Theme Of Refugee By Alan Gratz

In the Book, “Refugee” by Alan Gratz, an important theme in Josef’s story is, during difficult times, one may have to grow up mentally to help someone else.

Towards the beginning of the book, Josef and his mother and sister go to meet their father as he returns from Dachau Concentration Camp. Josef doesn’t know how this event will have changed his father. To show the changes, the author writes, “The shabby man who had lurched from the shadows like an escapee from a mental asylum was Josef’s father, Aaron Landau'' (Gratz, pdf. 36). The author compares Josef’s father, Aaron Landau to an escapee from a mental asylum. This shows that the father that Josef used to know, is now different and acting like someone with a severe mental disorder. Concentration camps are hard places to be, and Gratz reflects this through Aaron Landau.

St. Louis was docked in Cuba. Every passenger was required for a health examination. As they line up, papa is freaking out, and Josef knows that if he acts like this, they will never make it to Cuba. So, he decides to scare papa into thinking the doctor is a Nazi that will take papa back to Dachau if he isn’t quiet. To show how mentally injured papa was, the author explains, “But in the past six months, Josef and his father had traded places. Papa was the one acting like a child, and Josef was the adult” (Gratz, pdf. 112). Papa was acting like a child scared to go to the dentist, so Josef did what he had to do to hopefully insure them a place in Cuba. This quote shows that Josef had grown up to help Papa and his family. Situations may cause this to happen which relates to my theme. Josef grew up mentally to help his father, and therefore the rest of his