In order to add variety, different voices are used to portray different aspects of the story. Yolen adapts the language use to different speakers and situations in the novel. Briar Rose helps Gemma make sense of her own experiences, explaining them to herself. In her retelling, Gemma frequently uses the traditional phrases “Once upon a time there was a castle.” However, it is clear to the reader that she personalises the material to link it with the nightmarish events of her wartime life “Not everyone will die. A few will just sleep. You, princess, will be the one.” Due to the fact that Becca is trying to discover Gemma’s story, most of the novel is told through Becca’s viewpoint. “Sleeping beauty is my favourite,” Becca’s curiosity is contrasted with the informal interjection from Becca’s friend Shirley, “That’s not how it goes.” The children are focused on the fairytale aspect of Gemma’s stories highlighting their innocence and naivety in not realizing that Briar Rose is an allegory of Gemma’s life. Yolen uses different voices, in order to portray different ideas of the Holocuast.
Yolen uses Sleeping Beauty as an allegory of the Holocaust, providing a simplified idea for explaining the horrors that occurred. The “great dark mist” and “lingering fog of exhaust fumes” are metaphors for the gas used in order to kill victims efficiently in extermination camps. The protagonist, Gemma makes reference to the death of million during the Holocaust when she says “we all fell asleep,” The briars represent barbed wire and trees that prevented the prisoners from escaping, as “the thorny bush grew…covered the high castle towers and no one could see in and – no one could see out.” This description highlights their imprisonment, and aids the audience’s understanding of the desperation of many who lost their lives trying to escape. “All the bones of many princes who had been before rose up from the thorn bush singing” alludes to the many who lost their lives, bravely fighting to save others. These symbols of death, show the readers the cruelty that the victims faced during the Holocaust. The Holocaust and Sleeping Beauty are parallel stories, intertwined and told simultaneously, enabling Yolen to effectively account ideas of people’s traumatic experience.
Within the fairy tale genre, Yolen uses the fairies to convey ideas of the callousness of the Nazis. The fairies “fingers as long and thin as straws” makes reference to the emaciated bodies of victims who were overworked and starved. The evil fairy’s eyes “burnt by cigarettes”, uses the verb “burnt” to imply the burning of the bodies of victims. The reference to the fairy’s uterus being” an empty tea cup,” metaphorically conveys the experimentation on women that damaged their bodies and prevented their ability to become mothers. The evil fairy is paralleled with the evil Nazis who “made prisoners roll naked in the snow for hours,” illustrating their desire to not only murder their victims, but to make them suffer as well. Yolen softens the harshness of the Holocaust by using symbolism of the fairy’s “big black boots,” demonstrating the darkness and the hell that people endured under the Nazi’s watch. Yolen uses the fairytale genre to portray the cruelty of the Nazis, and encourage empathy for the victims.
Yolen expresses vivid imagery, in order to raise a fundamental lesson that readers come to understand about the harmful effects of racism. Readers learn that not only were the Jews discriminated against with signs such as “Dogs and Jews not allowed” displayed outside hotels, but other minority groups also suffered. Josef Potocki suffered discrimination due to the fact that he was a homosexual, forced to wear a pink triangle and called “faggot.” This derogatory term shows how people were categorized and inequality was rampant in Nazi society. When Becca travels to Poland to find answers about her grandmother’s roots, she discovers that racism is still rife. She asks a man about the concentration camp and “he said that nothing happened here and that we should take our Jew questions away, or that the nothing would happen again.” This alludes to the issue of racism which remains an issue in society, despite the horrors of the Holocaust. This leads readers to question the necessity of categorizing people, as they come to understand the dangers of discrimination.
Yolen uses heroic language to convey ideas of the strength of Holocaust survivors, who struggled to prevail in an unjust environment. Aron “dived into into a pit of hell and brought her out alive,” referring to Gemma’s experience in the gas chamber when Aron resuscitates her and gives her a second chance at life, showing his inability to stand aside and watch her suffer. Not everyone will die. You, princess, will be the one.”In Gemma’s story Josef is also the hero, risking his life to help Gemma, protecting her pregnancy and ensuring her survival they. ‘We rescue one, they kill one thousand. Still, one is enough.” The value that Josef, and Aron places on one life is contrasted with the dispensability of one thousand lives in the eyes of the Nazis. Yolen demonstrates vital ideas of heroism, in order to show the strength of victims, who were willing to sacrifice their lives to help others.
Yolen uses irony in the narrative as the conventional fairy tale ending shows the characters living “happily ever after” alluding to contrasting ideas of the horrific suffering and death of millions during the Holocaust. It is also ironic that Gemma is saved by Josef, an unexpected hero, who has a place in the story as homosexuals were also victims of the holocaust. A concentration camp is no inheritance,” indicating Becca expected a reward, as the story is presented in a fairytale genre. Becca is rewarded in a contemporary way, with an understanding and supportive partner, Stan, as he “had been the one to urge her to continue,” to unravel the story. “It ends happily, you know, even though it is awfully sad along the way.”Becca is also rewarded gaining knowledge of the truth about Gemma’s life, allowing her to have a stronger bond with her family history. It is possible to view Gemma’s life in America with family as a happy ending. Yolen ruins the happy ending fairytale genre, asserting at the end of the book “I know of no women who escaped from Chelmno alive.” This teaches the audience an idea that this is no sentimental fairytale but a dark tale of humanity.
Yolen uses Brair Rose, as an allegory of the Holocaust, enabling to raise important ideas of victims horrific experience. She uses symbolism to highlight the cruelty, discrimination and the hardships victims endured. She engages the audience by using metaphors, in order to commemorate millions of victims who died, in order to help save lives.