Natasa Misic -- Journal Entry 4

Natasa Misic

Journal entry 4

The Sunflower – Eli

Eli is a six year old Jewish boy from Lemberg, Ghetto. He comes from poor Jewish parents who are working for the Nazis while barely being able to provide food for their son. Eli has black hair and big dark eyes. “The kind of eyes that are questioning but that could not understand, accusing eyes that no one could ever forget.” (p46) Eli’s name comes from a prophet named Eljahu Hanavi. Eljahu is a protector and would appear in many different forms to people such as a peasant, beggar or a child.

Eli is important for hope of the Jewish people. Children are innocent and don’t understand the evils of wars or the Nazis in this case. Since Eli’s name comes from the prophet Eljahu he is a symbolic representation of being the protector of Jews. The Jewish prisoners who saw Eli saw him as a sign of hope and that there is a God that will help them.

Morality is being able to distinct right from wrong. Eli’s moral implications are that he will protect the Jewish people from being killed by the German Nazis. The potential moral risks of this are that the Jewish people will have too much faith in him but the Nazis will continue to kill Jews and the people will lose hope in the protector and even God, as many have.

Eli's role in the story and the way in which smaller incidents and individuals stand for larger events is very significant. Throughout our history there is a person or a small group of people who sacrifice themselves and their bodies for what they believe in and so that justice is brought to the rest of the world. From Jesus, Gods son, to the many saints and prophets that have sacrificed their lives so that we can have the kind of life of freedom we do today is incredible. It takes a special person to be able to do this and in this novel Eli is that incredible person.