Suzy and Leah, a short story written by Jane Yolen, narrates the relationship between two main characters, who gradually turn from enemies to friends, in the form of diaries. Suzy first met Leah at a refugee camp near her school, when she gave out sweets and oranges to the refugee children. She noticed how Leah felt like the odd one out; she didn't fight for food and candy, and gloomily sat in a corner. Both had developed a dislike for each other after they were assigned as partners in school where Suzy would teach and help Leah with her English. While Suzy believed her to be a spiky porcupine who was always gloomy and never smiled, Leah disliked Suzy's "false smile". Later, however, when Suzy's mother invited Leah to their house for dinner, Leah became ill in her stomach, even though she didn't eat anything. She was barely saved by the doctors in the hospital, but when Suzy was about to give Leah her diary back, she accidentally read the contents of her diary. She understood the trauma and terror Leah had, being a Jew who lost family members in the process of running away from the Nazis and decides to not see her as an enemy anymore. Suzy later apologized and the two developed a mutual understanding and friendship for each other.
A lot of diary literature, similar to Suzy and Leah, incorporates historical context and background, and in turn, adds more realism to the story. In Suzy and Leah, the setting is set in the time of World War II, and most importantly, the Holocaust. The Holocaust mostly affected Leah and the other Jewish refugees, as it was a time when the Nazis were taking Jews back into their concentration camps if they were found anywhere in central Europe or Germany. Being a Jewish refugee, Leah had lost her mother, whom she was writing to in her diary, along with her baby brother Natan who both died in the German concentration camps. Leah’s diary entries hinted multiple times at her historical background and how her trauma from staying in the camps and running from the Nazis made her into “a spiky porcupine”, as Suzy said. Throughout Leah’s diary entries, several sections provide the reader with her background as a refugee: “In the German camp, it was potato soup—with onions when we were lucky, without either onion or potato when we were not. And after, when I was running from the Nazis, it was stale brown bread, if we could find any.” “The adults of the Americans say we are safe now. And so we must go to their school. But I say no place is safe for us. Did not the Germans say that we were safe in their camps? And there you and baby Natan were killed.” (Yolen, 3). Later, Suzy briefly introduces and narrates Leah’s historical background in her last diary entry, after she reads Leah’s diary and asks her mother about the Holocaust. Suzy was astonished after seeing how much pain and past trauma Leah must have experienced and felt sympathetic for her: “How was I supposed to know all that? How can Leah stand any of us? How could she live with all that pain?” (Yolen, 10). Diary literature uses wars or other historical background to narrate a personal story affected by a certain crisis.
In diary literature or epistolary novels, the author utilizes first-person letters or diary entries to highlight and emphasize multiple characters’ personal perspectives and characteristics. For instance, in Suzy and Leah’s respective diary entries, it is shown to the readers that the two characters disliked each other greatly at the start, by the use of strong subjective opinions and views. For instance, Suzy’s diary entries from August 5 to October 9 continuously emphasized her initial annoyance and dislike towards Leah. At first, when Suzy first meets the refugee in the camp while giving out sweets, she notices how Leah doesn’t find excitement in receiving sweets and other gifts, and instead, sits gloomily in a corner. “I took two candy bars along, just like everyone said I should. When I held them up, all those kids just swarmed over to the fence, grabbing. Like in a zoo. Except for this one girl, with two dark braids and bangs nearly covering her eyes. She was just standing to one side, staring at me. It was so creepy.” (Yolen, 1). Later, after Suzy and Leah were paired up to be learning partners, where Suzy was to aid her in English, she developed a dislike and deeper annoyance towards Leah, especially because of Leah’s rude manners and gloomy attitude. For example, when Suzy gives Leah multiple gifts like sweets, apples, and flowers, Leah rejects all of them, most likely hurting Suzy partially, leading her to write things such as: “Gee, she’s as prickly as a porcupine.” and “Can’t she ever smile, that Leah? I’ve brought her candy bars and apples from home. I tried to give her a handkerchief with a yellow flower on it. She wouldn’t take any of them.” (Yolen, 6). Similarly, Leah also shows dislike for Suzy in her diary entries: “She expects me to be grateful. But how can I be grateful? She treats me like a pet, a pet she does not really like or trust. She wants to feed me like an animal behind bars.” (Yolen, 6). In literature, by utilizing the strong subjective thoughts and opinions written in diaries, not only is a character’s personal opinion and view emphasized, but their personality traits are also further characterized.
Diary literature can show a character's personal growth and changes throughout the story by analyzing their change in subjective opinions and multiple perspectives. In Suzy and Leah, the two main characters, especially Suzy, who didn’t know about Leah’s background as a refugee before reading her diary, are both shown to have changed their opinions of each other after reaching a mutual level of understanding. At the beginning of the short story, Suzy’s initial annoyance and dislike towards Leah are continuously emphasized throughout her diary entries. At first, when Suzy first meets the refugee in the camp while giving out sweets, she notices how Leah doesn’t find excitement in receiving sweets and other gifts, and instead, sits gloomily in a corner. “I took two candy bars along, just like everyone said I should. When I held them up, all those kids just swarmed over to the fence, grabbing. Like in a zoo. Except for this one girl, with two dark braids and bangs nearly covering her eyes. She was just standing to one side, staring at me. It was so creepy.” (Yolen, 1). Later, after Suzy and Leah were paired up to be learning partners, where Suzy was to aid her in English, she developed a dislike and deeper annoyance towards Leah, especially because of Leah’s rude manners and gloomy attitude. For example, when Suzy gives Leah multiple gifts like sweets, apples, and flowers, Leah rejects all of them, most likely hurting Suzy partially, leading her to write things such as: “Gee, she’s as prickly as a porcupine.” and “Can’t she ever smile, that Leah? I’ve brought her candy bars and apples from home. I tried to give her a handkerchief with a yellow flower on it. She wouldn’t take any of them.” (Yolen, 6). Later however, her dislike towards Leah turns into astonishment and sympathy after she reads Leah’s diary: “It was so awful I could hardly believe it, but Mom said it was true. How was I supposed to know all that? How can Leah stand any of us? How could she live with all that pain?” (Yolen, 10). A significant feature of diary literature is the emphasis personal growth of characters over the course of events.
Suzy and Leah, a short story in the form of diary literature, narrates a personal story between two main characters, whose relationship gradually turned from disliking each other to friendship, after reaching a mutual understanding between each other. As shown in the novel, diary literature often has significant features that change the subjectivity of the story and the reader’s perspectives. Most diary literature incorporates historical context and background, and in turn, adds more realism to the story. In Suzy and Leah, the setting is set in the time of World War II, and most importantly, the Holocaust. The historical backgrounds of stories add more realism to its events and characterizations of characters like Leah, who still has past trauma from running from the Nazis. Diary literature also utilizes first-person letters or diary entries to highlight and emphasize multiple characters’ personal perspectives and characteristics. By analyzing the changes of multiple characters’ perspectives and opinions, readers can easily see the process of their personal growth over a course of events in the story. For instance, Suzy and Leah’s opinions on each other slowly changed from dislike to understanding and even astonishment, in some cases.
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