The Sarajevo Haggadah In Geraldine Brooks People Of The Book

In Geraldine Brooks’ novel People of the Book, the Sarajevo Haggadah takes the reader on a journey through history. The Haggadah introduces the reader to a multitude of characters living in very different times. Brooks’ characters all have different places in the Haggadah’s journey; the characters connect with the book in dissimilar ways. Each character’s interaction with the Sarajevo Haggadah shows the reader a hidden meaning or key quality of that character. Serif Kamal’s actions involving the Haggadah display important aspects of his character: his courage, heroism and selflessness. As chief librarian at the National Museum in Bosnia, he decides it is his responsibility to keep the Haggadah safe from the German Nazis. Kamal’s colleague

Vistorini is a well-regarded priest who is in charge of deciding which books against Catholicism are burned. When the Haggadah is brought before him, Vistorini decides the book must go to the fire. In the priest’s office, the rabbi Judah Aryeh begs him to save the book, and Vistorini agrees to a game of chance determining the Haggadah’s fate. Aryeh wins. Vistorini is intoxicated, and cheats Aryeh by saying he will not sign and date the written words of an expurgator’s permission in the Haggadah. Vistorini commands Aryeh to leave and the priest is left alone with the sacred Jewish text. Alone in the darkened room, Vistorini” [begins] to hear the voice in his head” (p. 188). Vistorini’s mind swims with memories buried deep with his past, and he is overcome. He remembers the “...Hebrew letters, crushed into the dirt beneath the boot of the man who had come to arrest his parents and put them to death as crypto-Jews” (p. 188). Here, readers realize Vistorini comes from a Jewish family, and they understand how deeply the Haggadah has affected his confidence. Vistorini’s memories of his past surface, but he tries to discount them by affirming his Christian faith. He recites his name with less and less conviction, finally saying, “Am I… am I? Am I Eliahu ha-Cohain?” (p. 189) The Haggadah’s presence in

Mittl, a book binder often used by the Austrian National Museum, suffers from a disease that causes him physical pain and mental difficulties. He is entrusted with the rebinding of the Haggadah, the first work he has received in weeks. Mittl’s doctor, a Jew, suggests a possible cure for Mittl’s condition, but Mittl cannot pay the amount. Later, Mittl notices the remarkable beauty of the silver clasps on the Haggadah. Mittl returns to his doctor with the Haggadah’s clasps as payment for the treatment, saying, “‘Please, Herr Doktor. I have removed these from the Mittl family Bible, you must see these are very fine...’” (p. 125). The doctor is unsure of how to accept the payment, since Jews do not own family Bibles -- he does not know what he would do the claps. Mittl becomes nervous at the prospect of his payment not sufficing: “He wanted to blurt out that the clasps had come off a Jewish book, but he could hardly reveal that fact without exposing himself as a thief” (p. 125). Mittl’s actions reveal that he values his own health and his future more than his job, and he is willing to be selfish and deceitful to obtain what he needs. His despair drives him to act unethically, and shows the reader where Mittl’s personal priorities are. Mittl’s stealing of the clasps is inexcusable, and the Haggadah acts as a vessel for the reader to better understand Mittl’s