GirouxNonFiction

AmandaGiroux

Amanda Giroux Laurencot Non-Fiction Essay The nonfiction book that I read was __A Women in Amber__, by Agate Nesaul. The main idea behind this book is to have hope, no matter what is happening in the world or close to home. Agate was 6 or so years old when World War II hit her home in Latvia. Her and her family had to leave their home in an attempt to remain alive. If they had stayed at their house then they would have been killed or captured and sent to Siberian labor camps by the incoming troupes of soldiers from Germany and Russia. They were eventually captured by a group of Mongolian men from the Russian army. As a result of their cruelty, Agate witnessed many things that a young girl, or anyone for that matter, should ever have to witness or go through themselves. In the barracks where the women were being held, there was a partition that the women were dragged behind where they were beaten and rapped. Mothers and young girls were spared, but the others weren’t that lucky. There was also a permanent scarcity of food, forcing Agate and her family to beg for their food. Most of the time the bowls in which they collected small scraps of food in remained empty. To Agate, this was more embarrassing then actually having to beg; knowing that she was not even worth being fed. “’I…I am so ashamed. It made me feel completely worthless to know I wasn’t even worth feeding. I’m ashamed of all the rest of it too.’ ‘What courage it must have taken to survive. You must have been a brave little girl,’” (pg. 27). At times, Agate thought there was nothing in the world left for her to live for, but she didn’t give up. Even after she saw countless people die of illnesses, starvation, the cold, being shot, and just giving up she eventually made her way to America. She went to school where she taught herself to read and write English from an old copy of __Gone with the Wind__ and a dictionary. “The summer is over. Miracle of miracles, I can read English. Thought I still have to look up many words, the sentences almost always yield their meanings when I do. I am please when one of the adults asks me to translate something on a job application, a box of cereal, a newspaper,” (pg. 151). She went to college and is now a very successful woman. “I finished course after course, won scholarships, graduated with highest honors, went on to receive a Phi Beta Kappa key, a fellowship and my M.A. from Indiana University as well. While teaching mostly full time, I completed my Ph.D. in twentieth –century English and American literature at the University of Wisconsin in Madison,” (pg. 212). Agate never gave up hope even though she had a horrendous past; she doesn’t let it control her future. She doesn’t forget anything about what happened to her either. Even though it is her past, it shapes her life now and her future.

This book relates to history by showing our generation what it is like to live through a war much like WWII. We live in ignorant bliss. We don’t know what it is like to go hungry and not being able to find food every day or to be cold with nothing to cover your bodies but ancient haggard pieces of cloth. This book also shows how our society groups together and helps each other out like one big family in times of war. “And then Hilda started to whimper. She rocked back and forth; her whimpers seemed to hold all the pain in the world. Again and again and again, the wordless timid sounds of anguish continued… Suddenly, Ōmite stood up. Looking defiantly into the faces of the soldiers keeping us prisoner, she made her way across the muddy soiled floor, willing them not to interfere with her. Ōmite sat down next to Hilda, took her hands in hers and started gently rubbing them, and then she massaged her shoulders and neck. When Hilda finally went limp, Ōmite put her arms around her. She held her, stroking her hair, as if she were a small child, with the same kind of tenderness she showed to my sister and me,” (pg. 61).

This book offers the readers a chance to see the world through a young girl’s perspective and get a feel for what they have absolutely no knowledge of. This book teaches the readers that we shouldn’t forget about the past but we shouldn’t forget about the future either. You should live your life to the fullest, with no regrets.