Number The Stars Annemarie Character Analysis Essay

In “Number the Stars” by Lois Lowry, we watch Annemarie slowly start to mature and realize the importance of information in the hostile world she is now living in. The most pivotal scene surrounding Annemarie’s maturity is in the beginning of Chapter 9 on pages 75-77. This scene is a reflection of Annemarie’s own perception of her bravery, before the climax of the book. While she thinks that she isn’t brave, her Uncle disagrees and after the conclusion of the book I am certain that all readers would agree with him.
In the previous scene Annemarie had become skeptical of the situation in the living room of her Uncle Henrik’s home, while she wants to believe her mother’s story of her great aunt Birte’s death, she notices some strange details. Chapter 9

While she sits watching him, she breaks the silence by saying, “Uncle Henrik… you are lying to me. You and Mama both.” He continued milking the cows without acknowledging her statement before stating, “You are angry”. At this point, the reader can tell that Annemarie feels betrayed, she tells her Uncle that her mother has never lied to her before and expresses her disappointment in her mother for lying to her for the first time. An interesting detail throughout the beginning of this scene is that Uncle Henrik never stops milking the cows and doing his job while they are talking, instead he lets Annemarie vent her frustrations while he continues. Then, when he finishes his job and puts away the materials he asks her suddenly “How brave are you, little Annemarie?”. I think that this moment is when Annemarie realizes that