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Chapter 2
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Milkweed, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Identity and Relationships
War, Dehumanization, and Innocence
Ingenuity, Resilience, and Survival
Family
Summary
Analysis
Uri takes Stopthief to a stable, where a group of boys is living there with the horses. One of the kids, smoking a cigar, asks Uri why he didn’t steal Stopthief’s bread. Uri isn’t sure. Somebody else calls Stopthief a “runt,” and everyone laughs at his size. Stopthief sees a huge pile of stockpiled food—bread, sausages, candies—and assorted other things too, like watches, combs, and fur garments.
Stopthief, whose life has revolved around stealing, is introduced to a community of boys with similar experiences, suggesting that in Warsaw at this time, ingenuity in acquiring food is a matter of daily survival. Uri seems to feel an attachment to Stopthief, though he can’t yet explain why.
Themes
When the kids ask Stopthief’s name and hear the answer, they all laugh. One boy blows smoke at Stopthief and asks him if he’s “cuckoo.” When Stopthief doesn’t know how to respond, the kid predicts that he’s stupid and will get the rest of them in trouble. But Uri points out that he’s quick and little.
Stopthief is unsure how to fit in with other kids his age—even those who are outcasts like himself. But Uri sees potential in Stopthief that the others don’t yet see, especially the traits that will help him survive in a hostile environment.
Themes
The same boy asks Stopthief if he’s a Jew, but Stopthief doesn’t know; he doesn’t know how old he is, either. After more mockery and horseplay among the boys, Stopthief asks what a “Jew” is. A kid points to himself, to the other boys, and to a bug in the straw, saying that all these are “Jews”—a Jew is someone who’s “less than a bug.” The other kids clap and cheer in agreement at this.
Though Stopthief appears to be innocent of such things, anti-Semitic views are pervasive in Warsaw at the cusp of World War II. In fact, such views were so extreme and dehumanizing that a Jewish person being described as “less than a bug” wouldn’t have been out of the ordinary. The other boys have no doubt about the way their society views them.
Themes
The kids speculate that Stopthief must be Jewish, too, and that “he’s in for it.” But they won’t tell him what he’s “in for.” They ask him about a yellow stone he wears on a string around his neck, but Stopthief doesn’t remember where he got it—he’s always worn it. The kids decide that he must be a “Gypsy,” and the word sounds familiar to Stopthief.
At the time, “Gypsy” was an ethnic description for the Roma people who lived throughout Europe, having originated in Northern India centuries before. Today, “Gypsy” is considered a slur. Like Jewish people, Roma people were targeted by the Nazi regime and were discriminated against and executed en masse. Stopthief’s familiarity with the word “Gypsy” hints that the boys’ guess about his ethnicity is correct.
Themes
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The boys joke that Jews are hated even more than “Gypsies,” but their playful fight is interrupted by the return of the stableman. Stopthief and Uri run outside into the city, which echoes with artillery explosions. Uri leads Stopthief through back alleys and into the cellar of a brick building. Uri has a bed, radio, and icebox in the cozy cellar. As they share supper, Stopthief asks again what he’s “in for,” but Uri just tells him to eat.
As war breaks out in Warsaw, life there is riddled with danger and requires strong survival instincts. Uri, with his unexpectedly cozy home in the midst of a war zone, appears to be just the person to help Stopthief navigate this dangerous world. It’s notable that none of the other stable boys live here with him—Uri seems to have especially protective feelings toward naïve young Stopthief.
Themes
