Uprising

“I swung around on the bench and began to play, getting louder as Mama scolded me. This was how it often was for us, and always had been.”

These thoughts from Lidia introduce two key components of her character. First, she ignores Mama, choosing instead to play the piano as Mama “scold[s]” her. Second, she acknowledges that things have “always” been that way between them—with Mama telling her what to do and Lidia ignoring her. This shows Lidia’s immaturity, as she intentionally annoys her mother. It also highlights the conflict between the two, as Lidia never feels good enough to be loved by Mama.

“When I was six years old, I spent an entire afternoon sitting beside Ryszard, watching him flatten out balls of clay, then mold them into shapes to create a small house. […] For reasons I couldn’t explain, even today, as soon as his back was turned, I gathered a fist and punched it straight through the roof. […] At the time, I hadn’t fully understood how much that had devastated him. After all, it was only clay. But I did understand now.”

As Lidia and her family drive through Warsaw, she compares the destruction from the German bombing that she sees to destroying Ryszard’s clay house when they were younger. This metaphor conveys the impact that the devastation has on her. Although the two are vastly different—clay houses versus an entire city—it is Lidia’s young mind’s only way of comprehending something so devastating.

“When Mama’s back was turned, I pulled open the drawer containing our sharp knives. I grabbed one, then slid it into my sheet before she could notice. Now I had a weapon. I had everything here that I needed.”

When Lidia returns downstairs after collecting things from their house during the bombing, she finds Mama sobbing over her broken dishware. Lidia’s response—using it as an opportunity to grab a knife for protection—juxtaposes the two characters: While Mama is devastated by something superficial with no use in the war, Lidia, even at her young age, understands better what is to come with the German occupation. Her impulse to grab “a weapon” introduces her Personal Growth in Extreme Hardship.

“‘You have a family,’ Mama had said. ‘Let the younger men go to fight. We need you here!’ ‘It’s because I have a family that I must defend Poland.’”

As Lidia hears her parents fighting over Papa joining the war, Papa says something that Mama does not yet grasp: Just because the war does not affect them now, that does not mean it does not have to be stopped. Papa’s thoughts support the theme of Self-Sacrifice and Resilience Against Genocidal Violence. Even if Papa is not a member of the Jewish community and he has wealth and status in Warsaw, he still finds it necessary to sacrifice himself for the war effort to stop the Nazis before it is too late.

“The goal of the Nazis will be to choke Poland out of existence. But they won’t do it all at once. They take steps, one at a time, always moving toward their plan of destroying this country.”

Bubbe’s warning shows the flaw in Mama’s logic as she tries to remain out of the Polish resistance. This quote uses the metaphor of choking Poland out of existence to depict the gradual, suffocating nature of the Nazis’ destructive intentions to eliminate Jewish citizens and take over Poland. The phrase “won’t do it all at once” highlights the methodical approach of their strategy and emphasizes the insidious violence they have planned. The phrase “steps, one at a time” further depicts the incremental and calculated nature of their actions.

“Yet deep inside, something warned me to be careful about speaking my thoughts out loud. I was already educated, far better than most students my age. Did that mean one day I would disappear too?”

As Lidia leaves the library, which has now been marked with “Jundenfrei”—a Nazi term that means “Jew Free” and was used to describe an area where they had forcibly removed all Jews— she thinks of the dangers that her intelligence could hold for her. The rhetorical question “Did that mean one day I would disappear too?” acknowledges how the Nazis restricted access to education due to the power of knowledge and targeted those who opposed their ideology. These thoughts also convey Lidia’s maturity and the beginnings of her change as a character; she is learning to be more careful about speaking her thoughts openly because she understands the dangers that outspokenness poses under Nazi occupation.

“‘Your father said that if I had the chance to give you any message, it was to know that your mother really does love you.’ Maybe she did, in her own way. And maybe I loved her back, in my own way. But things would never be right between us.”

