Lies

Annemarie is aware of the lies that they are being told by her mother and her uncle. She questions her Uncle as he is milking the cow, stating, "you are lying to me. You and Mama both." Her uncle explains to her that they have not given her all the information, because they want to make it easier for her to be brave during this time, and that even they do not know everything about the situation to remain safer. This kind of guardianship from the truth is controversial, and goes against common societal ideas such as "knowledge is power". However, it is in fact a very common occurrence in our everyday lives. Lowry brings to light the reality of this common paradox, posing the question, when is it okay to keep secrets?

"Great-aunt Birte"

A curious conversation that Annemarie overhears between her mother and her Uncle Henrik brings up questions about what her family has become involved in. Lowry seems to paint distrust between the adults and the children, especially focused on Annemarie, as they tell her a lie about how they are clearing the living room for "their Great-aunt Birte's casket" when Annemarie knows that they don't have a Great-aunt Berte. It can be inferred from this scene that they have become involved in transporting Danish Jews, but the details of the situation are unclear, and Annemarie isn't aware of this being the case yet.

Reprieve

As Annemarie, her sister and mother, and her friend Ellen stay with her Uncle Henrik, there is a scene in which there is a definite reprieve from the stressors and the worries that the Nazi invasion has made them so accustomed to. They even joke about how the Nazis "relocate" their butter to the stomachs of their soldiers. That morning is a discontinuity of their stressful lives that Lowry put in in order to give the reader a glimpse of their lives before the Germans began intruding upon their lives.

Night

Lowry writes a seemingly unimportant detail into the text; the length of the nights in the upcoming months. As the girls went to bed at their Uncle Henrik's that night, Annemarie sees the moon in the night sky and begins thinking about how soon, the winter will bring longer nights and shorter days, especially in their northern Scandinavian country. To me, there is a sense of foreboding associated with this thought, because it seems that the theme of night will concurrently bring darkness in their lives.

Klampenborg

I thought that a specific portion of the text, when the girls were traveling with Mrs. Johansen on the train, was significant in its insignificance to the story. As they were passing Klampenborg, they begin talking about Dyrehaven, the deer park where people go to pet deer and get close to them. Little Kristi was confused, as she could not see the deer, and Mrs. Johansen told her, "They are hiding in the trees". I saw this as Lowry attempting to show that even the natural aspects of their life, in this case the deer, had been driven to hide, much like so many Jewish Danish citizens. Because the deer are known for being so friendly and innocent, it is significant that they, too, felt the need to hide from the harsh Germans.

Tivoli

One of the more significant scenes in the book was the scene in which the girls are playing together, and Annemarie and Ellen mention that they remember when they would see the fireworks in Tivoli gardens. Annemarie's little sister mentions that she had also seen them once, when truly their mother had told her that the loud booms and fire that had been lighting up the sky were the fireworks, when in reality it was the result of the bombs and fires the Nazi Germans had used to destroy Tivoli. To this day, Tivoli continues to be a national Danish landmark.

Cigarettes for Uncle Henrik

The author, Lois Lowry, did an excellent job of portraying the growing intensity of the Nazi invasion of Denmark using the character Ellen, Annemarie's best friend, who's Jewish heritage puts her in grave danger of entrapment. It has now been put on Annemarie's family, the Johansens, to protect her. They have only harbored her and not her parents, as they had gone to hide elsewhere. Overall, the invasiveness and intensity at which the Nazis/Germans seem to be forcing their regulations on the Danish seems to be escalating quite quickly at this point. It seems to be that the author did this with the intention of inducing the anxiety and unpreparedness felt by so many of the Danish citizens at the time. The author also includes slight longing reprieves from the gravity of the situation, throwing in scenes such as those where Annemarie and Ellen stare across the sea to the small land strip of Sweden in the distance, or when they reminisce about the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen that had been closed after the Germans burned part of them. Lowry seems to place these scenes into the text to provide a chance for character development to show in the girls, as they shed their childlike behaviors due to the adult-like stresses they have had to endure.

Number the Stars- Reality Sinks In

Continuing Number the Stars, it is clear to see that the reality of the situation of Annemarie's family and so many other Danish families becomes more and more apparent, as Nazi soldiers begin searching houses and hauling Jewish families away. Annemarie has certainly become more in tune with the gravity of the situation, as the Johansen family must take in one of Annemarie's friends, Ellen, as her parents hide elsewhere. The childlike innocence of the girls most certainly creates an even more prominent and sudden transition from their everyday lives to the new reality of Nazi soldiers barging through homes and pilfering through the most detailed aspects of peoples' lives. The gold star of David necklace that Ellen wore around her neck is significant to the story, as it highlights the harsh truth of her need to pretend to be someone she isn't when the girls must conceal it from the soldiers, and to give up her identity because of her situation.

Number the Stars- Lois Lowry

In beginning of the novel Number the Stars by Lois Lowry, I was able to get a good sense of what kind of characters and setting the author was trying to develop through the developing story. Lowry does an excellent job of portraying the ever-looming and suffocating presence of the Nazis in Copenhagen, Denmark during a time where conquest spread throughout the region. The presence of Nazi soldiers placed methodically about the city, their constant questioning of Danish citizens, and the closing of shops previously run by Jewish citizens is a perfect clue as to what may progress later on in the novel. Though the main character Annemarie Johansen seems to still have a childlike innocence about her at this point in the novel, there is most certainly a hint that her character will become more in tune with the reality of the situation as time progresses. The author is able to show this potential in her character as Annemarie begins to become more and more wary of the Nazi presence in Denmark, and of the hushed conversations between her mother and her mother's friend.