The Function of the Shawl in Ozicks The Shawl Essay -- Cynthia Ozick

The Function of the Shawl in Ozicks The Shawl Suffering becomes a way of invigoration for Magda, Stella and genus genus Rosa, as they struggle to survive during the Holocaust. During these trying times, some cling to ideals and dreams, composition others find unusual vessels of hope like the shawl to perdure in their austere brea liaison conditions. Although the shawl becomes a source of conflict between Magda, Stella and Rosa in this narrative, it in any case serves as a pivotal force and a motivational factor. In Ozicks The Shawl, a small wrap allows its owners to triumph over the adversities of a concentration camp, the magic shawl comforts, nourishes, protects and prolongs life. For Magda, the shawl serves as a magical sic, a place of transition and latent life, it acts as a figurative surrogate mother, a pacifier, nourishment and comfort. Hidden away in her warm little cocoon, Magda is non only protected but concealed from the Nazis. When she is wrapped up in the shawl on Rosas chest as an infant, Magda is mistaken for Rosas breasts, she would have been dead already, but had been buried deep intimate the magic shawl (paragraph 6). If it wasnt for the shawls protection, Magda could not have been soothed and comforted by warmth and nourishment as she was during her short life. Not only is the shawl her cocoon, it is too a pacifier for starving Magdas screams, it nourishes her with its good flavor, milk of linen paper (paragraph 3) for three days and three nights (paragraph 4). Magda sucks it and wraps herself in it to be very simmer down (paragraph 7) and she guards her shawl like a tiger (paragraph 7). Her instinct is to protect the one thing she knows and loves, the shawl has provided Magda with the basic necessities she need... ...tic and unimaginable of circumstances. Despite the horrifying circumstances she faces, a malnourished, selfless Rosa tries her hardest to be the best mother she can be to her sinless child. Unable to continuously withstand Magda safe, nourished and comforted, Rosa counts on the shawl to keep Magda out of harms way, the shawl indirectly becomes a great source of comfort for Rosa because it allows her to know that her baby is safe and sound. Stella wants this comfort, this protection, and so she steals the shawl and murders Magda. In Ozicks The Shawl, the shawl serves as a source of comfort, nourishment, protection, and life, for Magda, Stella and Rosa during the Holocaust.WORKS CITEDOzick, Cynthia. The Shawl. Literature An Introduction to narration and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts. 4th Compact Ed. Upper Saddle River Prentice Hall, 2008. 230-233.