When Mr. Katz delivers a message from Papa, he tells Lidia that the most important thing he wanted to say was that Mama loves her. However, Lidia is still adamant that this cannot be true. This shows the deep-seated discord between Mama and Lidia, as they love each other in their “own way” but with tension. Despite Lidia’s insistence that “things w[ill] never be right” with them, Lidia changes throughout the novel. Ultimately, she learns to love Mama, and they repair their relationship.

“Doda put an arm around me and hugged me close, then stepped back long enough to say, ‘This is only another place with four walls. Whenever we are with those we love, we are home.’ I forced myself to smile as I stared back at her. ‘Then I am home.’”

When Lidia moves into Doda’s small apartment, she is devasted that she lost her home, piano, and a larger residence. Doda and Bubbe comfort her, insisting that she is with her family and, therefore, “home.” This quote contributes to the motif of home and supports The Importance of Family, Friendship, and Community. Nevertheless, Lidia’s forced smile emphasizes the inherent difficulty that she and her family experience living under Nazi occupation.

“The soldier raised his rifle and shot the Pole, right there in the street. Then he turned to the Jew, who dropped what I now realized was a slice of bread. The soldier shot him too, then ground the bread into the mud with his boot. I almost couldn’t breathe for what I saw.”

As Lidia attempts to take food and supplies to Doda and Bubbe in the ghetto, she watches a Nazi soldier shoot a Polish man—simply for trying to get a piece of bread to someone—and a Jewish man. The sight shocks Lidia, evidenced by the sentence, “I almost couldn’t breathe for what I saw.” She runs away in fear and second-guesses whether she can help her friends. However, Lidia’s decision to risk her life—even after seeing something so traumatic—shows her strong will and desire to help the people targeted by Nazi rule.

“I slipped the string inside my sweater and stood, waiting for the pounding on our door, or for the Germans to simply break in and arrest me. If that was my fate, I was ready for it. But not really. Yet the sound faded, and never came again that day. But it was hours before I breathed easily once more.”

After Lidia uses a string to send bagels over the wall of the ghetto to a young boy, she becomes overwhelmed with fear, convinced that every sound is German soldiers coming to arrest her. The use of the words “but not really” shows Lidia’s admission that while she continues to resist the Germans’ rules, she is still not fully prepared to sacrifice herself for the cause. Although she experiences relief that “the pounding on [their] door” never comes, she still feels anxiety and fear, evidenced by it being hours before she can breathe easily again.

“‘They’re nothing to you,’ [Officer Schubert] said. ‘This is your last chance to walk away.’

‘I just—’ That was as far as I got before he slapped me across the face, so hard that my head whipped to one side and I nearly fell to the ground.”

Although Lidia is beginning to learn how to help in discrete ways, her interaction with Officer Schubert shows that she is still immature. Instead of walking away after seeing Doda and Bubbe being loaded onto the train, she tries to argue. As a result, Schubert slaps her across the face. Lidia vividly describes the physical sensation of the blow—hard enough to whip her head to the side and cause her to nearly fall. This depicts the violent cruelty of Nazi occupation. Throughout the text, Lidia learns how to know when to show deference to the Nazis to survive and when to fight back.

“I almost couldn’t breathe. If the butcher had taken shoes from someone, then that person had returned to the ghetto without shoes, and in the middle of winter. How could he do that? And how could Madame Kazowska buy the shoes, encouraging him to continue to take more and more?”

When Lidia learns that her piano teacher is buying things off the black market that used to belong to Jewish people, she is shocked that she could do something like that. What she learns is so shocking that it makes her feel like she can’t breathe. This moment of disillusionment confirms for Lidia that many people in Warsaw do not feel the same way that she does. Madam Kazowska holds ideals that stand in direct contrast to Lidia’s beliefs. As her piano teacher, Madam Kazowska represents Lidia’s past life before the Nazi occupation. After this, Lidia abandons her piano lessons, unable to stand being with Madam Kazowska. In doing so, she reaffirms her piano as something from her past that she now must live without to survive.

“If you didn’t admit to fear, then I’d know you don’t understand the risks involved. We’re all afraid, but the deeper you get into the resistance, the more normal your fear becomes. And when it is normal, it no longer matters.”

