The Cage

“My daughter, Nancy, is playing in the grass, the new green grass, sprouting again from the earth that was cold and frozen all winter. New life is growing all around me, reaching toward the sun.”

The idea of new growth is central to Sender’s narrative, because it suggests the promise of good arising from negative experiences. As Riva looks at her daughter playing in thespringtime, she sets the tone of hope that she will carry through the text, using metaphorical descriptions of nature to describe emotional processes and transitions.

“I have the job of cleaning our windows for the holidays, and I see Mrs. Gruber standing under the tree, proud and stately, just like that old oak tree. I see the tree covered with big, green leaves, spreading out its branches like a beautiful umbrella even now, when it is first beginning to sprout.”

Riva first describes Mrs. Gruber’s oak tree as a haven for her community. In this first description, she also connects Mrs. Gruber to the tree, noticing the pride that they both share. The interconnectedness of humans and nature, Jews and non-Jews, in these early chapters creates a community that is historical and “stately,” able to protect its own from the harsh sun and renew itself year after year.

“Mrs. Gruber, you took our homes, you took our belongings, you took our pride […] Take the tree. The dead tree will help us remember what you became.”

When the oak tree comes down, it represents the loss of the community for Jews in Lodz. In Riva’s mother’s eyes, “the dead tree” is a symbol of the connections that brought people together before the rise of Nazism. Because Mrs. Gruber threatens to cut it down, Riva’s mother blames her for this loss, and she curses Mrs. Gruber with blame for the destruction that results from her actions.