Symbolism And Allusions In Cynthia Ozick's 'The Shawl'

Symbolism and Allusions in Cynthia Ozick’s “The Shawl”

In Cynthia Ozick’s “The Shawl,” Ozick tells of a tragic and shocking experience between mother and daughter during the Holocaust. The author’s diction can allow a reader to follow the threads of the hidden symbolism revealing an even bigger picture. Each thread can be woven together to make the shawl itself. The story of the shawl shows the dejection of the Jewish people, but also reveals that, “In the madness of despair lies the sanity of hope” (Bridges). Viewing the story through the lense of Jewish religion and the impact of the Holocaust reveals that Stella represents the prisoners within the concentration camp, the shawl is a symbol of Christian history, Magda’s death represents

Rosa states that her “beloved” niece contains the “coldness of hell” (Ozick 246). Rosa’s disapproval of Stella stems from Stella’s ravenous jealousy. Stella longs to be carried and wrapped in the precious shawl so much that she threatens to commit cannibalism saying, “Let us devour her” (Ozick 247). The child is useless to Stella. Stella’s opinion of Magda is also swayed by the fact that Magda’s father could be an Aryan. The idea that Magda could be of Nazi decent lessens her worth as a human being to her fellow inmates. If Stella feels this way about her family member Magda, the other inmates of the concentration camp could feel the same way or even stronger. Stella symbolizes all the prisoners of the camp as one body. The jealousy, hunger, and judgemental eyes of the prisoners are expressed through Stella’s character. “Cold Stella, jealous Stella, ravenous, tumor-kneed, chicken-elbowed Stella.” These physical attributes may describe any one of the onlookers. Stella becomes a mirror constantly reflecting and representing the larger situation (Scrafford 13). Stella steals the shawl from Magda, essentially ending Magda’s life. Perhaps if Stella had not taken the shawl, someone else would have. The shawl is a valuable item to people who have nothing. Having the shawl may give a person a sense of space, and it satisfies their envious

Readers can make this connection because of Ozick’s Jewish descent, and “it is apparent from her writing that she has independently cultivated her knowledge of religious Jewish learning and culture” (Harap 353). Jewish priests wear a “shawl called a tallit gadol” that drapes over their heads and shoulders (Ninan 2-4). The high priest went into the Holy of Holies to pray. Inside the Holy of Holies is where some of the most important items of the Christian world lay. Behind a veil is the entrance to this divine site where the Arc of the Covenant could be seen. Christians believe that God sat here between a pair of golden cherubim angels that adorned the Arc. Each item within the arc marks a pivotal moment in Christian theology: a jar of manna, a miracle from the forty years the Israelites spent wandering in the wilderness, two stone tablets written by Moses that recorded God’s ten commandments, and Aaron’s staff, used in the Passover, and was a natural symbol of authority and value. The staff was cut from an almond tree. Although the branch has been severed from the very thing that gave it life, it still yields almonds. Numbers 17:8 records, “The next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe