Thematic Ideas In Jane Yolen's Briar Rose By Jane Yolen

Register to read the introduction… Another striking factor embedded within the novel which contributes to the memorability of the novel is its fascinating language. A fairytale should be happy however, Yolen uses it as an allegory for the Holocaust. According to tradition, a fairytale by nature is didactic or moralistic; 'Briar Rise' does so on both an internal and external level. It teaches children that good will triumph over evil. There is much use of the traditional and original fairytale terms throughout the novel for example “Once upon a time which is all times and no time but not the very best of times, there was a castle” through this the reader is able to remember the original fairytales told to them in their childhood and therefore can relate to Becca and her sisters (Sylvia and Shana)when they eagerly listen to their grandmother in chapter 2. 'tell us seepin boot'. Jane Yolen also utilises certain techniques which make the novel more engaging thus fulfilling its purpose. Briar Rose is a narrative by definition, however' throughout the novel one may see another story interpretation other than the one being explicitly told. “I mean it's not that I believe it. It's just like the story is like a metaphor”

Briar Rose is an allegory for the Holocaust experience i.e. Gemma's story acts as an effective vehicle for the telling of the entire narrative strand (real life). The harsh details of her survival are hidden in the magical fairytale, which softens the impact of reality for the reader. This for instance is seen through the segmentation of the novel into 3 parts 'home', 'castle' and 'home again' where the audience feels safe and warm in the 'home' which speaks of family love e.t.c and then are shocked by the raw actuality seen in …show more content…
Jane Yolen, however makes assumptions that all the audience have lived a peaceful life away from war, as she has to tell this tale in a way that you decipher what has happened. She assumed that you as the reader know about WW2 as a distance from textbooks and classes. Yolen assumes audience is emotionally distant from war, that they are intelligent and mature enough that when we are 'Home again' all the things that she tells us through allegory are not lost, she makes the assumption that the audience are educated and empathetic enough that she is making a pun on the term 'happily ever after' There is no such thing as happily ever after but Yolen is saying that in order to be happier in the future we must take all the learnings emotional and historical from the horrors of the past to make a smarter and kinder humans in the future. These alongside the way in which Yolen represents ideas throughout the story line are the factor that make 'Briar Rose' a memorable