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Other children suddenly start calling Cecilia, "Jude" as she walks on the sidewalk. Cecilia, currently 8, is confused on why people are hating on Jewish people all of a sudden.
Negative Character Development: This is the starting point of Cecilia's journey. This is when she starts doubting the future and begins to turn from the bliss and optimistic girl, to a constantly anxious girl who doubts the future. Although, she thinks of this as a passing phase.
Relevance to Theme:This connects to the theme as even though her life has suddenly changed, she still has hope that things will be back to normal as she thinks of it as a "passing phase". -
Cecilia's father was taken by a German officer to a concentration camp and then to jail. Then an officer came into Cecilia's house with a box of ashes to reveal that her father died but Cecilia doesn't believe those ashes are really her dad's.
Turning Point: This is a point where Cecilia finds how bad people can be. Her life is about to change forever and she encounters her first loss.
Relevance to Theme: This connects to the theme as even though all signs point to her dad's death, she still has hope and believes that her dad is still alive somewhere and those ashes don't really belong to her dad. -
Cecilia loses Karin at the concentration camp. A truck comes by and Karin was put on it and she was driven away never to be found.
Negative Character Development: At this time, her mom and dad have both died and she encounters another loss. This gives her a feeling of guilt, something she's never experienced before. She promised to her mom that she would take care of Karin but she failed to do that. Although she still thinks that Karin is alive somewhere and one day she would find her.
Relevance to Theme: This connects to the theme as even though Karin was taken away, Cecilia still believes that Karin is alive. -
Cecilia and the rest of the people who survived at the camps are liberated.
Negative Character Development: Cecilia thought that this day would be a big party, but she was wrong. What the Germans have done could never be forgotten and those affected by it will always be scarred mentally. Although, she thinks that since the war is now over, everything would soon go back to normal.
Relevance to Theme: Even though it seems like things will never be the same even though the war has ended, Cecilia believes that everything will return to how they were after a while. -
THEME: Everything will always change but that doesn't mean your hope should change too.
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Cecilia escapes her home country and goes to the United States where she gets married.
Turning Point: On the train, there was a couple who slept next to Cecilia and they said their son went to New York and if Cecilia ever met him, she should tell him where his parents are. Cecilia finds their son and marries him. She finally feels like she's not alone and things will get better.
Relevance to the Theme: This connects to the theme because Cecilia has hope for the future as she met her true love now. She thinks they can get through anything together.
