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 33-34Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 33 Summary
The following Saturday, Hanneke takes a train to Kijkduin to find the real Mirjam and tell her what has happened. Mirjam is upset by the news, and hearing of Hanneke’s friendship with Elsbeth, she says, “You know what it’s like to love someone like you love yourself and then lose them” (293). Mirjam explains the secret that led Christoffel to cast Amalia out: Amalia complained to her uncle that the boy she loved, Christoffel, “would rather pine after a girl who had to hide in a furniture shop […] than be with [her]” (296). Her uncle then reported Mirjam’s family. Mirjam insists that Amalia “didn’t mean to” cause her family’s death (297).
Chapter 34 Summary
Hanneke returns home, at peace with the events that have transpired. She says, “I believe it’s possible to be healed without feeling whole” (300). She thinks back to a conversation with Bas, during which he said it was stupid to read the last page of a book first. He opened Hanneke’s book and wrote on the final page, “Everyone was mauled by a bear, it was very sad, let’s go get ice cream” (301). Then, he said to Hanneke, “Maybe the bear didn’t maul you. He just scratched you a little bit” (301).
Chapters 33-34 Analysis
The final chapters of the book mark the resolution of the mystery surrounding Mirjam’s disappearance, as well as Hanneke’s grief over Bas, finalizing her Personal Transformation During Wartime. Hanneke learns that Amalia turned in Mirjam’s family and that that was the reason Christoffel cast her out. Mirjam, however, forgave her friend and chose to believe that she did so accidentally. Hanneke is surprised by Mirjam’s defense of Amalia but also realizes that she would want others to believe the same thing about her and her friends: “We didn’t know. We didn’t mean it. It wasn’t our fault” (298). After beginning the of the book, which declares that it was Hanneke’s fault that Bas loved her and that he died, this represents a reversal for Hanneke. She is able to see that her boyfriend’s death was not her fault. Furthermore, she sees a clear parallel between Mirjam and Amalia’s friendship and her own with Elsbeth. Love came between the two young girls, just as it came between her and Elsbeth, highlighting the theme of Conflicts Between Love and Friendship. Although their friendship is over, she chooses to forgive and move on.
On the final page of the novel, Hanneke thinks back to another memory with Bas, and his inscription at the back of one of her books: “Maybe the bear didn’t maul you. He just scratched you a little bit” (301). These become, for Hanneke, Bas’s final words, as well as a metaphor for her grief. She is not mauled, or killed; she will go on, imperfectly healed. By the end of the novel, Hanneke emerges more mature, self-aware, and prepared to navigate the complexities of adulthood. This transformative arc is intended to resonate deeply with readers, reflecting their own journeys and potential for growth.
As a World-War II narrative, the resolution of Girl in the Blue Coat highlights the consequences of hatred, bigotry, and indifference. The characters’ individual and collective storylines are a reminder of the importance of standing against oppression and protecting human rights. It also shows how the documentation of Jewish experiences during World War II is essential for preserving history, educating future generations, honoring the memories of the victims, and drawing important moral and ethical lessons from a dark period in modern history. Using fictional characters living through real-world events helps the novel illustrate these deeper messages without resorting to exposition or didacticism. Bas’s line about the bear scratching rather than mauling Hanneke followed by the lighthearted suggestion of getting ice cream is a reminder to keep loss and personal trauma in perspective; even in the most difficult times, there is room for love, laughter, and hope.
