The Forest of Vanishing Stars

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-5

Chapters 6-14

Chapters 15-20

Chapters 21-28

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

The Forest

The forests of Eastern Poland and Belorussia represent safety, comfort, and a connection with the divine. Jerusza takes Yona from her home in Berlin to the forest, where she learns how to survive and later teaches those survival skills to Jewish refugees. For Jerusza, the forest holds the secrets of God. It also functions as a nurturing mother who gives the Jewish groups everything they need to survive the war. Both Jerusza and Yona feel at home in the forest and nowhere else. As a space outside of normal social structures, it allows its inhabitants to transcend limiting social roles. For example, Yona knows how to survive there better than anyone else, making her a natural leader for the refugees. This contrasts with society’s strict gender roles, represented in Aleksander’s struggle to let Yona lead as well as Juttner’s insistence that Yona behave like a “proper” German woman. Likewise, the forest as a peaceful, life-giving place juxtaposes with the village’s violence and death. These symbols combine to highlight how war and genocide are humanmade terrors, not natural ones.

The Dove

Along with her differently colored eyes, Yona’s dove-shaped birthmark is unique and distinctive and inspires the name Jerusza gives her. Doves are an important Jewish and Christian symbol that represents peace and hope. In Genesis, Noah sends a dove from the ark after the great flood to see if the waters have receded. The dove returns with an olive leaf, proof that the Earth will be inhabitable once again, even after great suffering. Yona plays a similar role for the groups of Jewish refugees in the forest, providing safety for them and allowing them to hope for a better life even though they have endured unspeakable trauma. The birthmark also connects her to the story’s magical elements; it “hadn’t faded with time, but had grown stronger, darker, a sign that this child was special, that she was fated for something great” (7). Being born with this birthmark reinforces the idea that bringing peace and hope to others is her destiny.

The Menorah

Menorahs appear several times in the book, first in the beginning when Yona sees a family celebrating Hannukah through a window and later when Yona carves a wooden menorah so the refugee group can celebrate in the forest. Menorahs are symbolic in and of themselves, commemorating the story in which King Antiochus IV tried to force Jews to give up their faith and worship the Greek gods. A war ensued, and Jewish rebels eventually took the holy temple in Jerusalem. They needed to light a menorah to rededicate the temple, and even though they only had enough oil to last one night, it ended up lasting eight. These eight nights are represented in the eight nights of Hannukah and the menorah’s candles, and the holiday commemorates persistence and hope in the face of religious persecution and genocidal violence.

As Yona tells Aleksander, “[the menorah] means light in the darkness, the hope of a miracle. Deliverance from death” (147). The circumstances surrounding the Jewish rebels in the Hannukah story parallel the story of the Jewish refugees, who are trying not only to survive but preserve their culture against the Nazi genocide. Yona carves a menorah to provide the light of hope for a group of people who have seen incredible darkness. It connects them to their culture, making it a site of resistance. It also lets Yona be part of the group and tap into her Jewish heritage, even though she doesn’t share the same experiences and memories as the group. In carving the menorah, she carves a space for herself in the group and a space for Judaism in her identity.