Milkweed

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2003

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Chapters 34-36Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 34 Summary

The Milgroms celebrate Hanukkah. At the beginning of the chapter, Mr. Milgrom tries to explain to Misha that Hanukkah spans eight days and that within that time, they must be happy and proud of their Jewish heritage. Misha remembers hearing these words the year before during Hanukkah, when Mrs. Milgrom had forbidden Misha from participating. Mr. Milgrom tries to explain the definition of happiness to Misha, comparing it to the taste of an orange, but Misha has never tasted one. Mr. Milgrom tries a different analogy, comparing happiness to first being cold, then warm. Misha thinks he understands and sees that Janina is no longer happy.

Janina does not want to participate in the festivities. Mr. Milgrom lights the first of eight candles on their silver candle holder and though he tries to get Janina to sing and dance, she is reluctant to join in. A while later, Mr. Milgrom gives the children each a present: a comb. Misha combs excitedly through his and Janina’s hair, watching as lice and lice eggs fall down the back of their necks.

The next day, Mr. Milgrom notices that the silver candle holder has been stolen. Misha is not surprised, as anything that can be stolen can be traded for food. While Mr. Milgrom does not accuse the people who share the room of stealing, he makes sure that he says loudly, “what a shame when Jew will steal from Jew” (126). Misha has to stand still and hold the candle, playing the part of the menorah, as Mr. Milgrom tries his best to carry on with tradition.

Janina continues to waste away. She no longer leaves the room, speaks, or follows Misha. Janina mutters under her breath about pickled eggs. Misha desperately begins to search for an egg and a pickle to make Janina happy again. He searches through the biggest houses but is unable to find an egg. Misha is able to find small pickle spears and eventually sees an egg on a workbench in a shoemaker’s store. Misha tries to keep his hold light around the egg, though he is chased by numerous Jackboots and pelted with snowballs.

Eventually, Misha sneaks back into the ghetto and realizes that in his excitement, he’d forgotten to take off his armband. Misha accidentally falls and the egg falls into a pile of snow; the egg shell is cracked but not broken. Misha brings the egg to the room and Mr. Milgrom realizes that the egg is hard boiled. Mr. Milgrom calls Misha a miracle and Janina devours the egg excitedly. She thanks Mr. Milgrom and Misha, hugging them both tightly.

Mr. Milgrom gives one of his pickle spears to Uncle Shepsel, despite Shepsel spending less and less time around the room. Uncle Shepsel believes that the less time he spends with Jews, the more Lutheran he becomes. As Misha falls asleep, he feels someone combing through his hair.

Chapter 35 Summary: “Spring”

Janina and Misha watch the orphans singing in the street, begging for food. While Misha still brings Doctor Korczak food for the orphans while he can, food has been extremely scarce. More bodies are piled onto the wagons on the street and more smugglers hang from lamp posts than ever before.

Misha describes how the bodies on the street no longer have clothes or shoes to steal. Sundays are marked with Jackboots and their girlfriends entering the ghetto to watch the ways that Jewish people live. Food is scarce even past the ghetto walls and the children are often unable to find it. They find fat drippings at the bottom of a garbage can that they scoop up in their hands to bring back for Mr. Milgrom and Uncle Shepsel.

Janina is thinner than ever, gaunt with large eyes. She has however, begun acting like her old self. She continues to follow Misha, mimicking him and taunting Buffo. Misha does his best to correct her more dangerous habits, sometimes even hitting her, but he is unable to change her. While Misha is content to accept the world, Janina seeks to bend it to her will.

At the end of the chapter, Misha describes how he would go to his favorite bomb crater and hide, licking the remaining fat drippings off his fingers while reminiscing of days from the past that were filled with bread and food.

Chapter 36 Summary

Misha runs into Uri on the streets of the ghetto. Misha tries to hug Uri, but Uri pushes him off and tries to get Misha to listen to him. Uri tells Misha to get out of the ghetto and to get out of Warsaw. Uri looks completely unlike any of the other boys. He does not look ill and he wears untorn clothes and shoes. Uri gives food to the children who are starving on the street, sharing a part of a fat pickle with an emaciated child.

Uri tells Misha that the Nazis have begun doing deportations and are clearing out the ghetto. Uri warns Misha about the trains that will be coming for them and tells him not to be in the ghetto when the deportations begin. Uri tells Misha to keep running and to never stop. Uri is seemingly aware that the trains are bringing Jewish people to concentration camps. He urges Misha to leave Warsaw and to keep running.

Misha tells Uri how he leaves and enters the ghetto and the older boy is oddly proud. As Uri turns to leave, he gives Misha the rest of his pickle, and tells Misha to clean up and use white dust on his face when he leaves. The white dust is to help lighten Misha’s skin tone. Uri also instructs him to remove the armband marking him as a Jew. Uri has Misha repeat that he is “nobody” and then instructs him to tell nobody apart from the boys (133). When Misha tells Uri about Olek being hanged for smuggling, Uri is visibly upset. Uri gives Misha his favorite kind of candy before he leaves.

When Misha tells the boys that they have to leave, none of the boys comprehend what he means. After, Misha goes to the Milgroms and tells them what Uri told him. Neither Mr. Milgrom or Uncle Shepsel believe him. Uncle Shepsel remains adamant that he is a Lutheran, while Mr. Milgrom believes that “there is nothing else they can do to us” (134). Janina tells Mr. Milgrom that she wants to go away on the train.

Chapters 34-36 Analysis

In this section of the novel, Misha’s empathy and kindheartedness is thrown in stark contrast to the world around him. Despite not knowing the definition of happiness, Misha desperately tries to find pickled eggs, Janina’s favorite food, in order to make her happy again. Food is an undeniable symbol in this section, representing hope, normalcy, and life. Not only is the lack of food obviously life-threatening, but food also takes on an emotional and hopeful quality that allows Janina and Misha both to reminisce of better times.

Misha steals pickled spears and a hard-boiled egg for Janina and this gives her a glimpse of hope for the future. Misha, however, is only capable of imagining better times. He licks the remnants of fat drippings from his fingers, dreaming of an ice box full of food. Food is thus synonymous with hope. Despite Uncle Shepsel turning his back on the Milgroms and other Jews, Mr. Milgrom chooses to share the few pickle spears Misha brings with him. Mr. Milgrom is willing to share what little they have, including their hope.

Uri reappears in the ghetto to warn Misha and the rest of the boys about the deportations. Despite being frequently absent, Misha still trusts Uri with his life. Uri warns Misha about the trains and tells him to flee the ghetto and Warsaw. While Uri is undoubtedly the harbinger of bad news, he also brings one of Misha’s favorite candies for him. The small favor is yet another instance of hope taking the form of food.

Spinelli uses dramatic irony to compound the dread that Misha must feel about the oncoming trains. When Misha returns to tell the Milgroms about the trains, nobody but Janina believes him. Mr. Milgrom says, “there will be no train. Uncle Shepsel is right. There is nothing else they can do to us” (134). Spinelli and the readers know that Mr. Milgrom is wrong. The Holocaust and its machinations are entirely incomprehensible not only to a child such as Misha, but also to the adults involved.