When Lidia is on her own in her resistance, she is repeatedly angry at herself for letting her fear control her and giving in to it. However, Drill, the first person she meets in the resistance movement, says that he is glad she is afraid. People like Drill redefine the way that they see their life. They help Lidia recognize that bravery is not about having no fear; rather, it is about having the strength to overcome that fear and it becoming “more normal.” With the support from fellow resistance fighters, she will learn to do so. This further develops The Importance of Family, Friendship, and Community.

“In a rare moment, [Mama’s] sharp words didn’t bother me at all. My mother had just done something no one else had done. As far as I knew, what no one else had ever dared to do. Sometimes I had to admit that despite her flaws, my mother was an amazing woman.”

Mama’s actions—going into the Gestapo headquarters and asking them to stop pursuing Ryszard—shock Lidia and make her realize how strong Mama is. Despite their conflict throughout the text, moments like this emphasize Lidia’s lack of understanding of Mama. While Mama largely ignores the resistance around her, she also focuses on keeping her family safe, working her job, and helping in the small ways that she can. Although she does not openly look for ways to join the resistance fight like Lidia and Ryszard, she still opposes Nazi occupation. This is something that Lidia eventually understands, which the author foreshadows here with Lidia’s admission that “despite her flaws, [her] mother [i]s an amazing woman.”

“I had literally meant that every note in a song mattered, but I liked this woman’s way of saying it much better. I liked the idea that I was an instrument for the resistance, and that I had something to offer that nobody else could.”

The metaphor that Gray uses—comparing the way instruments work together in musical composition to the way that people work together in the world—conveys the theme of The Importance of Family, Friendship, and Community. Lidia’s realization that she is an important part of the resistance shows that she has found her place to belong. Instead of recklessly and unsafely fighting back or hiding in fear, she has found the support she needs to play her role in the resistance.

“I had only two choices remaining: to withdraw from the resistance, remove all evidence of my education, and live my life just as the Nazis wanted all Poles to do—as a compliant slave. Or else I had to fight harder than ever, help to shorten this war before the Nazis shortened my life. That was an easy decision.”

After Lidia finds the students and her teacher being led out of the school, she is afraid that she will be turned in and eventually arrested. This scene is parallel to the one earlier in the text when she discovers that the Nazis know that someone is giving food to the ghetto through her apartment roof. In both instances, she is close to being caught and fears that she may be arrested. In the former, she goes into hiding and is ashamed of herself for “giving in” to her fear. Now, with the support of the resistance and even higher stakes, she does not hesitate, choosing to go see Drill instead of hiding. Lidia’s clear depiction of two divergent paths—withdrawing from the resistance and becoming “a compliant slave” to the Nazis or fighting “harder than ever” to “help shorten the war before the Nazis shorten[] [her] life”—emphasizes the stakes of her decision.

“That’s your problem, Lidia. You think you already know everything and can do everything and understand everything, but you don’t. You’re still alive only by sheer luck. Ribbon wasn’t arrested because she was stupider than you. She gave you the chance to live, so the question is, what will you do with it?”

Although Lidia has grown and changed as a resistance fighter, Ryszard’s words as she tries to go to Ribbon’s execution reaffirm that she still has a lot to learn. The quote uses harsh diction with phrases such as “stupider,” “your problem,” and “sheer luck” to emphasize Ryszard’s critique that Lidia is naïve and overconfident. The statement “You think you already know everything and can do everything” challenges Lidia’s arrogance. The rhetorical question “[W]hat will you do with it?” functions as a challenge, placing the impetus on Lidia to act accordingly after Ribbon gives her the chance to live.

“I stood, hoping to get [Mama] to look at me. ‘If I wear this tomorrow, it will be like walking into a fight with a huge bull’s-eye painted on me. Is that what you want?’

‘Of course not, but if you insist on fighting, then I will insist that you think of someone other than yourself. We will not bother the neighbors.’”

