MilkWeed - Blog #2

Blog #2 – Milk Weed

Since my last post a couple of important events in the book have occurred. Misha continues to not recognize the danger that is all around him. The German soldiers are continuing to invade his town, burning down buildings and taking supplies on their way.  Misha and Uri have been living in the basement of an abandoned barbershop.  They run away from this home because they were afraid of being found by the jackboots. These events lead me to make some inferences about this book.

Throughout the beginning of the book Misha is unaware of the danger that surrounds him. I infer that the jackboots will directly affect Misha at some point in the story. As the soldiers take more and more control, they are also becoming more powerful and violent.  If the soldiers see a Jew out past curfew they are shot. If a shop owner is a Jew the soldiers paint a big yellow star on the window. They also paint the shop owner to make sure nobody shops at a Jewish owned business. This inference makes me wonder when and how the jackboots will affect Misha. I am also curious to find out if Misha will survive the encounter.

While the German soldiers continue to become more powerful, less food and supplies are available. I infer that survival for Misha and Uri will grow harder. Many stores are burnt down or abandoned because of the owner’s religion and or appearance. In the story Spenelli writes,  “I was shocked. On the shelves against the wall there was no bread at all, only one single, sad round roll.” (p.50) As there is less and less food I wonder how long Misha and Uri will survive. With this amount of sparse food Misha and Uri will need to try to find a new home.

At the beginning of the book, Misha befriends a young Jewish girl, named Janina. Their friendship becomes stronger, but is it too good to be true? This makes me conclude that the soldiers will soon take Janina and her family away. From prior knowledge and the context of this story I can infer that there were not many second chances or happy endings in the Holocaust. I wonder when Janina and her family will be taken away. I also wonder how Misha will react.  It just does not seem like Janina and Misha will live happily ever after.