Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Milkweed, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Identity and Relationships
War, Dehumanization, and Innocence
Ingenuity, Resilience, and Survival
Family
Summary
Analysis
Summer in the ghetto is filled with huge flies and squawking, carnivorous crows that land on human corpses. Every morning, there are bodies of people who’ve died from sickness or hunger for the wagon to pick up. Misha does everything he can to keep the Milgroms and Doctor Korczak’s orphans from going hungry. Because of his speed, small size, and skill at theft, he is perfectly suited to this task.
After years of not really fitting in anywhere, Misha is finally discovering a sense of purpose, further shoring up his sense of identity. The very characteristics that people have mocked about Misha prove to be assets in the world of the ghetto—they not only enable him to survive, but to support others’ survival.
Themes
Janina follows Misha every night when he goes out smuggling, though Misha tries to ignore her. They raid many fancy Warsaw houses. They’re so comfortable in one house that they turn the kitchen light on, and they eat cookies and milk with the little boy who lives there—but they never return to that particular house.
Misha continues to tolerate Janina’s tagging along when he goes out smuggling. Some of their strategies require flexibility—for instance, knowing when to avoid a house where their presence will likely become known to the owners.
Themes
One night, Misha and Janina return while a lineup is in progress. Up until this point, Mr. Milgrom didn’t know Janina snuck out at night; he squeezes Janina’s ear as she sneaks into line. A soldier is yelling through a bullhorn, warning that smugglers will be hung if they’re caught. Later, Misha tries to convince Janina to stop smuggling, but she starts yelling, “Misha smuggles!” until he relents.
The Nazi authorities are well aware of the smuggling taking place outside the ghetto. Now that Misha is responsible for somebody else’s safety (much as Uri used to be for his), he’s much more aware of the risks involved, while Janina remains frustratingly innocent.
Themes
