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Chapter 39
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
When Misha regains consciousness, he is hurting all over. His ear is ringing, and his arm is crusted with blood where the Jackboot dog shook him. When he touches his ear, there isn’t much of it left. Then, suddenly, Misha remembers Janina—but the trains are gone, and the station is empty. He finds a scrap of a black shoe on the ground: Janina’s. Still dizzy, Misha begins following the train tracks out of the station.
It seems that Uri shot Misha in the ear rather than giving him a more lethal wound, perhaps suggesting that Uri wanted to save Misha from deportation and used the gunshot as a distraction to do so. However, Misha’s first instinct—despite his pain—is to pursue his sister, showing how deep the bond between them was.
Themes
