germany. Moreover, the other literary device used in the poem is a great big allusion. This allusion helps the reader to find the hidden meaning in this poem, which has been briefly been discussed prior. For example, the line about a naked old man fighting, but failing and getting stuck, has a deeper meaning. It can mean, that Jews can only fight so hard through solid ice before they are completely stuck and helpless, just how they were politically and physically at the time. In conclusion, the poem above sheds light on the situation for jews at the time of World War II and could connect us directly to the jewish characters in The Book Thief.
Have you seen, in fields of snow,
frozen Jews, row on row?
Blue marble forms lying,
not breathing, not dying.
Somewhere a flicker of a frozen soul -
glint of fish in an icy swell.
All brood. Speech and silence are one.
Night snow encases the sun.
A smile glows immobile
from a rose lip's chill.
Baby and mother, side by side.
Odd that her nipple's dried.
Fist, fixed in ice, of a naked old man:
the power's undone in his hand.
I've sampled death in all guises.
Nothing surprises.
Yet a frost in July in this heat -
a crazy assault in the street.
I and blue carrion, face to face.
Frozen Jews in a snowy space.
Marble shrouds my skin.
Words ebb. Light grows thin.
I'm frozen, I'm rooted in place like the naked
old man enfeebled by ice.
- Avrom Sutzkever
Response: This poem by Avrom Sutzkever can directly correlate to the political situation in The Book Thief as well as World War II. This poem contains two very powerful literary devices shedding light on the situation that was forming at the time of the poem. Firstly, the device of imagery. This whole poem shows how frozen and stuck jews felt at the time of Hitler's rule. Their opinions, wants, and needs were neglected because they weren't seen as equals at the time. An example of this imagery could be "Baby and mother, side by side. Odd that her nipple's dried." This sentence proves that the situation the jews are living is so cold and desolate, a mother cannot even provide milk to her baby. They are helpless to the vast majority of the power of Germany. Moreover, the other literary device used in the poem is a great big allusion. This allusion helps the reader to find the hidden meaning in this poem, which has been briefly been discussed prior. For example, the line about a naked old man fighting, but failing and getting stuck, has a deeper meaning. It can mean, that Jews can only fight so hard through solid ice before they are completely stuck and helpless, just how they were politically and physically at the time. In conclusion, the poem above sheds light on the situation for jews at the time of World War II and could connect us directly to the jewish characters in The Book Thief.