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.