The writer uses the word ‘we’ every time he is telling the readers about his experience. This may imply that the writer has travelled to the war ravaged Stalingrad in a group. He starts the piece by giving a brief insight on the place he is going to stay at with his group which gives a rather broken and dingy vibe altogether. The writer then explains his fascination with the place which is in complete ruins, yet inhabited. He expresses a sense of awe seeing the lifestyle of the simple people living there. Through this piece we can interpret that the writer is a good observer and observes the little things that sets these people apart from others. The writer makes use of simple words but uses very apt adjectives to describe the aura of that place like the words ‘heroic travesty’. In the second paragraph, the author suddenly shifts the reader’s attention from the harmonious co-existence to a small girl who lives in conditions which are unexplainably terrifying. In the latter part of the passage he explains, how that little girl who was breathtakingly beautiful fascinated him. He then dives into the more intricate details of her lifestyle which was all in all sympathetic. At the end, the writer explains how the girl reacts when she is offered a loaf of bread and the look of suspicion and self- preservation which had clouded her face. He concludes the passage by beautiful words which force us to think and wonder how, so many things leave a mark on people’s minds making them behave in a certain way, and how some people decide to succumb to the pain they have gone through.
Seeing the small girl living in her completely terrifying situations made my heart melt. As I called her towards me to offer her a loaf of bread, the look of suspicion and wariness that she gave me made my heart skip a beat, more out of empathy than fear. She was a beautiful young girl, nothing to be feared of. As I saw her hogging on to the bread, for the first time I realised how hungry the poor soul must be. For us ordinary citizens in Stalingrad, life was monotonous. The same old routine every single day and the constant struggle to make both ends meet. All of us were only afraid of one thing, losing our loved ones and being unfortunate enough to return into those torturous times of the war.
Every time a woman left her house, she would be as simply dressed as she could afford in a sense of self preservation and protection.