The Shawl

Ozick published “The Shawl” three years before her follow-up novella “Rosa,” so the short story can function as a standalone piece. While the two works share the same characters, imagery, and story arc, they differ widely in approach. In particular, “The Shawl” is less concerned with fully fleshing out its characters or exploring their individual psychology, instead focusing primarily on themes and symbolism. This focus is evident even in Ozick’s writing style; although Ozick draws heavily on figurative language throughout The Shawl, the short story also uses literary devices such as repetition (e.g., “They were in a place without pity, all pity was annihilated in Rosa, she looked at Stella’s bones without pity” (5)) in a way that’s reminiscent of a poem or parable.

This is nowhere clearer than in the passages involving the shawl itself. The shawl is clearly a real object, and it often serves a distinct, tangible purpose—e.g., swaddling Magda. At the same time, however, it has figurative significance as (among other things) a symbol of maternal care and nourishment: It keeps Magda warm and serves as a pacifier for her after Rosa is no longer able to breastfeed. This symbolism has practical consequences in the world of the story itself: Ozick describes it as a “magic shawl” because sucking on it does somehow manage to “feed” Magda and keep her alive (5).

At least initially, then, the existence of the shawl adds a fairy-tale element to a story that’s otherwise concerned with real and horrific historical events. In this sense, the shawl is associated not only with themes of motherhood and survival, but also with that of the imagination. Unlike Stella, who is able to think of nothing but her cold, hunger, and fear, Rosa and Magda are at first spared some of the brutality of their circumstances by virtue of their ability to imagine a different reality: Magda feeds on the shawl, and Rosa “learn[s] from Magda how to drink the taste of a finger in one’s mouth” (5). Stella’s theft of the shawl can therefore be read as reality reasserting itself. By taking the shawl, Stella not only deprives Magda of a source of nourishment and protection, but also, figuratively speaking, robs her of the ability to imaginatively escape the harsh reality of her life, which results in her death.

Stella’s actions are also a warning about the possible consequences of survival. Although Rosa’s suspicion of Stella turns out to be justified, Stella is basically a pitiable character. Unlike Rosa and Magda, she has no one to care for and no one to care for her, and thus has no emotional refuge from her physical suffering. Without this, her only goal becomes her own survival, but that survival comes at a cost: by stealing Magda’s shawl, Stella not only plays a role in the child’s death, but also distorts her own humanity. Ozick uses the motif of coldness to describe how the harshness of existence in the camp eventually makes Stella harsh as well, explaining that she was “always cold, always” (6) from the moment she takes the shawl. “The Shawl” hints that some kinds of physical survival can actually be counterproductive, or even a figurative form of death. This is an idea that is central to the novella that follows, with both Rosa and Stella surviving the Holocaust but struggling (in different ways and for different reasons) to live fulfilling lives afterwards.