The Sweetness of Forgetting

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses antisemitism and the Holocaust.

Stars, as a symbol of eternity and infinity, represent the significance of remembrance and memorials. Jacob tells Rose that he will love her as long as there are stars in the sky, which becomes a promise she holds onto through the grief of losing Jacob and her family. Rose renames the stars in the constellation known as the Big Dipper for her lost family members, and when she looks for the constellation, she revisits her love for them and honors their memory. That she cannot find a star to stand in for Jacob is explained later when Hope learns that Jacob is still alive.

The stars also recall the yellow badge that Jews were forced to wear under Nazi control, representing the Star of David, marking their identity and their faith. In one respect, her continued reverence for the stars is a way that Rose keeps her faith in God even while practicing in the Catholic tradition.

In memory of her promise to Jacob, Rose begins shaping her favorite pastry recipe into the shape of stars, calling them Star Pies. This is the recipe she learns while living with the Haddam family during the war, so the pies represent not just her love for Jacob but her gratitude to this family for sheltering her and her child.