Cilka's Journey

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2019

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-5

Chapters 6-10

Chapters 11-15

Chapters 16-20

Chapters 21-25

Chapters 26-30

Chapter 31-Epilogue

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Themes

Embracing Womanhood, Sisterhood, and Motherhood

Content Warning: This study guide contains depictions of genocide, rape, sexual assault, suicide, and drug addiction.

One of the central themes within Cilka’s Journey is embracing womanhood, sisterhood, and motherhood. From the outset of the novel, Cilka Klein, Josie Kotecka, and the other women traveling to Vorkuta form a close bond and rely on each other for comfort and support. For example, one young woman starts her period on the train and believes she is dying. An older woman explains what’s happening to her, and Josie comforts her, encouraging the other women to do the same. Some women begin “tearing pieces off their garments, ripping sections from the bottoms of their dresses, and passing them along to the woman caring for the girl” (11). Giving what little they have to help the girl enter womanhood signifies how much the women support each other. Another event that represents strength in femininity is when the women decorate Hut 29 and adorn their clothing with lace. These simple acts are “a small reclamation of an identity, a femininity, an expression of something other than a functional body put to work daily” (105). The small acts of decorating their hut and embellishing their clothing help the women retain their identity and gives them strength to endure such harsh, oppressive conditions.

Similarly, Morris uses sisterhood and friendship in the novel to strengthen character relationships. For example, when Cilka returns from solitary confinement, her hut-mates immediately comfort and care for her. They make her tea, give her food, and console her. The women’s reaction reflects their love and respect for Cilka, and she feels great affection for them in return. Likewise, when Josie tells Cilka and her hut-mates that she is pregnant, the women “find their way to Josie’s bed, offering support and hugs” (164). Then, when Josie attempts suicide because she is overwhelmed with having a baby, her hut-mates crowd around her and offer her encouragement and support. Cilka says to the women, “Thank you all. […] We have to stick together, we’re all we have” (166). Cilka’s comment demonstrates that the women have become dependent on each other and that their survival is directly related to their relationships. Cilka’s love for her friends—who have become more like sisters—prevents her from immediately moving into the safety of the nurses’ barracks when given the opportunity. She doesn’t want to leave the women she’s grown to love, even with the promise of greater comfort and stability. Thus, Cilka stays in Hut 29 until it becomes too dangerous for her, and even then, she is reluctant to leave and misses her hut-mates greatly.

Lastly, the healing power of motherhood is also present throughout the novel, a dynamic that is particularly prominent during Josie’s transformation from depression and thoughts of suicide to excitement and anticipation for the progress of her own pregnancy when she goes to the maternity ward and works with women in labor. This experience helps Josie look forward to being a mother rather than dreading it, because she sees other women’s strength. After Natia is born, Josie matures further, finding personal strength in motherhood. Likewise, the women of Hut 29 find joy and comfort in Josie’s pregnancy. Thus, Josie’s pregnancy comforts the other mothers, who are separated from their children and must live vicariously through those around them.

Power and Survival

Another recurring theme in the novel is that of power and survival. One of the most prominent examples is men’s power over Cilka and the other female prisoners. The first occurs at the novel’s beginning when the Soviet Army sentences Cilka to 15 years in Vorkuta. Those who sentence her are all men who unjustly overpower her and ignore her, passing judgment on her without taking into account the abuses and multiple rapes she suffered. Instead of being granted a voice, she is silenced and ignored. Thus, ironically, the Soviet men who unjustly sentence her to further misery are overpowering her as a punishment for how the Nazis overpowered her previously and forced her into multiple actions against her will. Cilka capitulates to both groups of men in order to survive, and thus, her own power—that of improving people’s lives and helping wherever she can—is a quiet, internal power that must be exercised secretly, subversively.

The theme of survival no matter the cost continues upon the women’s arrival at Vorkuta, for as Boris and Vadim choose Cilka and Josie as camp wives, valuing them only for their bodies, Cilka already knows that there is no stopping the men, and that the only way to survive is to accept her lack of power and bend with the will of those who wield their power against her. Likewise, that same sense of subversive resistance surfaces yet again as Cilka wonders how she will “explain to Josie later that [Vadim] can have her body and that is all; he cannot have her mind, her heart, her soul” (24). Cilka has already learned this experience from her time in Auschwitz, so she knows there’s nothing she can do to stop the men from taking what they want. She must now help Josie endure the same cruelty and degradation. A final example of a man exerting power over a woman is when one of the doctors fires Cilka for saving a patient he refused to treat. This event leads to Cilka going to solitary confinement. While there, the same doctor checks her vitals and orders her to stay longer when he sees she is still strong. This behavior exemplifies his desire to dominate and ultimately break Cilka, who has no power to protect herself against the doctor’s resentment.

