Lost in Translation by Ewa Hoffman Essay - 502 Words

Lost in Translation - A Place to Remember As people grow up, there are special places that remain in the memories. These places become a safe haven when life becomes too rough to handle. All the bad qualities of this place disappear in their minds so that only a perfect world exists. This is a place where everything is right and everyday troubles do not exist. In the novel Lost in Translation by Ewa Hoffman, she describes this paradise of sorts as her hometown of Cracow, Poland. Cracow, Poland is where Ewa spent the majority of her childhood up until age fourteen when she emigrated to the Canada with her mother, father, and younger sister Alina. Although she only spent fourteen years there, this place†¦show more content†¦From the beginning of Ewa’s emigration, she realized the difference in monetary values. In Poland two dollars could have bought a bicycle whereas on the train the two dollars only bought four bowls of soup. This is one reason why Cracow was a special place to her; it provided her with luxury. In Cracow, Ewa was considered a piece of beauty. She was considered a porcelain princess and often received comments about her attractiveness. She always had the finest clothes and was very up-to-date with her sense of style. When arriving in Canada her perception of herself changed as she realized that she was not the most attractive girl. All of the other girls walked around with thin eyebrows and red lipstick, whereas Ewa had bushy eyebrows and wore no lipstick. The clothing the Ewa wore was also quite different than that of Ewa’s. Because of her family’s lower political caste, her family was unable to provide the money for Ewa to look like all the other girls. She had to rely on the charitable donations of people such as the Rosenbergs. In Cracow, this would never be the case. Growing up in Cracow, Ewa had many close friendships. However, there was one boy in particular that was always there for her, Marek. Ewa and Marek’s parents were best friends which eventually led to the two children becoming best friends. It was with Marek that Ewa had her first