48 pages • 1 hour read
Katherine MarshThe Lost Year: A Survival Story of the Ukrainian Famine
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2023A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
GG’s Boxes
GG’s boxes are symbolic of history and How Family Stories Shape Identity. The boxes contain mementos from GG’s past. Matthew’s initial hope that he’ll find “some lost treasure of the tsars” or “jewel-covered eggs and golden sabers” (20) inside of them signals the boxes of containing a treasure, even though it is not the kind of treasure that Matthew expects. He gradually discovers that the boxes are a gateway to his familial history. As GG tells her story to Matthew, she uses the boxes’ contents to explain what happened to her and her cousins years prior. In this way, the box also symbolize GG’s secrets. She refuses Matthew’s help at first, not wanting to open the boxes and face the past. Not even Matthew or his mother know the magnitude of the secret GG has kept for her entire life. Like Pandora’s box, GG’s box contains terrible things: memories of starvation, fear, lies, and genocide. But it also contains family, courage, and the truth.
Matthew comes to rely upon the boxes’ contents once he translates GG’s story to his video project, and here, they represent the power of storytelling. In each video installment, he records himself “read[ing] from [the] journals and personal histories” and “show[ing] letters, newspaper articles, and photos” (327) GG has shared with him. The boxes, therefore, invite Matthew into his familial past and help him to navigate this historical era in a more personal and concrete way.
Matthew’s Notebook
Matthew’s notebook is symbolic of exploration and personal growth. Matthew’s dad sends him the notebook in the mail to encourage him to write about his experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Matthew initially resists this idea because he doesn’t like writing and “just want[s] to forget this whole mess [is] even happening” (27). Despite his resistance, Dad sends Matthew a red Moleskine, “a brand based on the notebooks that famous writers used in Paris” (28). Matthew is immediately drawn to the journal when it arrives in the mail and finds himself “writ[ing] down everything that’s happening” and “how [he’s] feeling” (28) about it. The notebook offers him a safe place to express himself and ask questions. He records what he’s learning about GG from her story, and his confusion about the pandemic and his relationships with his parents. He also uses the notebook to record his research findings once he starts looking up more information about Soviet Union history. Therefore, Matthew uses the notebook to explore The Impact of the Past on the Present and express himself through writing.
Helen’s Cross
Helen Lomachenko’s cross necklace is symbolic of empathy and hope. Helen is attached to the cross because Pop gave it to her for her 10th birthday. She only wears it on special occasions because it is precious and she does not want to lose it. The cross is made of solid gold, and Pop had to save up for it. Therefore, the object is Helen’s most valuable possession. She knows its worth and treasures it because it connects her to her father and her religious beliefs. Helen proves how empathetic she is when she decides to mail the cross across the world to her cousins in Ukraine. She sews it into the hem of her old nightgown and sends it to her family in hopes of helping them survive the famine. The cross is Helen’s way of aiding her family. It ultimately helps Nadiya escape the collective farm and find Mila in Kyiv.
GG’s Photo
GG’s photo of her and Helen is symbolic of memory. GG is initially reluctant to tell Matthew about the photograph when he finds it in her boxes because it reminds her of her difficult childhood and the secret she has kept. As soon as she sees the photo, she reacts emotionally because it is a gateway to feelings and events she has tried to keep hidden. Ultimately, the photograph prompts GG to tell her story.
The photo transports Matthew into the scenes and images of GG’s past life, highlighting The Impact of the Past on the Present. Seeing and interacting with the photo helps Matthew to connect with GG through her memories. At the same time, the picture grants Matthew a deeper understanding of his great-grandmother and great-aunts because they are the same age in the photo as Matthew is in the narrative present. In this way, the photo also symbolizes the emotional bond Matthew and GG develop before her death. Showing the photo to her great-grandson is GG’s way of inviting Matthew into her personal history and showing him her most vulnerable version of self.
