Music (Symbol)
At the beginning of the film, we see Wladyslaw playing the piano for a radio station. His music is enchanting. Then bombs begin to go off—so close that they break through the window of the building he is playing in. Throughout the film, Szpilman must contend with the atrocities of war and the horror of the Holocaust. All the while, music remains a symbol of transcendence, beauty, and meaning. Music is what keeps him going, whether it is listening to Dorota play her cello from the other room, or imagining playing the piano in his hideout flat, or playing the piano for Hosenfeld in the bombed-out ghetto. Music, in the context of the film, represents beauty in the midst of chaos and destruction.
Star of David (Symbol)
On December 1, 1939, it was declared that all Jews in Poland must wear an emblem with the star of David upon their sleeves to denote that they are Jewish. This historic event is represented in the film itself, and the emblem is a symbol of ethnic bigotry, segregation, and the dehumanization of the Jewish people. By demanding that individuals be publicly identified by an emblem, the Nazis were able to dehumanize and stigmatize an entire population within Warsaw.
Caramel (Symbol)
As they wait to be packed onto a train and taken away to the death camps, the Szpilmans share a caramel that Mr. Szpilman buys with their last 20 zlotys. The small caramel, split into little pieces, represents the family's determination to share with one another and enjoy one another's company even in the most desperate of moments. It is a tragic but moving symbol of family togetherness, on the eve of separation, death, and grief.
Selling the piano (Symbol)
Before they are sent away to the Warsaw ghetto, the Szpilmans are forced to sell their piano, as they have run out of means of income in the city. Szpilman, who is most attached to the piano, says that they must sell it, resigned to their desperate fate, even though his family members argue with the buyer about its worth. The sale of the piano represents the fact that the Jews, who are now being persecuted in the city, must forget about the things they love, like music, art, home, and focus only on survival under the Nazis.
Wall (Symbol)
There is a wall that surrounds the Warsaw ghetto. This wall symbolizes the imprisonment of the Jews and their separation from normal society, and the bigotry against Jews encouraged by the Nazi invaders. While the ghettos are operational, the wall represents the solidity of this Nazi agenda, but when conflict breaks out in the city, the wall crumbles, representing the fact that the era of Nazi control will soon come to a close.
