The Light in Hidden Places

The title, The Light in Hidden Places, suggests light is a critical symbol in the story, yet what light represents wavers. After the Nazis take over Przemyśl, Stefania says, “Light is like a candy poster. And it’s not smart to hang signs showing where the sweets are” (7). In the story, light represents visibility, yet being seen is dangerous. Someone in the light is identifiable and known. Nazis and their collaborators can seek them out and punish or kill them. When Stefania brings Helena back into the city, Stefania insists on “staying out of the light” (80). The light calls attention to them, and they’re breaking curfew. One time, light shines on Stefania as she leaves the ghetto. She says, “A flashlight clicked, and a yellow circle with the shadow of my body inside it appeared on the other side of the fence” (101). A gun accompanies the flashlight, reinforcing the link between light and danger. Light also connects to the atrocities in the ghetto. Stefania says, “I saw lights in the ghetto, spotlights blazing, leaving the other places inky in the dark. Train cars were lined up, people thronging so thick it was impossible to make out individual bodies” (94). Throughout the narrative, light often represents horror and precarity.

However, the title suggests light can possess an opposite symbolism. The light in hidden places refers to the Jews that Stefania and Helena conceal. Here, light is good: It represents human life or hope. Even if a situation seems impossibly bleak, there’s a chance something good can happen—there’s a possibility to overcome the cruelty and survive. Stefania says she’s “in a world where death is a shadow at the edge of every light” (117). The figurative—symbolic—language brings the two different meanings of light together. Death is a part of life—light brings potentially fatal visibility. Conversely, light represents life, and, as Stefania’s story proves, it’s possible to overcome the shadow, avoid death, and preserve light and humanity.