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Morgan Redd
Dr. Miskec
English 380
December 7, 2015
The Comparison of Jewish Literature
Throughout the duration of our English 380 class and our English 384 class, we have
looked at Jewish characters and how they are portrayed positively and negatively throughout
literature. The main two books we have looked at are All of a Kind Family written by Sydney
Taylor, and Rivka’s Way written by Teri Kanefield. Through analysis and discussion, it is seen
that both of these books fall under Typical Case Prototype (TCP) books, and are both patronizing
in their depiction of Jewish characters, along with their central conflicts and plot points.
However, Anne Blankman, Virginia Children’s Book Festival author, and author of Prisoner of
Night and Fog, creates a different perspective on the Jewish characters and their interaction with
German characters. Anne Blankman uses her book, Prisoner of Night and Fog, to create a
productive book about Jewish and German characters as compared to books previously discussed
in class.
When a reader browses All of a Kind Family and Rivka’s Way, the reader will see many
similarities between the two books that make both of them very Typical Case Prototype and fall
on the patronizing side of the spectrum. For example, both books have submissive female
characters as the protagonists. All of the girls portrayed in both of these examples of Jewish
Literature follow the strict rules that society places on them, and even when Rivka, in Rivka’s
Way, breaks out of her society to learn more, she is quickly ushered back into her Jewish beliefs
and conforms strictly to what is asked of her with no hesitation. These books also are very adult
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centered, and the adults seem to have all the answers and know more information than the
children in the stories do, they also tend to hold more power over the children characters. For
example, in Rivka’s Way, after Rivka is caught sneaking out of the compound her father states on
page 116, ““ She is not to leave the building. For any reason.”” This line alone demonstrates the
power that the adult characters have over the children throughout the novel (Kanefield). This
element of both of these books is what helps to make them Typical Case Prototype and
patronizing books.
Another similarity that these two books share is the low stakes conflicts involved and the
easy resolution to any conflict brought their way. In All of a Kind Family, the conflicts range
from a lost library book, to a rainy day, to the children not doing their chores properly. For
example, in All of a Kind Family, Taylor writes on page 13, “Between sobs, the muffled words
came slowly, “My – library book – is – lost.”” This is just one example of the low stakes
conflicts exhibited in All of a Kind Family (Taylor). All of these conflicts are very low stakes,
meaning there is nothing really at risk. In Rivka’s Way however, the conflict is at a higher stake
than All of a Kind Family, however there is a very easy resolution to the conflict without much
discussion. For example, Rivka wants the freedom to go outside of the compound as she pleases
to be able to explore, however that action and need is not accepted in her society, but she does it
anyways. She ends up getting caught, but instead of getting in trouble, her fiancé tells her he
forgives her and on page 123 her fiancé states, “Rivka, if I don’t walk fast, and if you have time
to see things, would you be content to go with me? After we’re married of course.” Rivka ends
up falling back into the conformities of her Jewish society and losing the agency her character
works to develop by surrendering to her fiancé by allowing him to take her on supervised visits
outside the compound. By the end of the book Rivka lost her agency by surrendering to the
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norms of her society, which is another reason this book falls on the Typical Case Prototype
spectrum (Kanefield).
Both these books, however explicitly demonstrated in Rivka’s Way, the author tries to
“fix” the fictionalized character, which further demonstrates this book as an example of
patronizing literature. As explained before, Rivka wants to get out of her Jewish compound to
explore the world, but instead of fighting the cultural norms of her time, or the author
challenging the reader and the fictionalized character, Rivka falls back into the way her society
functions and succumbs to the pressure the author puts on the reader and other characters to “fix”
Rivka’s way of thought to conform to their society. The previously mentioned quote from page
123 in Rivka’s Way, is the perfect example of how Rivka ends up being “fixed” and conforming
back to her society’s wants, despite her own needs, she ends up surrendering her freedom to her
parents, her fiancé, and her society (Kanefield). However, the book would have moved further
onto the patronizing and productive spectrum had the author thought to challenge that norm in
her book. Perhaps had Rivka not fallen into Oskar chaperoning her when she left the compound,
or if she would have stood up for herself to Oskar, her family, and even the social norms of her
society, Kanefield would have allowed Rivka to keep the agency she attempted to earn
throughout the novel and in turn would have created a more productive novel. All of these points
from All of a Kind Family and Rivka’s Way that make these books patronizing and Typical Case
Prototype books, are important to understand and remember while comparing to Anne
Blankman’s book, Prisoner of Night and Fog.
