Dawn, Post 1 by Moshe Henderson

Moshe Henderson. April 9, 2012. Revolutions and Symbolism of Dawn. (Chapter 1-2, pages 3-20.)

In Chapter 2, Elisha had been asked to give up everything and join the revolution in Palestine. This is similar to how the Khmer Rouge built its own revolution in When Broken Glass Floats. The Khmer Rouge had forced its civilians to give up everything they owned though; Elisha had more of a choice. Also, I don’t think the Jewish revolution has as much control over what Elisha owns and does as the Khmer Rouge had over the Cambodians. The two different groups used different tactics to control its people; the Khmer Rouge used fear and power over resources, and the Jewish revolutionists (Zionists) used a sort of sympathy and bribery. The Zionists rallied up their people and shared their anger towards the way the Jewish people had always been treated in the past. The Zionists were actually representing their people; the Khmer Rouge did not.

The reference to “dawn” is already used multiple times in this chapter. At first it just refers to the time that David ben Moshe and John Dawson will be executed. The next time it is referred to as an actual idea and thing. Gad says that the dawn where Elisha had been staying was gray, but the dawn in Palestine was red. Somewhere along the lines red had become the color for revolution, probably because blood is red. (I find it ironic that red also stands for romance.)  Anyways, the reason the dawn was “gray” where Elisha had been was because the revolution had not yet sparked there. They would have to go to Palestine and join the revolution there in order for it to spread to rest of the world (as it had when they kidnapped John Dawson).

(I also wanted to write that it was cool to see part of my name in the book. I usually don’t see my name too often in literature unless it is referring to Moshe Dayan or the book takes place in a Jewish community. This book takes place in a Jewish community. “Moshe” means “drawn from the water” by the way.)