Ashley Esteva
GSR 102
Zelzah: A Tale from Long Ago
I have read
books by Norma Fox Mazer before and I really enjoyed her work. When I began
reading this short story I had the mindset that it would mirror another one of
her works entitled Good Night, Maman. However,
to my surprise it was greatly different. It was a remarkable story of courage,
strength and happiness. I absolutely loved this story as a celebration of one
woman’s story of her life. It was a beautifully crafted story about a family
living in a small town in Poland .
The family had five daughters and each had a name given to them by their mother
which she though would help them throughout their lives, influencing their
destiny. The story focuses on the second born daughter, Zelzah. She always tried
to live up the name her mother gave her which roughly meant shade-in-the-heat.
She tried to be calming and nice but she didn’t always know what to say.
Throughout her life she had to work hard to help support her family. She worked
on a farm and became strong through her work which she took pride in. when a
letter came from her aunt in America ;
her mother told her that she would be moving to America
to marry her cousin Jake. I was so excited for her to get a new life that would
hopefully be easier on her that working such hours on a farm. For a while when
I was reading the story I had high hopes. I saw Zelzah becoming stronger but as
soon as I read that Jake wasn’t coming to visit her much anymore I knew it was
bad news. I was heartbroken for Zelzah when I found out Jake had been having an
affair and his “lady” was pregers. I was so upset! I had this whole idea of the
life she would have with him, I had planed the happy ending for her and
everything. I couldn’t believe she handled everything so well and with such a
level head, I know I wouldn’t have acted as she did. Throughout the story from
that point foreword she really grew into herself. She found work and got and
education then got a better job with that education. I was even more proud of
her when she became a teacher. She lived her dreams and aspirations and always
remained calm and definitely defined happiness on her own terms and saw nothing
less in herself because she didn’t fallow the conventional life plan for a
woman.
Thank you for reading all of these blogs; this is my last
one post.
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