Sarah’s Key

Sarah’s Key

by

Tatiana De Rosnay

Sarah’s younger brother, who was four years old at the time of the roundup. Michel only appears in one scene, where he refuses to accompany his mother and sister, instead convincing Sarah to lock him in a cupboard where he can hide from the French police. Michel is portrayed as brave but naïve. He loved the stories which Sarah often read aloud to him from his favorite book, Un Petit Diable. Sarah blames herself for Michel’s death and never fully recovers from losing him and her parents. Michel’s name is not revealed until one-third of the way into the novel, when Sarah explains to Jules and Geneviève Dufaure that she needs to return to Paris to rescue her brother.

Michel Starzynski Quotes in Sarah’s Key

The Sarah’s Key quotes below are all either spoken by Michel Starzynski or refer to Michel Starzynski. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Remembrance and History Theme Icon
).
Chapter 15 Quotes

She couldn’t bear the idea of him waiting in the dark. He must be hungry, thirsty. His water had probably run out. And the battery on the flashlight. But anything was better than here, she thought. Anything was better than this hell, the stink, the heat, the dust, the people screaming, the people dying.

Related Characters: Sarah “Sirka” Starzynski (speaker), Michel Starzynski
Related Symbols: Dust
Page Number: 45
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 27 Quotes

She had grown up too much to be afraid anymore. She was no longer a baby. Her parents would be proud of her. That’s what she wanted them to be. Proud because she had escaped from that camp. Proud because she was going to Paris, to save her brother. Proud, because she wasn’t afraid.
She fell upon the tar with her teeth, gnawing at her mother’s minute stitches. Finally, the yellow piece of cloth fell away from the blouse. She looked at it. Big, black letters. JEW. She rolled it up in her hands.
“Doesn’t it look small, all of a sudden?” she said to Rachel.

Related Characters: Sarah “Sirka” Starzynski (speaker), Michel Starzynski, Wladyslaw Starzynski, Rywka Starzynski , Rachel
Related Symbols: The Yellow Star
Page Number: 97-98
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 31 Quotes

All of a sudden, every ounce of hope she still harbored within her ran out. In the old lady’s eyes she read what she most dreaded. Michel was dead. Dead in the cupboard. She knew. It was too late. She had waited too long. He had not survived. He had not made it. He had died there, all alone, in the dark, with no food and no water, just the bear and the storybook, and he had trusted her, he had waited, he had probably called out to her, screamed her name again an again, “Sirka, Sirka, where are you! Where are you?” He was dead, Michel was dead. He was four years old, and he was dead, because of her.

Related Characters: Sarah “Sirka” Starzynski (speaker), Michel Starzynski
Page Number: 118-119
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 71 Quotes

I cannot bear the weight of my past.
Yet I cannot throw away the key to your cupboard.
It is the only concrete thing that links me to you, apart from your grave.

Related Characters: Sarah “Sirka” Starzynski (speaker), Michel Starzynski
Related Symbols: The Key
Page Number: 260
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Sarah’s Key LitChart as a printable PDF.
Sarah’s Key PDF

Michel Starzynski Quotes in Sarah’s Key

The Sarah’s Key quotes below are all either spoken by Michel Starzynski or refer to Michel Starzynski. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Remembrance and History Theme Icon
).
Chapter 15 Quotes

She couldn’t bear the idea of him waiting in the dark. He must be hungry, thirsty. His water had probably run out. And the battery on the flashlight. But anything was better than here, she thought. Anything was better than this hell, the stink, the heat, the dust, the people screaming, the people dying.

Related Characters: Sarah “Sirka” Starzynski (speaker), Michel Starzynski
Related Symbols: Dust
Page Number: 45
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 27 Quotes

She had grown up too much to be afraid anymore. She was no longer a baby. Her parents would be proud of her. That’s what she wanted them to be. Proud because she had escaped from that camp. Proud because she was going to Paris, to save her brother. Proud, because she wasn’t afraid.
She fell upon the tar with her teeth, gnawing at her mother’s minute stitches. Finally, the yellow piece of cloth fell away from the blouse. She looked at it. Big, black letters. JEW. She rolled it up in her hands.
“Doesn’t it look small, all of a sudden?” she said to Rachel.

Related Characters: Sarah “Sirka” Starzynski (speaker), Michel Starzynski, Wladyslaw Starzynski, Rywka Starzynski , Rachel
Related Symbols: The Yellow Star
Page Number: 97-98
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 31 Quotes

All of a sudden, every ounce of hope she still harbored within her ran out. In the old lady’s eyes she read what she most dreaded. Michel was dead. Dead in the cupboard. She knew. It was too late. She had waited too long. He had not survived. He had not made it. He had died there, all alone, in the dark, with no food and no water, just the bear and the storybook, and he had trusted her, he had waited, he had probably called out to her, screamed her name again an again, “Sirka, Sirka, where are you! Where are you?” He was dead, Michel was dead. He was four years old, and he was dead, because of her.

Related Characters: Sarah “Sirka” Starzynski (speaker), Michel Starzynski
Page Number: 118-119
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 71 Quotes

I cannot bear the weight of my past.
Yet I cannot throw away the key to your cupboard.
It is the only concrete thing that links me to you, apart from your grave.

Related Characters: Sarah “Sirka” Starzynski (speaker), Michel Starzynski
Related Symbols: The Key
Page Number: 260
Explanation and Analysis: