How we cite our quotes: Chapter.Paragraph
Quote #1
She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence, as if death were too final a punctuation. (2.47)
At the beginning of the story, Gemma is about to die. Becca can't even bring herself to face the word "death," much less the idea of a world in which Gemma is gone. Sure, lots of folks avoid talking about death, but in this novel, it's just the first sign of a whole lot of avoiding that the characters just can't seem to shake.
Quote #2
Sylvia held up her hand, the one with the watch, as if that added force to her argument. She was clearly uncomfortable, almost afraid. (2.48)
Many of the characters have a hard time facing the death and destruction of the Holocaust. But as it turns out, facing a regular death—like Gemma's—isn't easy either. Sylvia here seems a little panicky, don't you think?
Quote #3
Under her withering gaze, he turned around in his seat and did not look back again. Gemma did not say another word the rest of the trip home. (15.21)
Was Gemma's story about Briar Rose a way to face what happened to her, or a way to avoid it? Could it be both at the same time?
Quote #4
When she reached the old woman, she began to speak quickly, gesturing eagerly with her hands. The old woman turned her head once to look at Magda, then turned and walked away, head down. After a few more steps, Magda quit following her and crossed back over. "Well?" "You saw. She would not speak with me." (22.37-22.39)
The same woman will later direct Becca and Magda to the town priest. But why does she avoid them initially?
Quote #5
"There are no monuments here in Chelmno. And the people do not like to talk about what happened." (22.61)
The people of Chelmno are having a hard time coming to terms with their dark past. Yes, even the 50-years-ago past. Guess that's what happens when your town used to be an extermination camp.
Quote #6
"I did not say, my child, that I would not talk of it. I have made a great study of the evil that happened here. But the people who lived through it do not like to discuss it." (22.63)
The priest feels like he can face the evil that happened in Chelmno head on, at least in part because he did not personally live through the experience.
Quote #7
The local industries used the inmates for hard labor. Everybody knew. Except Josef. Hiding from himself, he hid from the facts, too. (25.31)
An interesting detail in the story is the way in which Josef and other people in Germany lied to themselves in the time leading up to World War II. Life isn't like the movies, when the music lets you know that something bad is about to happen.
Quote #8
"I don't honestly think she remembered. Not you, not my grandfather, not any of it consciously. It had all become a fairy tale for her." (32.42)
Do you think that Gemma was an old woman who forgot what happened to her? Or did she repress the memory? Or did she just really, really like that fairy tale?
Quote #9
"I never got to know any of my sisters' secrets and I thought I was missing something. And now I know my grandmother's—and I'm not sure I want to know. Should I tell them everything at home? Do you think Mr. Potocki would want me to? Is it better to let some things lie?" (32.76)
Why does Becca hesitate to tell her family what happened to Gemma during the war? Would you want to know, if you were them?