Everyone is raised in a different childhood. The denotative meaning of childhood is the state of being a child; the period of somebody's life when he or she is a child; an early period or stage in the development or existence of something. Each childhood effects how the person turns out in the future.
Events can change a person's quality or aspects on life. Their childhood can determine their views on life whether they are good or bad. This is shown through out Potok's story. In Davita's Harp, the character, Ann, mentions to her daughter Illana "... everything has a past..." This suggests that people cannot judge others without knowing what each person has gone through, or what has changed their beliefs. This story shows the "pasts" of many people and shows what kind of person they've become because of that "past."
The character Ann has gone through a great deal in her past.
Español: Ruinas del castillo de Vállaga o Cuevas...
English: Interior de una casa cueva (Illana - Guad...
English: Arco del puntio (Illana - Guadalajara) Es...These experiences explain her position in her future. She is a social worker who works for the lower class citizens of New York. Ann is a non-believing Jew who is married to a non-believing Episcopalian. Together they are against the capitalist economy which occurs in America, but they fight for a new view for American economy. They want to see America have a communistic economy. She fights strongly for their cause. This determination comes from the views that she has seen through her own eyes. As a child, her family was pursued by members of the Russian military because her family was Jewish. The distressing drawback of this pursuit was led to the raping of Ann. Her father was ashamed of this incident, and unsuitably took the blame out on Ann. This had a harsh and painful impact on Ann. She lost faith in her...