Doubles

The author weaves the theme of doubles throughout the book to demonstrate the way two contradictory feelings can exist inside a person simultaneously. The title of the book, “mischling,” is the German word for “mixed blood,” put another way, of two races. The first direct reference to this comes from Josef Mengele as he notes the girls' blonde hair on the platform at Auschwitz. Shortly thereafter, upon receiving the injection that she thinks has made her immortal, Stasha reclaims the term, declaring it to mean “of two parts,” one of “loss and despair,” the other “wild hope” (68). The two can go together, and indeed they must, as they inform each other. Without hope, the despair would be intolerable, and without the despair, the hope would be less meaningful.

The symbolic references to this duality are everywhere in the book, first and foremost, Pearl and Stasha are...