Everything Is Illuminated

Content Warning: The source material uses offensive terms and stereotypes for Black people and Jewish people, which are replicated in this guide only in direct quotes of the source material.

In the shtetl, they hold a lottery to choose an official town name to be used for government records. But because Sofiowka is entrusted to deliver the name to the magistrate, he names the town after himself: Sofiowka. The other townspeople do not want to call it that, so they hold another lottery to pick an unofficial name. Yankel D’s entry wins, and he names the town Trachimbrod after his daughter, Brod, and her father, Trachim.

The narrative shifts to a letter written from Alex to Jonathan, dated after their quest to find Augustine. Alex says that he has been saving money and now has enough to buy a plane ticket to America. His father does not know. Igor is now 14 and has broken his arm. For his birthday, they had a party and his father bought him a bicycle. Alex relays that Grandfather asked about Jonathan and for another copy of Augustine’s photo. Alex also reports that Grandfather is not well.