Before the Warsaw Uprising begins, Lidia tries one more time to get Mama to understand their need to fight. However, their conversation devolves into an argument over Lidia wanting a different dress. Lidia’s simile that wearing the dress will be like “a huge bull’s-eye” painted on her emphasizes the danger of the situation, as the image of the target depicts impending harm. Mama’s response, that Lidia should “think of someone other than [he]rself,” is ironic, as it ignores the fact that Lidia is fighting in an uprising to save people’s lives. Mama’s detachment from the uprising causes Lidia to give up on repairing their relationship before the uprising and leave.

“Nearly every block held some kind of memory. The concert hall where I had played the piano before an audience of hundreds; past that was one of Papa’s favorite restaurants. I saw the park where Ryszard and I used to chase each other when we were younger, back when we had nothing serious on our minds, because life itself was not serious.”

As Lidia walks through her old neighborhood while delivering a message for the resistance, she thinks about the way her life used to be. This moment emphasizes Lidia’s growth and maturity. Listing specific places like the concert hall, Papa’s favorite restaurant, and the park anchors memories to physical locations and contrasts the carefree nature of the past with the weight of the present. The phrase “back when we had nothing serious on our minds, because life was not serious” reflects Lidia’s understanding of her life that has shifted from innocence to the gravity of living amid war. Although the listed places are still an important part of her memories, she now realizes that her country’s freedom and resisting Nazi occupation matter more than any of these locations.

“You order others into dangerous situations that you won’t take on yourself. If you want to be our leader, then lead us. We’ll follow. But order us, and our team will fall apart.”

Lidia’s words to Arrow contribute to the theme of Self-Sacrifice and Resilience Against Genocidal Violence. As their leader, Lidia is bothered by the fact that Arrow never actually sacrifices his own life; instead, he sends others in to do the work for him. She emphasizes the risk of him continuing to lead in this way, evidenced by the phrase “our team will fall apart.” She underscores that he should be prepared to sacrifice everything to resist Nazi rule.

“The Goliath bumped against the brick wall, then bumped again as it attempted to continue rolling forward. On the third bump, the tank exploded. It rattled our building and destroyed the other brick walls Engineer had left in the street, but the high school stood intact. A cheer rose up throughout the building. We had defeated the Goliaths!”

The name of the German tanks—“Goliath”—is an allusion to the biblical story of David and Goliath. Goliath is a giant and warrior in the Philistine army who challenges the Israelites to send forth a champion to fight him. David, a small shepherd boy, confronts him with a slingshot and manages to defeat him. Engineer’s solution to defeating the Goliaths is simple: small stone walls that stop it in its tracks. This idea parallels the biblical story of someone small defeating someone so large and powerful with a simple stone. In this comparison, the resistance fighters are David, and the Nazis are Goliath.

“Once the note is played, it cannot be taken back. But I couldn’t stop there, playing the same note over and over again, trying to make it right. Then it’s no longer music. It’s just noise. I kept playing and by the end of the song, they all applauded. Not because I had played perfectly, but because I played to the end.”

In this quote, Lidia tries to console Drill, who grieves the loss of Halama due to his mistake. She brings up her experience performing piano and uses it as a metaphor to explain making mistakes in life. Like playing music, she says that the best course is to simply move past a mistake, continue with the song, and make something beautiful rather than fixate on the wrong note, attempt the same note repeatedly, and ruin the performance. Using this comparison, she emphasizes that Drill must accept his mistake and move on from it rather than fixating on it.

“But as much as I looked around, there was nothing of mine that I wanted to take. Most of it would be useless in our fight, so it wasn’t worth the risk to carry it back to the high school. […] I left my room and, with each step, left more of my life behind.”

The final time that Lidia returns to her old apartment to collect things for the war effort, she realizes how empty everything here is for her. This idea refers to Doda’s point earlier in the text about a “home” being the place you are with those you love. For Lidia, she has found The Importance of Family, Friendship, and Community through the resistance movement. Now, she views things only in terms of how valuable they are to help their fight. As a result, her old belongings are “useless.” Lidia comparing every step to leaving more of her “life behind” emphasizes how distant she feels from her pre-war past.