In The Shawl Ozick devotes only a small portion of her novel to telling the story of Rosa while she was enduring the horrors of the Holocaust in Poland, or as what Rosa and Stella refer to as the during period. Now there are several reasons Ozick has chosen to tell her story in this way and it is important to remember that this story is not actually about the Holocaust itself but rather the story of Rosa.
The first chapter is only there to introduce the cast of characters and to showcase the chain of events that will lead to Rosa’s current situation in Miami during the next chapter. While the second chapter goes into great and vivid detail of her life since Magda was killed.
Another reason the second chapter is so much larger than the first is that according to Rosa her current situation is worse than when she was going through the Holocaust. This may be due to the fact that while in her mind Magda is very much alive, she can have no physical interaction with her outside of the shawl. It could also be that this time has been so rough for her because in Miami for a large chunk of time she does not have access to the shawl and thus her last physical connection to Magda.
Stella’s way of dividing up their lives between the before, during, and after does not gain traction with Rosa and because of this difference the second chapter is much longer. Stella is content with moving on from the events of the past and is working towards her after. Rosa views this differently in that she does not believe in the after. Saying, “After, after that’s all Stella cares. For me there’s one time only; there’s no after.” Rosa cannot get past the events of the first chapter and still lives in a world in which Magda is very much alive, to move on would be to admit that Magda is dead but this is something that Rosa is not willing to do she is still in those moments in which she thrust the shawl into her mouth following the time when Magda was killed.
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