Have you ever read the novel, 'The Diary of a Young Girl Anne Frank?' This is a very famous novel
that dealt with Jewish holocaust from Nazis. The novel 'Number The Stars,' also dealt with this matter and it is
the best novel of selecting the right place that matches the storyline. The
story is about ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen rescuing her friend Ellen Rosen
from being relocated to concentration camps. The period and the place that the
writer set-up in this novel played an important role in developing a story.
First of
all, the period of the novel is during World War Ⅱ. Denmark
surrendered to Germany in 1940. King surrendered and overnight the soldiers
moved in because Denmark was a small country and had no power to defend. From
then on, for five years, German occupied the county. In that time, German
invaded Denmark and tried to take Jewish to the concentration camps. In this
novel, the author focused in one family. The setting made readers feel more
fearful because the novel was focusing on young girl's mind. Young girl,
Annemarie talked about the time period in a very honest way. She felt fear to
the soldiers standing in the street and always tried not to meet them. For Kirsti,
a younger sister of Annemarie, soldiers were simply part of the landscape,
something that had always been on every corner. Since Kirsti was born, German
army occupied Denmark, so Kirsti always saw the scene of angry soldiers
standing on the street and that became part of her normal life, which make the
story more tragic.
The novel
took place in Copenhagen, Denmark. There were lots of soldiers in Denmark at
that time to catch Jewish and relocate them in concentration camps. The soldiers
were all over the place and were ordered to catch Jewish, so soldiers doubted
all the people living there. Also, they punished people who hide Jewish in their house. At the
beginning of the story, there is a scene of Annemarie and Ellen running along
the street practicing for the race in school. However, as they reached the
corner soldier ordered them to stop running in a stern voice. Soldiers began to
asked their name, asked why they were running, and what is in the bag. Young
girls were too scared and Ellen was pale and even didn't move at all. At the
last part of the story, Annemarie noticed that Peter, her almost brother, was
dead. Peter had been captured and executed by the Germans in the public square
at Ryvangen, in Copenhagen. Until now, there are concentration camp remaining
in Copenhagen where Nazis locked up Jewish and tortured them. Therefore, Denmark
was an important place in the story that emphasize the tragic of that time.
To be
specific, the main place where the incidents took place was a harbor in
Copenhagen. Annemarie's family protected Ellen from getting caught by the
soldiers. Also, Ellen pretended to be a Annemarie's late older sister Lise, who
died earlier in the war. So, when the soldiers came and asked Annemarie a
question about her sister, it gave tension to the readers. After the incident,
Annemarie's family thought their house is no longer a safe place for hide, and
decided to send Ellen's family to a safer place. Due to the nice plan of uncle,
Ellen family was able to get on the boat without soldier's recognition. However,
Annemarie noticed that her uncle had left something very important and tried to
give that to the uncle before the boat leaves. This was the climax of the novel
and it took place at the harbor. On the way Annemarie goes to the harbor, she
had to avoid meeting the soldiers. The place, harbor was an appropriate place in
this scene because it made more tension to the story and told readers this is an
urgent situation.
To sum
up, 'Number the Stars' was a great
novel that the place and the time period were important. If the place of the novel
were not Denmark, and harbor, the story might have been boring. The time, World
War Ⅱ and the place, Denmark showed the tragic reality vividly
at that time. Therefore, particular situation and the location in this novel
helped readers to feel empathy to the character.
