Sarah Dickenson Snyder # October 1998

Essay on Briar Rose

In Briar Rose, Jane Yolen solves a mystery of identity by intertwining present day, the horrors of the Holocaust, and the fairy tale of “Sleeping Beauty” or “Briar Rose.” After her grandmother’s death Becca, the protagonist, seeks to discover Gemma’s past; a box filled with several objects: a ring with carved initials, old photographs, a ticket stub, a passport of a man, and newspaper clippings along with the version of “Briar Rose” repeatedly told by Gemma are her only clues. These lead her to Poland and Josef who unlocks the past. At the end of the novel, the unknown web of Gemma’s life is untangled; what she had endured is horrific. Gemma uses the story of “Sleeping Beauty” to deal with the heinous acts she courageously lives through. Josef, the key to revealing the mystery, finds peace because of the help he is able to give others. Finally, Becca can move on with her life now that Gemma’s life has clarity. Each of these major characters discovers emotional peace and healing in different ways.
What Gemma endured during the Holocaust seems so abominable it can’t be true. Jane Yolen fictionalizes real occurrences. There was an extermination camp called Chelmno at which 320,000 people died, gassed in vans and thrown in massive graves. In reality no woman ever survived but as Yolen states, “Happy-ever-after is a fairy tale notion, not history.” In Briar Rose, Gemma, housed in an abandoned castle or schloss until put in vans for death through gassing, is saved when some of the underground partisans arrive at the pit of dead bodies and see her move. The Avenger, who later becomes her husband and father of her daughter, sees her moving. He hands the body up to Josef. At this point the young woman stops breathing. “Josef could feel her die in his arms. So he laid her down on the ground and, putting his mouth on hers, the taste of vomit bitter on his lips, he tried to give her breath.” When Gemma regains her health enough to speak to the band of eight underground partisans, they inquire where she has come from, her name, and who was with her. “I do not know,” she responds. “I have no memories in my head but one...a fairy tale, in it I am a princess in a castle and a great mist comes over us. Only I am kissed awake.” And thus Gemma’s new life has begun. Probably the trauma and near death have erased her past; she becomes the princess kissed back to life by a prince. When at last Gemma finds her way to American and some sense of normalcy begins, Gemma never regains her memory of her past. Most grandmothers tell their stories to grandchildren, sharing their own childhoods and backgrounds. “Briar Rose,” the fairy tale she repeatedly unveils to her 3 granddaughters is her history, her story. For Gemma, the fairy tale is important salve on her wound; it allows her to have a past and create a future. “Briar Rose” is a mantra for Gemma, healing her by repeating it.
In contrast, Josef discovers inner peace by forgiving his insensitive behavior in his past through helping others in dire times. A member of the aristocracy, Josef Ptocki, grew up privileged. As an adult, he accepted that he was gay and fell in love with a young Aryan looking Jew. Insensitive to the emotions of his Jewish lover Alan, Josef blithely continued his life amidst the discrimination of Jews. This lack of empathy was the demise of their relationship. Later, Josef was arrested because he was gay and taken to Sachenhausen, a labor camp. Miraculously, he escapes and is taken in by partisans that survive in the forest whose sole purpose is “not to stay alive. It is our sacred duty to fight when we can and to die if we must, but to avenge what they have done to our Germany.” These partisans were killed, leaving Josef alone. He heads to Poland, his home, and once again finds a group of partisans . With these men and women Josef redeems himself. Hearing of the annihilation occurring at Chelmno, the band furiously head there to save whomever they can. It is only Gemma that they find alive. “And it was into Josef’s mouth that she, at last, sputtered and coughed.” By giving her life, Josef is ennobled. Cleansed and directed by this meaning in life, Josef becomes a leader. He now understands the passion of the partisans and begins to guide. “Josef told them his plans. It was simple. It was direct. It was deadly.” His power is charismatic because his life is finally ignited by meaning. When Gemma tells Josef she is pregnant with Aron’s child, he “forged papers...gave her his stepfather’s ring and his passport photograph in case she needed further corroboration...” Again he takes charge. By helping others Josef redeems himself and finds peace within.
It is only by solving the riddle of Gemma’s life that Becca is finally able to release her past and move on with her life. Knowing the pain Gemma endured gave meaning to the fairy tale of Briar Rose and allowed Becca to truly know her grandmother. Throughout the novel it is clear by Becca’s comments that she is separated from her two older sisters. Both of them tire of Gemma’s fairy tale and of her mysterious way of telling it. Sylvia and Shana feel the same about things whereas Becca is always aligned with her grandmother, not her sisters though she pretends at times.

“Oh,” said Syl as if she understood, but she hadn’t.
She said later, when Gemma had finished the story
and the girls were once again playing dolls. “I didn’t
understand at all.”
“I didn’t either,” Shana said, marching the mommy
doll from the living room to the kitchen,
“Didn’t either,” said Becca, even though she did. But
she had learned long ago it was best not to contradict
her sisters. They just got mad. She put the baby doll in
the cradle and went out of the room to their real kitchen
where Gemma was making a cake.
“I understand,” she said to Gemma.
“You always understand.”

Her closeness to Gemma and riveted attention to the fairy tale are clear throughout the novel. They share diverse things from their red hair to their focus on the deeper meaning of “Briar Rose.” Once Gemma leaves behind the wooden box filled with clues after her death, Becca is intent on solving the mystery of her past. While Sylvia and Shana return to their lives after Gemma’s funeral, Becca is still piecing together the puzzle on the dining room table. With the encouragement of Stan, her editor and growing love interest, Becca uncovers Gemma’s story. It isn’t until she returns from Poland that she allows herself to delve into a relationship with Stan. Appropriately, as in “Sleeping Beauty,” Becca refers to the power of a kiss when Stan greets her at the airport: “If you kiss me, I might just start to wake up.” It is only after Becca discovers Gemma’s fairy tale-ish life, that she moves on in her life. She finds peace, or is on the way. Stan predicts: ”We’ll get to happily ever after eventually.”
Each of the three major characters in Briar Rose heals in his or her own way. There certainly isn’t just one path towards peace of mind. Gemma’s method is survival: find a mantra and repeat it for solace. Helping others and having a passion for a cause enable Josef to absolve his former sins of superficiality. Finally Becca moves toward growth and happiness only after unveiling her grandmother’s mysterious past. We all seek contentment in our lives. Disquiet in the soul pushes us to heal. It is heartening to know there are many ways to peace of mind.