Anne Blankman does a superb job in letting her book explore the productive side and the
non-Typical Case Prototype of the spectrum. Even though her book’s main character is a
German, Blankman still delves into relationship between a German and a Jew, and the Jew
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quickly because a important character in her novel. In Prisoner of Night and Fog, Anne
Blankman does not write the typical “Holocaust” story, which is what is most read in terms of
Jewish and German Characters. She did not write about the tragedy of the Holocaust, for
example The Boy in the Striped Pajamas written by John Boyne, or Night written by Elie Wiesel,
which are depictions, one even a true story, of the Holocaust. However, typically Jewish
literature is assumed to be in relation to the Holocaust events. Even though Adolf Hitler is a key
character in her novel, this story only focuses on his role to a minimum. Her novel does not focus
on the Holocaust, however it focuses on the time before, and the other Historical events that
happened leading up to the Holocaust with some attention paid to Adolf Hitler and his role in the
events. The elements within Prisoner of Night and Fog make this book more productive and
non-Typical Case Prototype as compared to All of a Kind Family and Rivka’s Way, as well as
typical “Holocaust” narratives.
In reference to the productive versus patronizing chart, Prisoner of Night and Fog
highlights many elements located on the productive side. For example, number five on the chart
on the productive side, states, “text assumes that experience rather than age determines child’s
characteristics; the story is about people, not about “children.”” Even though the main
protagonist, Gretchen, is seen as a child, the main story is about Adolf Hitler, the controversy
behind the death of Gretchen’s father, along with the treatment of Jews and their relationships
with the Germans. The conflicts within this novel are at a much higher stakes than they are
within All of a Kind Family and Rivka’s Way, which mainly deal with minimal problems within a
family unit. Throughout this story Gretchen is investigating the death of her father with the help
of a Jewish character, Daniel, which is a high stake in itself due to her being German and her
family being a part of the Nazi Regime. Gretchen is also seen as a niece figure to Adolf Hitler, so
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when she discovers the truth that Adolf Hitler killed her father and Gretchen goes against Hitler
and his Nazi regime, this action initiates a high stakes conflict for the main protagonist. The
author also is not quick to resolve the conflicts that the protagonist faces, and often prolongs any
solution to the conflicts Gretchen faces throughout the novel. Anne Blankman trusts the reader
enough to handle the difficult and controversial content of the novel, along with not feeling
forced to rush through certain topics because her readers could not handle it.
Number thirteen and sixteen on the chart are also important elements to highlight within
Prisoner of Night and Fog. Number thirteen explains how the child character gets what she
wants, but the conclusion is not self-serving, the child is righting wrong and establishing
meaningful conclusions. This idea is the whole plot of Prisoner of Night and Fog, Gretchen gets
the conclusion she wants of figuring out what happened with the death of her father, however
this outcome was not just for her, but also for her whole family. In this instance, she is righting
the wrong that is her father’s death, which is the main point of this line of the chart. This idea
falls in line with number sixteen on the chart, which discusses empowering children. Throughout
the story, Gretchen is empowered by her Jewish friend to continue to investigate the death of her
father to finally have realization and clarity within her life of what happened to her father. So
even though Gretchen overall does not hold the power, she is still empowered throughout the
novel, which is an element that helps to lean this novel more on the productive side of the
spectrum.
Throughout the novel, the author is not concerned with “fixing” the fictionalized
character, which if Blankman attempted to “fix” Gretchen, she would have been creating a
patronizing novel, however because she does not attempt to “fix” Gretchen, her novel becomes
more productive. Anne Blankman challenges the reader to accept the fictionalized character the
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way she is, even though she rebels against her mother and the Nazi Regime. At one point in the
novel, Gretchen cuts off her long hair to demonstrate her refusing to conform to what the Nazi
Regime expected of her, this is a big turning point in the novel showing how Gretchen is refusing
to become what society wants from her. This allows the reader to exercise their thought process
to focus on the story and the main conflicts of the novel instead of focusing on the author trying
to adjust the fictionalized character to conform to the fictionalized society’s expectations of
Gretchen.
