Senior Portfolio: Literary Analysis
By: Jonathan Young
(Photo by Majkl Velner on Unsplash)
In Tatiana De Rosnay’s novel, Sarah’s Key, the reader learns about France’s military and police force partaking in similar actions to the Nazi regime. As the story goes back and forth between Sarah’s story and Julia’s research into Sarah’s life, the reader discovers the silence within France. Silence is used as a theme throughout the novel to indicate Sarah’s inability to move on from her past and France’s inability to face the fact that they committed atrocities, similar to the Nazis, during World War II. From a psychological perspective, the novel dives into the mind of a Holocaust survivor and examines the lasting effects it has on her life. Michaela Wolf says, “The first is performed primarily through dual nationality, and this helps Julia to translate herself into the historical events, gradually permeating Sarah’s figure” (70). Julia’s experiences and dual citizenship are two ways in which she can relate to other people, like Sarah’s Polish ancestry but French nationality. Sarah’s life and personality can be compared to a combination of Julia’s and Zoe’s life in two ways and contrasted in another: Zoe’s confidence and maturity at a young age, Julia’s depression and loss of touch with reality, and contrasted through Sarah’s inability to open up to those around her.
Julia says, “I thought of Sarah Starzynski, who had been Zoe’s age when horror came into my life” (Rosnay 173). Rosnay, through Julia’s narration, includes the comparison between Zoe and Sarah in the novel. In the first couple chapters focused on Sarah, she appears afraid and often hides behind her parents. Quickly though, Sarah finds her own form of confidence and begins to think on her own and worry about herself. When her father, Wladyshaw, is separated from Sarah and her mother, Rywka, Sarah notices her mother has lost her spirit and allows the fear of death to take over her, which leaves Sarah to fight for herself. When Rachel asks Sarah to escape with her, Sarah does not think twice because she understands the little chance anyone has to survive in the concentration camp. The two are in the midst of their escape when a guard catches them. Sarah recognizes the guard as a policeman from her neighborhood and knows he does not want to hurt them, so she convinces him to allow both her and Rachel to escape and he gives them a wad of cash. Zoe is the young child of Bertrand and Julia, but her appearance is more of a friend and advice giver to Julia, who keeps her sane. Throughout the novel, Zoe is the one constant in Julia’s life, and never complains about her mother’s work or research. When imploring about her mother’s sadness, Zoe says, “I don’t want to be hurt. You’re right, don’t tell me. I won’t sleep if I know. But promise me you’ll be all right soon” (Rosnay 172). Zoe shows a great sign of maturity for an eleven-year-old. Sarah and Zoe both learn to embrace their confidence at a young age, which leads to both of the characters being mature children. Due to Sarah being separated from her family and Zoe’s parents separating, their maturity is necessary for their distinct situations, but the reader hopes Zoe can maintain her confidence and openness into her adulthood after learning of Sarah’s death.
Signs of Julia’s loss of touch with reality and depression appear often throughout the novel. The novel focuses on Julia’s familial issues, which start with her husband’s lack of attention to Julia and ends with their divorce. Many signs throughout the novel indicate that their marriage could have turned in the right direction. Julia, originally disliked and was distant with her in-laws, the Tezac’s, but she grows closer to them through her research into Sarah, especially her father-in-law, Edouard. Julia finds out she is pregnant, which elates her and hopes Bertrand will be excited, too. However, the combination of Bertrand’s affair and his desire for Julia to have an abortion, lead to their separation. Julia never has much time to celebrate in her life because her relationship with Bertrand is broken. Julia relates to Sarah’s story in many ways, like her abortion being planned for the same day as the Vel’ d’Hiv’ roundup, July 16th. Sue Vice writes, “Julia seems at times to be aware of the uncanny overlap between her own life and the wartime events about which she learns” (62). Sarah learns to suppress her experiences from the Holocaust, like losing her brother, Michel, but she never gets over them. Sarah marries a man and has a child, William, but she maintains secrecy about her childhood, not even being able to talk to her closest family members. Sarah’s silence and inability to open up to anybody about her life leads to her suicide. There is no reason to compare tragedies between two people, but the two women have lived through horrible times and are effected by depression. Rosnay does not shy away from including suicide and depression into her novel because they heavily link with silence. Andrew Sobanet writes, “Julia seeks to save Sarah's memory not just through her naming of her daughter, but also by doggedly hunting down Sarah's son” (138). The journey Julia partakes in is one of the ways she copes with her grief. The hope in Julia’s life comes from her ability to communicate with her family, her research of Sarah, and the knowledge of avoiding past mistakes.
Sarah is never able to open up to those close to her about her past, which is the probable cause of her depression and death. Many survivors of war suffer from PTSD, and there is no way a person, who does not share the same experiences, understands what Sarah went through. However, there is a lesson in this story that silence can be deadly, so Sarah opening up to those around her, even if the people cannot relate, could have allowed her to outwardly feel those emotions. Julia suffers through a lot of familial problems, but has a support system to turn to in times of need, even if she does not open up right away. Zoe’s presence in Julia’s life as a best friend, daughter, and listener provide Julia with a person Sarah may have never had. The reader learns Sarah never opened up to her family, when Julia visits Sarah’s son, William. Vice states, “Julia locates Sarah’s son, William Rainsferd, who has been ignorant of his mother’s past” (49). Julia’s close relationship with her sister, Charla, allows her to talk when she is in trouble. The story Julia was assigned about the Vel’ d’Hiv’ allows her to talk to people from her husband’s family and those in Sarah’s extended family. Julia is constantly talking, learning, and devoting time in other people, which allows her mind to focus on subjects she is invested in, and not think about the tragedies in her life. It is foolish for the character to think one of these women is stronger than the other, but the women’s stories teach an important lesson of how to deal with tragedy and the importance of opening up to people who care, which can create joy in the worst circumstances.
Sarah’s Key converges two storylines with decades in between, while showing common themes throughout Sarah and Julia’s life. Julia and her daughter, Zoe, can be compared to Sarah in many ways, such as Zoe’s confidence and maturity as a young girl and Julia’s battle with depression throughout the novel. The characters can be contrasted, as well, due to Sarah’s inability to open up about her past, while Julia communicates her struggles with her loved ones. Julia learns from Sarah and develops a close relationship with her, even though she passed away thirty years prior to Julia hearing her name. Julia says, “Sarah. She never left me… I felt as if I knew her” (Rosnay 278). While the theme of silence is important for both storylines, the lesson of overcoming one’s past and outwardly express emotions in some capacity shine through Rosnay’s novel.
Works Cited
Rosnay, Tatiana de. Sarah's Key. Manitoba Education and Advanced Learning, Alternate Formats Library, 2016.
Sobanet, Andrew. “Elle S'appelait Sarah and the Limits of Postwar Witnessing and Memory.” Journal of War and Culture Studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2013, pp. 127–140.
Vice, Sue. “Witnessing Complicity in English and French: Tatiana De Rosnay's Sarah's Key and Elle S'appelait Sarah.” Translating Holocaust Lives, 2017, pp. 49–68.
Wolf, Michaela. “Response To: Witnessing Complicity in English and French: Tatiana De Rosnay's Sarah's Key and Elle S'appelait Sarah.” Translating Holocaust Lives, 2017, pp. 69–73.