In the poem, "Home" by Karen Gershon, what is the significance of the poem's title? Explain the effectiveness of the two prominent figures of speech and other literary techniques that are used in the poem: The people have got used to her They have watched her children grow And behave as if she were One of them - how can they know That every time she leaves her home She is terrified of them That as a German Jew she sees Them as potential enemies Because she knows what has been done To children who were like her own She cannot think their future safe Her parents must have felt at home Where none cared what became of them And as a child she must have played With people who in later life Would have killed her had she stayed

Karen Gershon's "Home" is written from the perspective of a German Jew during or after the holocaust in Germany. The title, "Home," is bitterly ironic. Neither the speaker nor her parents feel at home in their country because of the persecution they face or have faced.
One prominent literary technique in the poem is the juxtaposition between words denoting the speaker—like "she" and "her," on the one hand, and the words "they" or "them" on the other. In the first stanza, the word "her" is repeated three times and the word "she" is repeated four times. On the other hand, the word "they" is used twice and the word "them" three times. The juxtaposition of these repeated words emphasizes the division in German society and also emphasizes how uncomfortable the speaker feels in her own country, which, as her home, should make her feel secure. She feels, however, as if she is different and as if she doesn't belong.
A second literary technique in the poem is euphemistic language. For example, when referring to the atrocities of the holocaust, the speaker says, "she knows what has been done." The speaker here uses softer and indirect euphemistic language to create a distance between her description and the reality of these atrocities—perhaps because these violent acts are still so raw for her. The euphemistic language here, at the beginning of the second stanza, also emphasizes by contrast the harsh reality of the final lines:

And as a child she must have playedWith people who in later lifeWould have killed her had she stayed.