Sarah's Key

Author's Note: This piece is a literary analysis about the book "Sarah's Key". I was trying to work on my idea development and content, also. When you read it, you can tell that for the literary analysis, I was trying to have it based on the mode of literature that this story takes place in.

Years and years ago, there was a massive killing of millions of Jews in Europe. Adolf Hitler thought that he could control the German surroundings by ridding all of the Jewish population.  Some people did in fact survive this terrible time.  People escaped, where some did die of hunger and disease. The book "Sarah's Key" was a masterpiece that explained one of the biggest tragedy's that this world has ever heard of.

"Sarah's Key" was a book that explained what life would be like as a little girl that was a Jew. She had some troubles here and there but she survived through most of that time. Tragedy happens to be one of the most popular modes of literature. It starts off with world in conflict. For this book, world in conflict is when Jews had to wear yellow stars. The yellow stars signified that they were not allowed to do certain activities, such as going to school or living in real homes. That is what poor little Sarah had to live through.

Even though the Jews were living with terrible food, water, and clothes; that wasn't even the start of it. The Vel d' Hiv round-up was one of the biggest Jewish takings that has taken place.  Unfortunately, that was the round-up that Sarah had to be put through. Her and her family, plus millions of other people, were taken on cattle trains to different concentration camps in Europe. Yes, families were split up and children were left alone. Heads were shaved and tattoos were added to bodies. For rise to power, Hitler made Jews go against their will to be killed in different gas chambers and labored activities. Although, Sarah didn't have to go through any of that.

People's lives were in fact ruined, and those people weren't even Jewish. Sarah and her friend finally escaped the concentration camp. Although, they faced some tough times on the way. They ran through woods and down streets, trying not to get caught by the French or German police. Every house on their way back to Paris would deny them because of who they were, except for one. These two people took the two girls in and gave them food, clothes, and medicine. The flaw of this is that the police found out that the two girls were staying at that house. If you lived in the time of the Holocaust and were hiding a Jew, you both would end up going to a concentration camp and to face your death. Actually, the two people were kept clear. Just Sarah's friend was taken.

Although Sarah was on her own, the two people taking care of her were always so helpful. They got her past officers when they were on their way to Paris. They also helped her out when they found her brother. Yes, Sarah did indeed have a brother. When the officers came to their apartment that one night, she locked her little brother in a secret cupboard saying that she will one day come home. She kept the key. As the three of them came back to the apartment, opened the cupboard, he was their; dead. That is one of the reasons that this book is a tragedy. The tragic fall is when she finds him and holds him in her arms one last time.

The last mode of tragedy is death or death symbolism. Yes, there was already someone who died in the book, but that wasn't the only one.  Years after the tragic accident, Sarah moved out of Paris and to the United States. Many Jewish people actually did over the course of those years immigrate to the States because of what was going on. Sarah just thought that is was the best thing to do. Something that I haven't mentioned is that there was another girl. Her name was Julia and she happened to be researching Sarah and the Vel d' Hiv round-up. As she researched for years, she finally found Sarah's son. Sarah's son told Julia that Sarah killed herself by crashing her car.

 As you can see, "Sarah's Key" was an outstanding book that explained one of the biggest tragedy's of Europe. Also, you can understand how the mode tragedy was placed well with it. Every section of the mode and book fit well together. From the round-up in the 1940's to the death of Sarah. It also made you think about how serious this time was and how horrible people must felt about it. Imagine yourself being a Jew in Europe at this time. You would've been killed. People tried to survive this time because they wanted people to remember, remember something that should never happen again.