However, although men like Schwarzhuber and Boris physically overpower her, Cilka’s greatest strength lies in her will to survive. While in solitary confinement, for example, Cilka refuses to die or give in to the madness she can feel settling on her. She knows she has survived worse, so she wills herself to keep going until she is released and can return to her hut. Likewise, Cilka can detach her mind from her body during the numerous rapes she endures at both camps. She knows that men can only overpower her body, not her mind, so this separation allows her to stay mentally strong and determined to survive until she is released and entirely in control of her body and life. It is a long-term strategy that serves her well in her life of extended incarceration.

However, Cilka isn’t always immune to the effects of other people’s oppression. For example, Cilka becomes angry when she must sew a new number on her clothing at Vorkuta. She’s already been through this injustice and is frustrated to be in a similar situation again. As she sews, Cilka “starts to feel angry, furious. […] It is this fire, then, that keeps her going. But it is also a curse. It makes her stand out, be singled out. She must contain it, control it, direct it. To survive” (39). Thus, while Cilka must still carry the weight of oppression, she uses any negative emotions to her advantage and uses them to strengthen her will and keep fighting. What she lacks in physical strength, she makes up for with determination. This is why she survives despite the power men have over her and why her power is stronger than those who seek to oppress her.

Hope in the Face of Injustice

A third recurring theme is having hope in the face of injustice. All of the women of Hut 29 face the same harsh conditions, yet some can manage these conditions better than others. For example, Josie and her grandmother are kind leaders on the train. After her grandmother’s death, Josie continues to talk to the other women and deepen her friendship with Cilka, showing her resilience and optimism in the face of grief. Natalya is likewise hopeful and happy despite their difficult circumstances. When the women settle into Hut 29 for the first time, Natalya volunteers to ask for more coal to keep everyone warm, in contrast to Cilka’s attitude of being careful and not taking the risk of angering the guards or not getting more coal in the future. A final character who demonstrates unshakable optimism is Olga. Olga teaches the other women to sew, encourages them to decorate the hut, makes most of Natia’s baby clothes, and helps the other women add lace to their prison clothes. All of these elements work together to keep the women’s spirits up. However, Olga best inspires her hut-mates by reminding them to focus on their happy memories. When Cilka wakes from her nightmare about Mengele, Olga says, “You need to remember the happy times to dream about. […] That’s what I do. Every night before I fall asleep, I remember my childhood, on the beach in Sochi. It was a happy time” (230). This passage shows that Olga is inherently a happy, hopeful woman, and she uses this aspect of her personality to help her hut-mates endure difficult situations with fortitude.

Conversely, some characters have a more difficult time finding hope. Although Cilka strongly desires to survive and can compartmentalize her trauma, she feels cursed to watch others die. She fights to save patients once she begins working in the hospital, yet she often feels pessimistic about her role in Auschwitz and Vorkuta, questioning why she continues to be placed in situations that leave her powerless. Cilka also feels cursed in love. She watches others find love and hope but doubts that she can have the same experience because of all she has suffered. Cilka maintains this attitude until the novel’s end, when she finally realizes that she is falling in love with Alexandr Petrik. This revelation strengthens her will to survive even more, and she finally lets go of her despair of never finding love. Similarly, Elena is a bully at the novel’s beginning, and she exerts power and dominance over the other women to help her cope with her fear and distress. Over time, Elena begins to change, trading her meanness for compassion and sympathy. She even uses Olga’s positivity and sewing skills to help her get a comfortable job in Vorkuta’s sewing room. Thus, Elena exemplifies how a character can change their attitude, even if their situation doesn’t change. Hannah, like Elena, manipulates and extorts the other women for what she wants, especially Cilka. This behavior is how Hannah handles the stress and pain living in Vorkuta causes. However, Hannah uses her voice and power to join the workers’ revolt. When dying in the hospital, she tells Cilka how brave she is, showing Hannah’s change in character. While less overt than Elena’s progression, Hannah shifts from bitterness and anger to compassion and understanding. All these women demonstrate how difficult it can be to maintain hope when faced with injustice, yet all three ultimately change their attitudes and find peace in their situations.