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

The Function of the Shawl in Ozicks The Shawl Suffering becomes a bureau of life for Magda, Stella and Rosa, as they struggle to survive during the Holocaust. During these trying times, some adjoin to ideals and dreams, while others find unusual vessels of hope like the shawl to perdure in their ascetical living conditions. Although the shawl becomes a source of conflict between Magda, Stella and Rosa in this narrative, it also serves as a pivotal force and a motivational factor. In Ozicks The Shawl, a small wrap allows its owners to triumph e genuinelywhere the adversities of a concentration camp, the magic shawl treasures, nourishes, protects and prolongs life. For Magda, the shawl serves as a magical place, a place of transition and latent life, it acts as a figurative deputy mother, a pacifier, nourishment and comfort. Hidden away in her warm pocket-size cocoon, Magda is not l wholenesssome(prenominal) protected but concealed from the Nazis. When she is wrapped u p in the shawl on Rosas chest as an infant, Magda is inconclusive for Rosas breasts, she would have been dead already, but had been buried ample inside the magic shawl (paragraph 6). If it wasnt for the shawls protection, Magda could not have been soothed and console by warmth and nourishment as she was during her short life. Not only is the shawl her cocoon, it is also a pacifier for starving Magdas screams, it nourishes her with its good flavor, draw of linen (paragraph 3) for three days and three nights (paragraph 4). Magda sucks it and wraps herself in it to be very still (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 innocent child. Unable to c ontinuously keep 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 knowledgeableness to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts. 4th Compact Ed. Upper Saddle River Prentice Hall, 2008. 230-233.