Study Guide

The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Jan joins the army, while Antonina and Ryś move into a small apartment in the city.
Antonina depends on the kindness of strangers—i.e., the old ladies downstairs—to help her with food and other necessities.
Occasionally, Antonia leaves the apartment and wanders the city, looking at wreckage. She worries that "the teenage boys left in charge" won't look after the animals.
We worry that since all civilians are supposed to evacuate, that these teenage boys are either a) imaginary or b) vulnerable to be bombed to death.
But Antonina doesn't worry about such small details. She only thinks of the animals, and she herself feels like "a hunted animal" (5.14).

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