96 pages • 3 hours read
Monica HesseGirl in the Blue Coat
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2016A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 21-24Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 21 Summary
Hanneke insists that Ollie and his friends assist in getting Mirjam out of the theater. Ollie is furious: “We’ve all been hoping you would help us with the resistance, with things that actually matter not just for one person, but for hundreds of people” (192). However, when Mina reveals that she has left her camera in the baby carriage, Ollie realizes that their whole group is already at risk. Ollie gathers them together, and early Sunday morning, they debate the best course of action. Mina offers to go into the camp herself and destroy the camera. Hanneke counters that she can get a Gestapo uniform. She reflects on her falling out with Elsbeth and remembers telling her friend, “I can’t forgive you for loving the side that killed Bas” (200).
Chapter 22 Summary
Hanneke arrives back at home, and her parents are both worried and furious. She says Mr. Kreuk kept her late at work, and her mother threatens to confront him. Hanneke implies she will lose her job if that happens. Just as she settles in, Willem arrives. She leaves again, telling her mother, “I’m not your child…I bring the money into the house. I buy the groceries…I’m the one who takes care of you” (207).
Chapter 23 Summary
Willem comforts Hanneke after her confrontation with her mother. Together, they try and figure out an escape route to take after retrieving the camera and rescuing Mirjam. Investigating the road between the theater and the train station, they find a large sculpture of a cow outside a butcher’s shop where Ollie and Hanneke can take cover. They also see that day’s group of Jewish people being transported for deportation. The group includes Hanneke’s third-grade teacher. The chilling sight helps her fully commit to the cause of resistance.
Chapter 24 Summary
Hanneke breaks into Elsbeth’s house to steal her husband’s uniform. The couple arrives home while she is there, and she hears their voices but avoids detection. When she returns home, she finds a note from Amalia folded into a star. It reads, “I don’t know where she is. I wish I did. I miss my friend, too” (222). She dreams that Bas is angry with her for failing to read his note. The next morning, Ollie arrives, telling Hanneke’s parents that his mother is sick and that she must come to the hospital with him.
Chapters 21-24 Analysis
These chapters demonstrate Hanneke’s change of heart, which represents her Personal Transformation During Wartime. They also show the thought process that leads to her decision to act like the “old” Hanneke, in the manner Bas would have expected. When she first locates Mirjam, her only concern is to save the girl, but it soon becomes clear that her fate is related to the fate of Ollie’s entire resistance cell since she and the baby carriage with Mina’s camera are bound for the same transport. She is scolded by the group for her selfishness, her single-minded focus on one girl, and the expectation that others put themselves at risk for her purposes. Mina offers to sacrifice her own life, and this bravery inspires Hanneke to take on the risk herself by finding a Gestapo uniform. Getting that uniform means breaking into Elsbeth’s house. Seeing her former best friend’s domestic life and hearing her voice when she unexpectedly comes home, Hanneke must acknowledge that their friendship is over once and for all: They have chosen opposite sides. This highlights the theme of Conflicts Between Love and Friendship. Since the stakes of wartime are so high, Hanneke cannot excuse or rationalize Elsbeth’s choice to marry a German soldier. In her mind, their relationship cannot be politically neutral; Hanneke feels it is a betrayal of her country and a rejection of her, personally.
Small and large acts of courage force Hanneke to stop acting as a free agent, out only for herself and her family. Aligning herself with the larger cause, though, also means that she must defy her parents. In order to free herself from their rules and act in accordance with her own values, Hanneke must tell her parents the truth that they have all been too timid to acknowledge: that she now cares for the family. This removes a major barrier to the family’s ability to communicate and marks an important step in Hanneke’s coming-of-age character arc. It also reflects the novel’s genre conventions. In YA fiction, the coming-of-age character arc typically involves a young protagonist undergoing significant personal growth and self-discovery. This journey begins with a sense of naivety or insecurity, as with Hanneke’s lack of awareness about the occupation. Through facing various challenges and experiences, including conflicts, relationship changes, and moral dilemmas, the YA protagonist learns valuable life lessons. At this stage in the novel, Hanneke has already confronted some of her fears, made pivotal choices, and gradually developed a stronger sense of identity and independence. This growth positions her to face her deepest fear: Learning the truth about Bas’s death.
