Briar Rose by Jane Yolen

883 Words2 Pages

The book Briar Rose follows closely with the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty. Becca Berlin’s grandmother, Gemma, was being held in a secret concentration camp called Chelmno. She was put in the gas chamber and she was rendered unconscious rather than dead. She was dumped in a ditch with dead bodies. Josef Potocki and his band of rebels where tampering with the railroads leading to and from the camp. The group finds Gemma in the ditch and the doctor of the group, Avenger, revives her with CPR. Gemma and Avenger fall in love and are soon married. In the fairy tale, Sleeping Beauty is revived with a kiss. Then the princess, of course, marries the prince and lives happily ever after. The band calls Gemma ksieznicka, which means princess in Poland. Gemma’s story does not end happily. The band of rebels are ambushed by the Nazi and all of them were murdered except Josef and Gemma. The fairy tale is used as a metaphor in the story. Gemma used the tale as a less frightening way of telling the children of her past. Little did Becca and her family know, they knew Gemma’s story of her meeting her prince and her near death experience. Hitler is maleficent in the Disney version of the story and the evil fairy in the other version. Gemma’s unconsciousness is the deep sleep. The life-saving CPR by Avenger was the spell breaking kiss from the prince. Gemma picked a very creative way to tell her story by hiding her story with Sleeping Beauty. Gemma represents Woolger and Woolger’s Demeter. After her husband is murdered, Gemma and her unborn child escaped to America and she is always spending time with her grandchildren. She is caring and loves the children. Gemma provided for her daughter alone. She provided a safe and orderly home for them. She ... ... middle of paper ... ...when in Poland. Sleeping Beauty has the help of three good fairies. The next stage is crossing the threshold. Becca crosses the threshold when she travels to Poland. Sleeping Beauty crosses the threshold when she goes back to live in the castle with her parents. The next stage is test. Becca’s test is her search in different data bases and resources. The prince is the one in the story who gets tested. He must kill the dragon to save the princess. The sixth stage is helpers once again. The seventh stage is the final fight or the climax. The climax in Becca’s life is when Josef Potocki tells her the story of Gemma. The climax in Sleeping Beauty is when the prince finds and saves the princess. The next step is Flight. This step in the book is when Becca travels home to America. The next step is return. Becca returns her parent’s home and tells them Gemma’s story.

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Briar Rose by Jane Yolen

Beauty by Robin McKinley