A child without childhood

By -

I think almost everyone can agree that stories keep us all going. Zlata's story kept me going. I'm pretty sure this is the fastest I have ever read a book (not counting la linea lol). I enjoyed learning something new on each page, whether it was about her home life, the war, or just Zlata's thoughts. I would recommend this book to 8th graders and up and mostly because of some of the goriness that was witnessed. Zlata's story can also be seen as an adventure, or at least I think it could be. 

Zlata had somewhat of an idea about the war which is what I think made the book even more interesting. Zlata knew so little about the reasons the things around her were happenning but she still had so much to say about it.  Zlata realized that the people causing the war were not representing the people but representing themselves and their ambitions to take over larger areas. She believed that they were perfectly capable of bringing about peace but choosing not to. She also did not understand why they wanted to divide everyone. She noted that most people get along quite nicely despite ethnic or religious backgrounds that were different. They did not dislike or cause problems until their politicians told them that they should. Zlata believed that the politicians were far from trying to create a better country or region. She believes they were doing the opposite. They were destroying the country; there would not be anything left over if the war went on. Zlata viewed politicians as people who made empty promises, and in the case of the leaders of the conflict, it would not be easy to argue.

Zlata's life was devastated as the war effectively ended her childhood. Although growing up and becoming interested in the usual teen things, Zlata was still aware that she was a child. For someone who had never seen war before, I felt that Zlata was mostly very non shalant about things when they happened. She had a sense of calmness in her diary and I loved it. I also loved that she did not seem to rush through her childhood to become an adult. She took pleasure in being with her friends and activities in the park and family vacations. It appeared that she enjoyed the small things. All of the small but important things in Zlata's life, that we all sometimes take for granted, stopped once the war started. Zlata's childhood was put on pause, and the memory of it was practically ruined. Zlata felt as though it had never really happened. Her childhood park was ruined, and her favorite trees were uprooted and dead. One of Zlata's friends was killed during a bombing raid on the playground, taking away her happy associations, leaving the feeling of sadness and loss. Zlata's summer home was destroyed, and the memories of times spent there were somewhat numbed by its destruction. Zlata was forced to take on a different role in the family. Zlata previously depended on her parents for reassurance that everything would be alright; they then had to depend on her and needed her to be strong for them. The roles were reversed, and this affected Zlata immensely.

Comments

  1. Olivia BennettNovember 11, 2020 at 8:18 PM

    Hey Kels,
    I thought your blog post was very insightful. Prior to reading this book the only books regarding war that I had read were "Night" and "The Diary of Anne Frank." It was really interesting to read a novel on a war I had no clue about. I thought hearing the realities of war through the eyes of an innocent child was helpful to gain an idea of what war is really like. Especially, because children often time do not see things the same way adults do. I like that you pointed out Zlata does not know all the ends and outs of what is going on in the world but she realizes that things are not right. Zlata realizes that "the kids" are selfish people who only have their best interest at heart and do not care about the innocent lives caught in the middle.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Aniya HallNovember 12, 2020 at 8:55 PM

    I really love your post, I can tell by your blog Zlata's Diary had a really impact on you. I can agree with you about getting invested in the book. I found myself wanting to keep reading her diary entries just to see what would happen. I loved that Zlata used her diary as a escape and coping mechanism. I agree that she did have a calmness in her zone when talking to Mimmy. I think writing in Mimmy made her calmer. I can't imagine what it must've felt like living in a war zone.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Growing Pains - The Symbolism of the Tree in Speak

By -
I have felt the paralyzing pain of internal disease. The kind of trauma that causes your mouth to curl in and swallow you whole. I, like so many other women, are walking the halls in Melinda’s shoes in “Speak.” I thought Laurie Anderson did a phenomenal job of twisting all of the tribulations a high school girl goes through, into the tree that Melinda is. Whether we’re as strong as an oak or weak as a bush, we have all gone through the disease that strikes Melinda from the inside out. Melinda is like a half-dead tree. Some parts of her strive to blossom and create beauty. Other parts are broken and diseased. Like a dead tree, Melinda needs to save herself and “cut off the damage, [so it] is possible for the tree to grow again” (187). The symbolism of a tree is significant in “Speak.” Trees reflect her growing process. In the beginning, Melinda is a sick and lifeless tree. Her view is negative and dark. She’s so far past repair, bursts of sunlight do her no good. Sunlight would be pe
Read more

How Starr Goes from Acting to Embracing in The Hate U Give

By -
In The Hate U Give, Starr Carter is caught between two worlds. She lives in a predominantly black neighborhood, but her father sends her and her brothers to a private school where she is surrounded by white people. She talks about acting differently depending on what group she is around, which can create some identity problems. She says on page 11, "Funny how it works with white kids though. It's dope to be black until it's hard to be black." When at Williamson, she sees white kids that think it's cool to engage in black culture, but she knows they don't understand what she goes through in her Garden Heights community. She witnessed her friend Natasha's death when she was 10 years old, and she sees gang activity in her community all the time. When she is among her black friends, like at the party, they tease her for hanging out with the white kids. This reminds me of a Drake song where he says, "I used to get teased for being black, and now I'm
Read more

Postmodernism in Curious Incident

By -
Before I start writing, I first want to acknowledge that I just really loved this book! It seemed like a lot of the class had trouble enjoying or appreciating the novel because it's so different stylistically, which is understandable, but all of those unique elements helped make the novel more authentic. The main topic I want to focus on (also what I'm writing my paper on) is how a lot of postmodernist elements were used in the novel to make Christopher come to life. While obviously not every postmodern novel is about an autistic kid, I think Haddon really used a lot of these elements to his advantage and they ended up working out really well to characterize Christopher. One of the major postmodern elements which helps this book really craft an authentic portrayal of autism is the fact that it's metafictive. Basically, this means it's a "story within a story." Readers would be extremely limited just reading the parts of the novel which are meant to be C
Read more