"The Shawl" is a short story by American author Cynthia Ozick, first published in The New Yorker on May 26, 1980. It is a work of historical fiction set during the Holocaust, noted for its ability to convey the horror of the Nazi concentration camps in fewer than 2,000 words. The story was later collected in a 1989 volume titled The Shawl, which also includes a companion novella, "Rosa."
Publication
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Author | Cynthia Ozick |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Historical short story |
| First published in | The New Yorker (1980) |
| Collected in | The Shawl (1989) |
| Publication date | May 26, 1980 |
Plot Summary
The story follows three characters—Rosa, her infant daughter Magda, and her fourteen-year-old niece Stella—as they are marched to a Nazi concentration camp in the middle of winter. The characters are described as weak and starving. Rosa carries Magda constantly against her chest, wrapped in a shawl, and is described as a "walking cradle." Rosa contemplates handing Magda off to villagers watching the march but concludes the guards would likely shoot them both.
Rosa tells Stella that the shawl is "magic" because Magda has survived for three days and three nights without food by sucking on the shawl. Stella observes that Magda looks Aryan, which Rosa perceives as a threat to the baby.
At the camp, Rosa continues to hide Magda in constant fear of discovery. One day, Stella takes Magda's shawl to warm herself. Without the shawl, Magda—who had not made a sound since the march—begins screaming for her mother. Rosa hears the screaming but does not run to Magda, knowing the guards would kill them both. Instead, she retrieves the shawl and waves it, hoping Magda will see it and calm down. She is too late: Nazi guards pick up Magda and throw her into an electric fence, killing her. Rosa stuffs the shawl into her mouth to stop herself from screaming.
Origin
Ozick was inspired to write "The Shawl" by a line in William L. Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, which mentioned a real event in which a baby was thrown into an electric fence at a concentration camp. Ozick was struck by the brutality of the incident and felt compelled to write about it.
Reception and Significance
"The Shawl" was included in The Best American Short Stories, 1981 and won first place in the O. Henry Awards. It is widely studied in literature courses and is considered one of the most powerful short stories about the Holocaust. The story's companion novella, "Rosa," continues the narrative, following Rosa's life decades later in Miami, grappling with trauma and loss.
