How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
So at home I stayed with only Sooji, my childhood teddy bear, to nurse while I watched the soldiers from my bedroom window. Every time one of their guns went off, the blast shook our house, rattling the windows and making the dust fly. (2.23)
We all had a teddy or a favorite toy when we were young. Geertrui's stands out in her life now though, since her life is no longer full of the thoughts and dreams of little kids. It's contrasted with this idea of the death going on around her—youth has no place in war, so she grows up.
Quote #2
"How would I know? Haven't been old yet."
"Nor had Anne, so how could she know?" (4.74-75)
When Jacob and Alma talk about youth and old age, we can't help but wonder the same thing as Alma: how does Anne Frank know about old age when she's just a kid? Jacob doesn't have a good answer, but we think it has something to do with the fact that she imagines what old age must be like, and thinks youth must be harder.
Quote #3
Jacob paused a moment to check his memory before saying, "Okay. It goes: 'For in its innermost depths youth is lonelier than old age.' I read this saying in some book and I've always remembered it, and found it to be true. Is it true then that grown-ups have a more difficult time here than we do? No. I know it isn't. Older people have formed their opinions about everything, and don't waver before they act. It's twice as hard for us young ones to hold our ground, and maintain our opinions, in a time when all ideals are being shattered and destroyed, when people are showing their worst side, and do not know whether to believe in truth and right and God." (4.85)
This quote from Anne preoccupies Jacob, so it's worth us looking at closely. As he works through it, he decides kids do have it harder than adults. Hmm… is that because they have to listen to what adults say? Do you think kids are lonelier than old folks? Why?
Quote #4
Mother touched my arm and said with a sad smile, "This week, I think you finally leave your childhood behind." And with that she got on with the job, and I too. (5.11)
Childhood complete, Geertrui's adulthood begins. Geertrui's mom tells her she's an adult when she has to help clean parts of Jacob's body she's never seen before. This makes us think that being an adult is really just a mentality—if someone can proclaim you an adult, and that's all it takes, then it must just be in our minds.
Quote #5
The old often say they remember their youth more clearly than the day before yesterday. But this is not it. I know these things because those few days and the few weeks that followed them were such an intensity of living, so much more than any other time of my life, that they are unforgettable. (5.28)
Geertrui tells us that she had such a passionate time in her youth that she remembers it so clearly. It seems like she remembers it more because it deals with the love of her life (Jacob) than because she was young and free.
Quote #6
Indeed, he was secretly pleased. He had grown up there, it belonged to his childhood. He regarded leaving it as the end of his childhood. By giving it up he had taken the next step towards becoming adult, a person in charge of himself. And achieving that state was something he had always wanted for as long as he could remember. (11.58)
Jacob wants to grow up and be in charge of his own life, but we can't help but wonder if he really knows what this means. Sure, moving in with grandma is a big step, but when Jacob shows up in Amsterdam, he's clueless and naïve—just like a kid.
Quote #7
Was I prepared to accept the consequences, I asked myself as I examined my body in the mirror in the candle-lit coldness of the night. And replied to myself aloud, with the brave arrogance of untried youth, "Yes. Yes, I am." (15.34)
When deciding to go to Jacob, Geertrui asks herself these questions, and decides to go hook up with him. We see that she's an adult not because of what she does with Jacob, but because she's willing to live with the consequences of whatever happens—and has the foresight to think of the consequences before she acts.
Quote #8
In the few weeks since we had last seen each other Dirk and I had lived through experiences that changed us. Neither was a youth any longer. We had entered into a new, adult phase. We both recognised this as soon as we looked in to the other's eyes before a word was said. And so our greeting was quieter than it would have been before, a little wary, but more tender too. (19.12)
We'd like to think not much can change in a few weeks, but by the time Dirk comes back from the Resistance, he's a different person, and so is Geertrui. They've experienced death and loss in ways that most young adults haven't, and this makes them bond together.
Quote #9
"Perhaps you lost some of your childhood innocence. Every time we learn an important lesson about life we suffer a sense of loss. That's my experience. We gain. But there's a cost." (22.66)
Alma says this about Jacob's sad experience at Anne Frank's house, and we think she's right. He wants to imagine that Anne is his own personal friend, but in reality, her book is one of the most widely read across the world. It's hard to change your idea about something without feeling a bit sad or emotional, just like Jacob does when he visits her house.
Quote #10
After the funeral my body will be cremated. Tessel and Daan spread my ashes in the Hartenstein Park at Oosterbeek. Dirk's ashes are there. Where we grew up and spent the days of our childhood with Henk. (22.83)
Geertrui tells Jacob this in her letter about where her body will be after she dies. Check out what she says about her final resting place: it's where they spent their childhood, back when they were innocent and free. She's come full circle.