The Cage

Motele, Riva’s younger brother, is a passionate boy who grows into a strong-willed young man before he leaves Lodz. His courage surfaces, from Riva’s perspective, when he urges his mother to jump from a Nazis transportation wagon into his arms. This bold love repeats throughout Motele’s and Riva’s lives together: repeatedly, he puts himself at risk in order to help others, both in his own family and in the community. When Riva suffers from crippling gallstones and malnutrition, he devises a plan to trade bread for a tangerine and vitamin drops that will save her; later, he arranges for an old coat to be made into a new suit for his older sister. When the siblings are cold, he steals wood in the middle of the night to keep them warm, a crime for which he is nearly punished with deportation. Motele is ingenious and quick-thinking, responding quickly to police who search for Smulek in order to save both his family and their friend. He suggests that the siblings move the ghetto library into their own home, and he continues to reach out into the community to offer help at great personal risk. Ultimately, Riva mourns her separation from him in the camps because he is “the strongest” of her siblings: she trusts his wisdom, enough so that when he says it is time to leave Lodz, she agrees to go with him.

Moishele, younger than Motele, is a quintessential little brother: he constantly follows Motele’s example, conspiring with him to care for Riva and Laibele. Moishele, too, works in the factory and receives a bread ration, which he, too, gives up in order to heal Riva. He encourages Riva to continue writing her early letters, recording the family’s experiences for later generations. He also encourages Riva to take up teaching her brothers Jewish history and literature, so that they can make their mother proud if and when she returns to them.

Laibele, Riva’s youngest brother, is sick with tuberculosis for years before he passes away. Just eleven years old when their mother is taken, Laibele is sweet and curious. He sings and tells stories with Riva to pass the time, especially when Riva is ill and homebound along with him. He loves poetry, literature, and songs, and often asks Riva to repeat stories that will encourage him. Laibele is the most hopeful of the siblings, and Riva relies on him to sustain her courage; when he dies, she begs him to stay alive until Mrs. Avner asks Riva to let him die peacefully.

Riva’s mother is a great inspiration to her throughout her life. Her advice that “as long as there is life, there is hope” keeps Riva and countless friends around her hopeful in the most trying periods of their lives. From the moment that Mrs. Minska stands up to bullies who take on Harry Gruber, Riva sees her mother as courageous and morally upright, an example of the outspoken advocate that she would like to be. Though Riva’s mother is taken within the first few chapters of the text, her influence persists throughout the book and inspires the ultimate story that Riva tells to her daughter and, by extension, her audience.

“Musheggener,” or “crazy person” Moishe is Riva’s neighbor who risks his life to take Riva to a doctor in Lodz when her gallstones make her unable to walk. Though Riva tries to prevent him from such a crazy action, she is grateful for the risk that he takes and for his stubborn persistence in taking care for her.

Yulek is an intelligent, bookish, kind stranger and member of the Socialist youth league who visits Riva and develops an intimate relationship with her. Though they only kiss just before he leaves for the labor camps with his younger sister, he is close to Riva as long as he is in Lodz. Together, they read poetry and encourage one another in their respective work of raising and protecting younger siblings.

The camp doctor, who is really merely a medical student, helps find Riva medical treatment after Riva’s wounded hand grows an infection. She risks her own and Riva’s life to tell the commandant about Riva’s poetry, and she remains by Riva’s side throughout her treatment as a powerful, bold advocate.

Mrs. Gruber is the landlady and friend of Riva’s mother. As the Nazis invade Poland, Mrs. Gruber not only stands by while the Nazis persecute the Jews of her neighborhood, but she also cuts down the oak tree that provides a community meeting-place for the Jews of Lodz.

Harry is Mrs. Gruber’s grandson, and a childhood friend to Riva. When the Nazis invade, and Mrs. Gruber betrays Riva’s family, Harry joins the Hitler Youth, expressing his preparedness to fight for the “fatherland.” He comes to Riva’s apartment to visit in his uniform, but knowing of his new passions only deepens her sadness.

Tola is an old friend of Rifkele’s who Riva meets at Auschwitz. Later, Tola is a critical friend to Riva, encouraging her to continue digging in the trenches when she puts up a silent protest at Grafenort.

Katia runs the first aid department at the factory at which Riva works while a prisoner at Mittelsteine. Katia provides Riva with a clandestine shower and secret food.

The commandant at Mittelsteine controls Riva’s fate, especially when she falls ill. She is powerful over all inmates, but she reveals herself to be emotionally vulnerable after she listens to Riva’s poetry; her mercy for Riva connects her to medical attention that she otherwise would not have received.

Helen is the assigned camp elder at Mittelsteine. She, along with the camp doctor, orchestrates Riva’s medical treatment; she must also relay all messages, good or bad, from the commandant to her fellow prisoners.