The Endless Steppe

“I went to the window to see if Grandfather was in the garden. This garden was the pride and joy of his life […] ‘Remember, children,’ he would say to my cousins and me, ‘remember that there is always some good in people who love flowers.’”

This paragraph describes Esther’s life in Vilna and develops the character of Grandfather Solomon. Although he is only in the book briefly, the news of his death has a significant impact on the main characters. Grandfather’s words about flowers come back to Esther later; shortly after arriving in Siberia, she sees a hut with flowers growing in front of it and believes that there must be good people, even in her land of exile.

“She hid her face from me and I knew she was close to tears. Tears were against the rules of our house; here we shared our joys and hid our sorrows. It had always been a hard discipline; now it seemed like a cruel one. Why couldn’t we cry like other people?” 

When Raya is hurriedly packing for their forced exile, she hides her emotion from Esther. While the Rudomins are a fiercely loving family, they prize dignity and self-control. This dynamic shapes their interactions throughout the book.

“When I was younger, I had thought the moon was God. A rather too good child, I nevertheless used to make a list of my wrongdoings—an angry word to my mother, a fib to a playmate—and recite them to God when He appeared as the moon, and ask for His forgiveness. Now, when I saw the moon, I could only ask: What have I done wrong?”

This quote demonstrates Esther’s belief in God and the way she relates to him. Throughout the book, the moon symbolizes God to Esther, prompting her to reflect on her circumstances or to make requests. At this moment, on a cattle car headed to Siberia, Esther’s life has been turned upside down. She struggles to make sense of her situation, asking God what she has done wrong. She has been labeled an enemy of the state, and she wonders why she is guilty.