Another element that sets this book apart from All of a Kind Family and Rivka’s Way, is
number twenty-four on the chart, which states, “adult or child, it doesn’t matter; the central
conflict is hard to negotiate.” Any character placed in Gretchen’s position to investigate her
father’s death and go against the Nazi Regime and Adolf Hitler, would have a troubling time, no
matter the age. Another semi-conflict within the story is the fact that Gretchen starts to fall in
love with her Jewish friend, Daniel. On page 193 Blankman writes, “She liked him. The
knowledge paused her heart for a beat, then sped its rate so quickly she swore she could feel the
blood cursing through her veins.” The conflict of a Jewish person and a German falling in love is
a pretty high stakes conflict during this particular era. The element of a difficult central conflict
is something that Anne Blankman makes apparent throughout her entire novel, and does not base
Gretchen’s success in confronting the conflicts off of her age but off of the knowledge she has
gained throughout the experience and how she has grown from the events she has previously
gone through throughout the course of the novel.
Prisoner of Night and Fog also requires the reader to think about the meaning the author
wants the reader to take away from her novel. The text in Anne Blankman’s novel was not
didactic; the text required the reader to search for the meaning that Anne Blankman creates.
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Blankman allows the reader to have the power to exercise their mind and their imagination when
it comes to creating his or her own meaning out of the text she has provided, instead of providing
one strict meaning. Along with this element, number twenty-two on the chart also applies. This
point concerns whether or not the text employs guilt in the reader about certain behaviors. Anne
Blankman’s novel does not rely on employing guilt within the reader, because instead of
focusing on a didactic text, or forcing her text to have an underlying message, Blankman creates
her story and allows the readers the creativity to unveil their own meaning, depending on how
they interpret the book and the events within her novel (Blankman).
Another crucial element that separates Anne Blankman’s novel from All of a Kind Family
and Rivka’s Way, along with other Jewish narratives, is the mystery that takes form throughout
her novel. The basis of the novel is that Gretchen and her friend, Daniel, are on a hunt to
discover what actually happened regarding the death of Gretchen’s father. This requires
Gretchen and Daniel to gather clues from newspaper articles, witnesses, and other means to be
able to accurately find the conclusion about what happened to Gretchen’s father. The fact that
Blankman not only creates an intriguing piece of Jewish literature, but also manages to weave a
mystery into, furthers the confirmation that her novel is a more productive illustration of Jewish
literature than previous examples discussed in class, or more widely known examples such as
Night or The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.
Anne Blankman’s mystery in Prisoner of Night and Fog is an example of a hard-boiled
mystery. She demonstrates a hard-boiled mystery by starting the mystery out simply, but
increasing the complexity as Gretchen and Daniel find clues. When she begins to search for the
truth behind her father’s death, Gretchen starts out with minimal clues, however as the novel
progresses Gretchen gains access to more people who help her, along with more clue that range
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in complexity for her to discover. Another element that makes this novel are hard-boiled mystery
is the fact that the setting is a city. Because the setting is a city, it creates a more challenging
setting for Gretchen to navigate through and discover clues in. The world that Gretchen has to
navigate through is not only a city, but it is a corrupt world due to Adolf Hitler and his Nazi
regime.
When it comes down to it, Prisoner of Night and Fog encourages the reader to think
more about the reading, conflicts, and characters than All of a Kind Family and Rivka’s Way
allowed the reader to. All of a Kind Family and Rivka’s Way, neglected to engage the reader in a
way that allowed the reader to think deeply about the material they read. The authors of these
two books have created characters that lack further development and characterization. When you
compare and contrast All of a Kind Family and Rivka’s Way to Prisoner of Night and Fog, it is
easy to see how Anne Blankman’s novel overpowers the other two. She creates and intriguing
story line, along with characters that develop, grow, and gather strength and agency throughout
the story. Because of these elements, Anne Blankman has been able to achieve a novel that leans
over towards the productive side of the spectrum, and is nowhere near a Typical Case Prototype
book. Also, the fact that Blankman was able to create a mystery while still writing about another
culture proves that her novels are a more productive form of Jewish literature. For authors who
write about other cultures, it is crucial for them to create productive and Non-Typical Case
Prototype literature for children to have access to read. The way authors depict other cultures is
crucial to creating productive literature featuring the diversity of other cultures. When the three
books discussed are compared, it is clear to see how Prisoner of Night and Fog advances in
productive Children’s literature featuring Jewish characters, and also providing an underlying
mystery within her novel.
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Work Cited
Blankman, Anne. "Prisoner of Night and Fog (Prisoner of Night and Fog, #1)." N.p., n.d. Web.
21 Oct. 2015.
Kanefield, Teri. "Rivka's Way." N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.
Taylor, Sydney. All-of-a-kind Family. Chicago: Wilcox and Follett, 1951. Print.