The first incident that I have chosen shows Esther’s immaturity at the start of the story. It is the part of the story where all of the other children at school have silk panties and Esther really wants some to be like all the others. Her mother refuses to get her some and so they begin a big argument. Esther decides that she won’t go to school until she gets some. Eventually she gives in when it is time for her to go to grade school.
Here are some quotes from this incident in the story.
“…a gorgeous rainbow of silk panties, some even edged with lace-except mine.”
“I told mama that this situation must be corrected immediately.”
“I said that if I could not wear silk panties, I would not go to nursery school at all. Mama said: ’very well, don’t go’.”
“I stayed at home until it was time to go to grade school…”
This incident shows how strong minded both Esther and her mother are. Neither of them will give in and let the other win. It also shows how rich Esther was and how perfect her life was to be worried so much about not having silk panties.
The next incident that shows Ether’s progression as a character is when they are at the train station after beginning their exile and Grandfather Solomon is separated from Esther, her father, her mother and her grandmother. Grandmother is devastated and Esther starts to think about how other people are feeling.
Here are some quotes from this part of the story.
“My grandmother cried out.”
“Never have I heard a more dreadful scream, not even in a nightmare.”
“My grandfather shuffled past us without a word.”
“With one hand I stroked my grandmother’s arm as she sobbed openly, and with the other hand I clung to my father, clung fiercely lest he too be taken away from me.”
From this incident Esther begins to learn how traumatic life can be and how harshly exile will treat her. She learns that throughout her experience she will feel mixed feelings and be anxious about how other expect her to react.
The third incident I have chosen is on Esther’s first day at school. She is really exited about going to school but when she gets there not everything goes exactly as she wanted it to. She has to share her books with a posh girl called Svetlana who dislikes her right from when she first sat down, she has a teacher called Raisa Nikitovna who just like Svetlana immediately dislikes her and she hardly knows any Russian so lessons were hard.
Here are some quotes from this incident in the story.
“…the prospect of sharing with her was not heartening…”
“…she was the queen bee and I had become her natural enemy…”
“Raisa Nikitovna was not impressed by eager little beavers…”
“I began to answer in my halting Russian”
“… three giants emerged to be slain: Svetlana, Raisa Nikitovna and the Russian alphabet…”
From this incident she learns that to survive her life at school she is going to have to be very determined and overcome the ‘giants’ that stand in her way. As we have already discovered Esther is a determined girl just like her mother and she is going to have to put this into practice to be able to have a chance at school.
The final incident I have chosen is when her father is forced to go away and fight near the front lines in a labor brigade. This meant the family was going to be split up again and Esther was going to have to grow up even more and do even more to help. Her mother and grandmother are just as devastated as she is with the news and grandmother has only started to recover from the loss of her husband. She fears she will lose her son as well. This incident is testing for Esther.
Here are some quotes from this event.
“I felt an ill wind blow through the hut”
“I watched his face as he read. It had gone white…”
“I finally extracted the terrible truth”
“…Front Lines!…”
“I don’t want to be brave. I’m sick and tired of being brave. Tata please don’t go…”
“But we are all alone here in Siberia…”
“Mother wept…My worst fears were confirmed…”
“I stayed in the hut, still weeping”
From this incident Esther learns that she is going to have to be strong once more to help her family through this difficult time. Her mother and grandmother are just as devastated as her so she has no one to turn to for comfort. She has to be strong and manage alone.”
