Hope

In Three Sister, Morris thematically examines the concept of hope through the character Magda. After her sisters are taken by the Hlinka Guard, at the beginning of the novel, Magda’s hope that they will be reunited gives her the courage to face persecution in Vranov. When she hides in the forest, from the Hlinka, she finds a flowering sword lily fully of “delicate, funnel-shaped flowers” (156). She remembers her grandfather teaching her that the flower is a part of the gladiolus family and a symbol of “strength and hope” (257). Magda knows that she must hold onto hope in order to survive imminent transportation.

While the middle sister sees the flower as an emblem for hope, her sisters, Cibi and Livi, see her as a symbol of hope to encourage them in Auschwitz-Birkenau. When Cibi goes to sleep she no longer prays but thinks of Magda “safely...