The milkweed of the novel’s title symbolizes the resilience of the human soul in the barren environment of the ghetto and the survival of the soul beyond it. One day, Misha and Janina find a milkweed plant growing in an alley, “a spot of green in the ghetto desert.” The plant’s pods crack open, sending white puffs of seed flying out of the rubble and into the sky. Janina loves the puffy seeds and calls one her angel. Much like Misha and his adopted family (Janina and the rest of the Milgroms) keep pressing on in spite of the plight they experience at the hands of the Nazi regime, the milkweed persists in sprouting even amid the barren conditions of the Warsaw ghetto. Spinelli thus uses the image of ethereal, floating milkweed to suggest that the human spirit finds a way to survive and to dream of life beyond—even in a place like the ghetto that’s designed to crush such hopes.
Milkweed Quotes in Milkweed
She stood on tiptoes and held it as high as she could and let it go. It sailed toward the sky.
"That's my angel," she said.
Then they were all around us, milkweed puffs, flying. I picked one from her hair. I pointed. "Look." A milkweed plant was growing by a heap of rubble.
It was thrilling just to see a plant, a spot of green in the ghetto desert. The bird-shaped pods had burst and the puffs were spilling out, flying off. I cracked a pod from the stem and blew into the silk-lined hollow, sending the remaining puffs sailing, a snowy shower rising, vanishing into the clouds.
Then I saw her. […] She was a shadow cut loose, held above the other shadows by a pair of Jackboot arms. She was thrashing and screaming above the silent masses. […] And then the arms came forward and she was flying, Janina was flying over the shadow heads and the dogs and soldiers, her arms and legs turning slowly. She seemed so light, so right for the air […] I thought she would sail forever like a milkweed puff on an endless breeze, and I was running and wishing I could fly with her, and then she was gone, swallowed by the black maw of the boxcar[.]
Milkweed Symbol Timeline in Milkweed
