Monday, February 4, 2008

Briar Rose (post 5)


And, the last one for today...

Chapters
13-15

Becca had not learned anything from the museum and called the journey an, "anticlimax" (88). It wasn't until after she and Stan had returned home that they came across anything noteworthy. Stan and Becca were reviewing Gemma's documents over lunch one day when Stan had the idea of enlarging the last permanent address that Gemma had crossed out. They got a name, Kulmhof, but Becca couldn't find it in any atlas. It wasn't until Stan gave Becca the man they met in New York business card, Harvey Goldman. When Becca had questioned Goldman about the place he became very freaked out and answered that Kulmhof was, "in the darkest regions of hell", (96). He also tells her that Kulmhof wasn't even an concentration camp but an extermination camp and no woman ever made it out alive. So, Gemma was indeed in Europe during WW2. How did she ever escape the extermination camp? We'll just have to wait and see.

SOMETHING ELSE: I have noticed that this story is very different between Fairy Tales in general, and if Gemma was indeed Briar Rose, then where is the prince that awoke her? Who is Eve's (Becca's mom) father? Is he the man that saved Gemma? All, we know is that this is completely different from traditional Fairy Tale telling. Once again, the princess has made a life for herself in a completely forgein country with no family and no help. Who needs Prince Charming aferall?

Another thing I found interesting was in a flashback chapter (ch.15) where a little boy who is listening to Gemma tell the story asks her what the song means that is in the story. The song is polish and when Gemma translates for him we find out that it means, "I ran and ran for twenty miles until I came upon a house. Sir! Give me a piece of bread; Look at me: I'm pale and dead. I had already washed and said the blessing when in walked the kidnappers"(99). Now both Becca and the little boy are very confused becuase there are no kidnappers in the Briar Rose story, however Gemma doesn't go on to explain. This is where Gemma may be putting some of her own story into the Fairy Tale. That maybe she finally found refuge in some house, but was found anyway and maybe that was when she was taken to Kulmhof.

Also, I've come up with an idea of why Gemma would put her story into a Fairy Tale. Often times a person's experiences are to hard to just tell becuase it cause to much pain, however they still want their story to be heard. And, in order to do so they put it into something that is supposed to be happy and fun and still pass down their life journey to someone who they love.

Nicole

Briar Rose (post 4)


And, the second post of the day...

Chapters 10-12

In chapter ten Becca becomes aware that Gemma may have had another alias, Ksiezniczka. However, this piece of information doesn't help or lead her to anything. But, when she calls and finds out from a Polish friend that Ksiezniczka means princess, she becomes more convinced that Gemma indeed is Briar Rose.

Stan, her boss, again is there to urge her on in the search for Gemma's past. He comes over and helps and looks through the documents and pictures in hopes of finding something Becca has missed. However, they don't find anything new. Stan schedules a road trip to New York, where the refugee now museum is. They spend the night at his old college friend's house and meet some senior citizens who were around during the time of the refugee camp. However, Becca didn't learn much except that her grandmother was indeed at the refugee camp and one of the men Becca met that night knew her grandmother. But, he didn't know much becuase apparently Gemma wouldn't let anyone close to her.

Let's see what unfolds!
=]
Nicole

Briar Rose (post 3)


So, today I stayed home and read about nine chapters of my independent reading book. So, be prepared for three posts =P!

Chapters 7-9

Within these three chapters Becca learns only a little bit more of her grandmother's life. She is urged on by her boss Stan to continue the search when she becomes discouraged when there is little to no progress in her findings. However, at the end of chapter eight Becca gets a lead that intrigues her continue her search for her grandmother's past.

She finds an article that once belonged to her grandmother that she clipped out of the Palladium Times and calls to see if she could get a lead as to why her grandmother, a maybe war refugee, would clip out an article of an 1944 Palladium-Times paper. She calls and gets in touch with a reporter named Arnie who has just recently written about an old refugee camp that has been redone into a museum. Arnie informs her he'll send a bunch of articles that are written about the museum as well as old articles from years ago.

In chapter nine, a flash back to Becca's childhood, Gemma is telling the story of Briar Rose and exclaims, "a briary hedge began to grow, with thorns as sharp as barbs are." Becca and her two older sisters question Gemma about what barbed wires are, however she just becomes very upset and stops telling the story. However, as well rounded readers we know that barbed wire surrounded the concentration camps. And, it is hinted throughout the book thus far that Gemma may be a refugee from the ww2.

So, we still don't have any ideas about Gemma's past except that she may be a refugee from Nazi Germany.

-Nicole