The Holocaust In The Shawl By Cynthia Ozick

The short story, “The Shawl,” written by Cynthia Ozick provides a powerful image of a Concentration Camp in Nazi Germany that no one can compare to no other. On the nature of trauma and its aftermath between the memory, forgetting, and the limitations and possibilities of the holocaust it recounts World War II. The word “Holocaust,” from the Greek words “holos” (whole) and “kaustos” (burned), was used to describe a sacrificial offering burned on an altar (History). Unfortunately, the Holocaust is an experience that most people can never seem to move past from even those who are suffering more than others. This murder became one of the mass murders of all time. It included 6 million European Jews, members of some other persecuted groups, and

These fences are charged with enough power to stop a human heart the moment it is touched. Rosa is described as a “walking cradle” as she hides her baby between her breasts under her swaddling clothes. She feels like someone who is already a floating angel who alert and sees everything. Stella, who knees and elbows are like tumors on sticks and chicken bones is jealous of Magda’s cozy safety. In the story, Magda is described as “a squirrel in a nest who is safe and sound that no one could ever reach her inside the little house of the shawl’s windings” (Ozick). The shawl symbolizes a mother’s love, warmth, and shelter for little Magda. It help keep Magda alive, protect her in all her needs, gives her support, and condolences when it comes down to dangerous situations. Since Magda is protected by the shawl almost every second, it is considered as a “protection” that every newborn or toddler in this earth has a right to feel and enjoy. Because the young Jewish mother believes that her magical shawl can nurture and guard her baby, it is represented as the “umbilical cord” between the mother and child which connects and provides the baby with food and nutrition in his or her development stages