- Protagonist: Misha Pilsudski, who is a sneaky little thief and he doesn't remember anything about his past and he doesn't know what's going to happen in the future.
- Antagonist: The Jackboots who tried to kill all the Jews and Gypsies. Who also took Misha and his friends to the Ghetto.
- Setting: Milkweed takes place mainly in Warsaw, Poland. In the early 1900s: The city of Warsaw is firmly established when the dukes of Mazovia build a stronghold on the site where the Royal Castrsawhis now stands.
- German Nazi’s were in rule and were commanded by Hitler. Warsaw was affected by the war when the German Nazi’s invaded and started taking over the place.
- Point of view: The point of view is in 1st person.
- The mood and tone does change a lot throughout the book. Example: Misha really wanted to be a Jackboot, but when he saw what they actually did to other people, he decided he doesn't like them at all!
- An external conflict is Man vs. Society. Misha must go against the Jackboots to try and find food for his friends and family. He also must find a way out of the Ghetto to try survive.
- An internal conflict is Man vs. Self. Misha musts find out whether he is a Jew, a Gypsy, or a boy named Stopthief. He must find out who he is, and who he wants to be.
- A good example of imagery would be in paragraph that says "Before we got back to Niska Street, we heard squeals and shouts down an alley. A knot of children was writhing on the ground. Suddenly one of them, a boy, popped out of the knot and came running toward us. As he sped by, I could see that he clutched a potato in his hand.
- The climax of the story was when Janina's dad sends them away and tells Misha to not let Janina come back 'home' every and to never look back.
- The resolution of the story was when Misha sat on the porch watching his grandchildren play in the grass.