The rising action in the book Milkweed involves the unnamed narrator, later called Misha, meeting Uri, the redheaded Jewish leader of a gang of thieves during the beginning of the book. The narrator is a street urchin who is caught in the Nazi shelling of Poland and is unsure whether he is a Gypsy or a Jew. Uri and the Jewish gang take in the narrator, who is in love with Jackboots, his name for the invading Nazi army. During the rising action, the narrator is unsure of himself, including his name and his identity, and he is naive enough to believe that the Jackboots are thrilling.
During a slight dip in the overall arc of the rising action, the narrator begins to understand the nature of identity. Over time, Uri creates an identity for the narrator as a Russian-born Gypsy and names him Misha Pilsudski. Uri helps Misha understand that the Jackboots are cruel and evil, and Misha begins to understand this reality on his own when he sees a soldier forcing a Jewish man to clean the sidewalk with his beard. Thinking over Uri's words, Misha begins to realize, "You are what you are" (page 23). Misha begins to understand the nature of identity and says, "And then it was no longer enough to stare at myself and repeat my name to myself. I needed to tell someone else" (page 31). Though the narrator starts to believe the identity Uri has created for him, he still does not understand the nature of reality until the Jackboots shoot off his ear when he is out past curfew. This is an example of rising action, as Misha begins to understand the evil nature of the Jackboots.
During the continuation of the rising action, Misha befriends a Jewish girl named Janina and follows her and her family to the ghetto. He then steals food for them. The height of the action is when Himmler himself visits the ghetto, and Misha realizes that he is nothing great but only a "one-eyed chicken." Misha begins to be less enamored with the Jackboots and eventually cares more for Janina and her family, especially when Janina's mother dies. At the very height of the story, Janina and her family are deported from the ghetto.
During the falling action, Misha lives on a farm and then returns to Warsaw to see the ghetto—which has been destroyed—after the war is over. He immigrates to the United States, has a failed marriage, and eventually gives his granddaughter the middle name "Janina," signifying that he has never forgotten about his friend.
Friday, January 11, 2019
Could you give examples of rising and falling actions in the book Milkweed?
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