Marika: Blog #1

Marika, by Andrea Cheng, begins by introducing many unique characters. The author gives a very vivid picture of the setting and she provides an early description of the problem which will play a major role in how the story unfolds.

The characters who have been introduced in the novel so far include Marika, Anya, Apa, Andras, Neni, Bacsi, and Colette. Two more characters who play insignificant roles in the story so far are Tibor and Tamas. They are twins who are three months older than Marika. They live on the first floor of Marika’s family’s duplex.  Marika is the character who we can infer is the protagonist in the book. She is bold and courageous. Anya and Apa are her mother and father. When Marika was six years old, her parents split the apartment in half and the two didn’t live together anymore. Marika continued to live with her mother. Andras is Marika’s brother who is seven years older than her. Neni and Bacsi mean aunt and uncle in Hungarian. Neni is a protective Aunt who helps raise Marika. Bacsi is a cautious uncle who always takes care in not letting anyone know that their family is Jewish. “’But you could have chosen something more… less… less Jewish, you know, like Laci or Zoltan.’” (p. 9, Marika).  Bacsi is saying this to Marika regarding the family’s use of Jewish names. Colette is from France and she is Marika’s nanny and her French language instructor. One day, she has an incident where she thought she was being kidnapped. Marika’s father decides that a nanny wouldn’t be necessary for her anymore, so Colette was sent back to France.

The novel, Marika, is set in Budapest, Hungary during the 1930’s and 40’s. The character Marika lives in a duplex with her family and friends. The dilemma in the book so far is the fact that Marika and her family are Jewish and they need to hide that information. Her family has heard about the horrible things happening to Jewish people in Germany and other countries, and they are scared that might happen to them. That’s why they have changed many details on their legal documents, celebrated Christmas and Easter, and even were baptized. In the worst case scenario, they want to be able to pass as Christian people. The only problem they have is that they have very Jewish names. “Finally four of the forms were signed and blotted. The ink was just the right color. The word zsido, Jew, was permanently erased from every birth certificate. We would be safe, Apa said.” (p. 4, Marika). This shows how dedicated Marika’s family was to make sure that their family would remain protected and alive. 

The Boy Who Dared Blog #2

So far, in the book The Boy Who Dared, Helmuth has contemplated his thoughts on how the Nazis were treating the Jewish people. This book has also left a lot of questions unanswered. Some of the questions left unanswered are able to be inferred, and some are not.

One unanswered question is why Helmuth is in jail. It has talked about how he is in jail, but it does not explain what he did to be put in jail. “On that bed, a thin, huddled figure, Helmuth, a boy of seventeen, lies awake. Shivering. Trembling. It’s a Tuesday. The executioner works on Tuesdays.” (p. 3, The Boy Who Dared). From this, and the back ground knowledge gained throughout the beginning of the book, we can infer that he might be in jail because he has questioned verbally what Hitler is doing, or he may have disobeyed an order. A question I have is what did Helmuth do to place him in jail. It sounds like he might have done something considered horrible in Germany. Also, we can guess that he is scared that he might be executed.

Another inference I can make from the text is that Helmuth might fight for Germany someday. In one of his flashbacks, he remembers when he was three years old and he was asked by a soldier if he would fight for Germany someday. He said that he would. It also talks about how he wanted to go to the parade celebrating Hitler being sworn in as the Chancellor. This shows that subconsciously he supported Hitler. “Soldiers like you. The praise squares Helmuth’s shoulders and he beams at the storm trooper.” (p. 16, The Boy Who Dared). Helmuth appreciated how the soldiers would say that he would make a good soldier. That is why I think that he might become a soldier for Germany someday. I wonder if he becomes a soldier, will he be a soldier for long. Since he is in jail, I think he must have defied his responsibilities as a soldier. 

The Boy Who Dared Blog #1

 The Boy Who Dared, a fictional story by Susan Campbell Bartoletti, tells about a German boy named Helmuth.  Helmuth, a Hitler Youth, is a boy with confused thoughts about Hitler and what he is doing to Germany. He is unsure if what he is doing to Jewish people is good or not.

The story starts in Plötzensee Prison in Berlin, Germany with Helmuth, age 17, in a jail cell. It describes how an executioner works only on Tuesdays, and how it is Tuesday. There is a feeling of fear within Helmuth. It then goes to a flash back. Helmuth is at school, waiting for the broadcast to find out if Hitler would become the next chancellor of Germany. The whole school gathers to wait for the broadcast. When Hitler is sworn in, there is a lot of buzzing throughout the school. The students talk about their opinions on Hitler. “The teachers ignore the Hitler Youth. They are too busy whispering sharply with the other teachers, fighting over the reasons why Germany is so desperate for Adolf Hitler.” (p. 13, The Boy Who Dared).  People had their own opinions on what Adolf Hitler would do as chancellor of Germany. After school is dismissed that day, Helmuth notices that everybody is talking about Hitler becoming chancellor. A soldier approaches Helmuth and hands him a leaflet about the parade that would be held in Hitler’s honor. Helmuth wasn’t allowed to go. A few days later, the Reichstag was set on fire. Hitler claimed that it was a plot to destroy the government by the Communists. After that happens, Hitler advises people to not shop at Jewish stores in order to defend themselves. A boy at Helmuth’s school is discriminated against by the teacher and the class because he is Jewish. Later, Helmuth is ordered by his mother to go to a Jewish bakery to buy apple-cake trimmings. When he arrives at the bakery, he finds that Hitler Youth had written discriminating things on the windows. When Helmuth tries to enter the bakery, soldiers instruct him that he shouldn’t buy from this baker because he’s Jewish. When the owner of the shop tries to clean off the discriminating words from his windows, the soldiers begins beating him up.

The characters in the book so far are Helmuth and his family. His family consists of Opa, Oma, Mutti, Gerhard, and Hans. Helmuth is the main character. The story takes place in Berlin, Germany during World War II. Since the plot hasn’t completely developed yet, there are only a couple of problems. One problem is when Helmuth is in jail. He doesn’t know when he will be killed, so he is living every day knowing that eventually he will be killed. The second problem so far is how Jewish shops are being boycotted by the rest of Germany.