Literary Review - The Shawl

Literary Review - The Shawl

Introduction

In the twentieth century, the use of the short-story genre to convey one's opinion on pressing political, socio-cultural and historical issues became increasingly common. The Shawl by Cynthia Ozick is one such short story that recollects the horrific details of the grisly events that occurred during the German-sponsored Holocaust. It describes how more than 6 million Jews were systematically and brutally massacred by the Germans in the lead up to World War II (Sollors, 1998).

Thesis Statement

The Shawl recollects the horrific details of arguably one of the most important political events of the twentieth century, the Holocaust, by describing the treatment that was meted out to Jews during their methodical and brutal mass-slaughter through state-sponsored campaigns.

Discussion

In the twentieth century, the use of the short story genre became increasingly common among authors for the purpose of highlighting pressing political and social issues. Cynthia Oznick's The Shawl is one such work of literature that highlights the unspeakable atrocities that were committed against the Jews by Nazi Germany. In order to engage the reader, the story uses vivid imagery to project the horrible conditions to which the Jews were subjected (Ozick, 1992, p. 601-606). The story mainly revolves around three characters; a Jewish woman named Rosa, her elder daughter Stella of fourteen years, and her 15-months old infant daughter, Magda. The setting of The Shawl is a concentration camp in which the family of three is being forced to march. Cynthia has tried to recollect the horrible treatment meted out to the Jews at the time of the Holocaust (Kauvar, 1993).

The shawl highlights an important issue that has been prevalent in European societies. The Jews were historically persecuted in European societies and looked at with contempt and scorn and, in certain parts of Europe, a horrible treatment ...