Cynthia Ozick's Use Of 'Realism In The Shawl'

Cynthia Ozick’s short story, “The Shawl”, was first published by The New Yorker in 1980. Her story takes place during a time of trial and tribulation. The time period and setting is set during World War II during the holocaust. The main purpose of this story is where “The Shawl” takes place known as the setting. The setting is the natural, manufactured, political, cultural, and temporal environment including everything that characters know, own, and otherwise experience. The setting throughout the story, “The Shawl” enhances the realism and credibility, the atmosphere and mood, and the story’s use of symbolism throughout the story. First, “The Shawl” enhances the realism and credibility by using or describing the detail, location or objects
The opening sentence of “The Shawl” creates a mood of eeriness that states: “Stella, cold, cold the coldness of hell.” (Ozick 246). Stella is seen as a cold hearted person especially after Rosa assumed “Stella was waiting for Magda to die so she could put her teeth into her little thighs.” (Ozick 247). Stella’s coldness of her heart comes from the jealousy of Magda being safe in her shawl. Stella was in a state of mind as a cannibal due to the scarceness of food on the journey to the concentration camp. While Rosa would give her food to Magda, “Stella gave nothing; Stella was ravenous, a growing child…” (Ozick 247). Because of Stella’s cold heart, “Stella took the shawl away and made Magda die.” (Ozick 247). Stella’s actions and mood made her cold hearted even after everything happened “she was always cold…” and “The cold went into her heart.” (Ozick 248). While inside the concentration camp, there was an electric fence that Rosa, Stella, Magda and other prisoners that were inside the camp to kept them from escaping to the outside world. While inside the camp they spoke of “flowers” and “of rain…” (Ozick 248). The electric fence sets the mood of ‘human beings’ were being trapped like caged animals. The prisoners were no longer free and that’s why one could only imagine of what “green meadows speckled with dandelions…” looked like (Ozick
The shawl was symbolic because, “It was a magic shawl, it could nourish an infant for three days and three nights.” (Ozick 247). Magda “sucked and sucked, flooding the threads with wetness.” The shawl had a good flavor of “milk of linen.” (Ozick 247). The shawl was symbolic because to Magda it filled her hunger even though it was not actually food. The shawl represented hope and life to Magda as it would nourish her and she was calm and content with the shawl. In the story, Stella was the symbol of despair and dying hope. Stella was “cold, cold the coldness of hell.” (Ozick 246). Stella was not a content person, she wanted what others had that gave one joy. Stella took the shawl and afterwards “the cold went into her heart.” (Ozick 248). Stella was the weakest link in the story, thriving on the needs of others. Stella was ruthless only caring for herself and not worrying about other’s needs. This is what led Stella to becoming a cold hearted person. When the guards found out of Magda, one soldier threw Magda in the electric fence, which killed her. From Rosa’s perspective she saw “Magda was swimming through the air… She looked like a butterfly touching a silver vine.” (Ozick 249). The moment that “Magda’s feathered round head and her pencil legs and balloonish belly and zigzag arms splashed against the fence, the steel voices went mad…” (Ozick