Rescue

Harper and Sylvie Kenyon are Meg’s parents. They are both characterized as kind, brave, and loving. Harper is British, and Sylvie is French.

At the beginning of the book, Meg notes that her mother often appears worried and evasive but keeps the farm running to provide food to the villagers. The young girl soon learns that Sylvie has been working with the resistance as a radio operator for about eight months and that she is “one of the best” (50), according to Captain Stewart. When the Nazis intercept one of her communications, Sylvie successfully deflects Lieutenant Becker’s suspicions but decides to send Meg away because she fears for her daughter’s safety.

Meanwhile, at the beginning of the book, Harper leaves his family to help with the war effort as a spy for the Special Operations Executive. When the Nazis take him prisoner, he is sent to help in a factory because of his background as an engineer. There, he uses his position to sabotage the Nazis’ work, but he and his accomplice are soon discovered. Their superior, Albert Durand, is able to help Harper escape to a secret location and offers to give that information to the SOE in exchange for safe passage to Spain. Those are the events that prompt Meg to travel with Albert, Liesel, and Jakob through the Pyrenees at the beginning of the story. By the novel’s end, the young girl reunites with her father in Switzerland, where he meets her after being successfully rescued by the SOE. They then plan to go to London, where Sylvie and her mother are waiting for them.

Jakob is a young German boy whose father worked with Harper and was discovered as a spy by the Nazis. Despite Albert’s efforts, Jakob’s parents were arrested, forcing Jakob to flee with Albert to safety.

When she first meets him, Meg describes Jakob as a young boy who “looked a little older than [her] and was definitely taller, with blond hair and blue eyes, and what appeared as an easy smile” (17). She later adds: “He had an easy smile and was fun to talk to, though I quickly discovered he had the strangest sense of humor” (94). The two of them soon become close friends despite Meg’s initial distrust of German people. Jakob points out that “The Nazis are evil, not the Germans” (58) and urges the young girl not to believe that “everyone is the same, just because they come from the same place” (113). When he is assaulted by a Frenchman who hears him speak German, Jakob comments:

‘I have never felt hatred like that before, just for who I am.’ He took a slow breath to calm himself. ‘The family we hid in our home tried to describe hatred to me, but I didn’t understand it before. The worst part is that I don’t think I understand it even now, not the way they would’ (175).

The young boy is characterized as funny and helpful. He often acts bravely yet impulsively and is always ready to go along with Meg’s reckless plans. By the end of the novel, he forgives Albert for being unable to help his parents before being unexpectedly reunited with them. Although he is not sure about what the future holds for him, Jakob’s character arc ends on a hopeful note.

Albert, whose assumed last name in the story is Durand, is a German engineer who worked at the same factory as Meg’s and Jakob’s fathers. When the latter were discovered as spies, Albert helped Harper escape but was unable to help Jakob’s parents, instead striking a bargain with the SOE. He would give them Harper’s location in exchange for safe passage out of Germany for him, Jakob, and Liesel. When Captain Stewart, who was meant to take them to Spain, is injured, he sends Meg on the mission instead. The Durands initially pretend to be a family of three to avoid detection, but Jakob soon reveals that they are not related.

When Meg first meets Albert, she describes him as follows: “His white hair was combed to one side, covering one bald patch and revealing another. His round glasses gave him a serious look, and his white beard gave him a grandfatherly look, though he seemed younger than that” (87).

Albert is characterized as smart, protective, and kind. He is a pacifist and refuses to use violence to achieve his goals, which often leads to conflict with Jakob, who is more impulsive. Albert is very aware of the harm caused by the Nazi regime, and his main goal is now to atone for his part in it: “Part of making up for my past behaviors is to gain the forgiveness of those who have been hurt by my country” (157). Throughout their journey, he is highly protective of Meg and Jakob, whom he comes to consider as family. At the end of the story, Albert’s quest for redemption concludes when he gives up all his money to bribe the Nazis into releasing Jakob’s parents.

Liesel, who is described as “a pretty woman with dark hair pulled into a tight bun, a trim build, and cautious eyes” (88), is introduced as a member of the Durand family. However, she is soon revealed to be a stranger trying to escape Nazi Germany alongside Albert and Jakob. She is characterized as determined, clever, and prone to emotional outbursts. When Meg suggests going to Switzerland rather than Spain, for instance, Liesel violently opposes her plan, seemingly worried about the young girl’s intentions. However, she later apologizes and tells Meg about her own daughter, Margarete, who is still in Germany.

Before the war, Liesel taught languages at the university. The Nazis then recruited her to work as a translator, but by the time she realized the truth about their actions, she was already trapped. The Nazis used Liesel’s daughter to pressure her into continuing to work for them, apparently prompting her to escape with Albert and Jakob. However, Meg eventually realizes that Liesel is a spy for Lieutenant Becker, who desires to infiltrate the resistance networks and map out their escape routes through the Pyrenees. In fact, throughout the narrative, Liesel secretly tells Becker about their movements by leaving coded signals.

In the end, when Meg confronts her, Liesel suggests that they leave her tied up to a tree to give them a chance to escape: “When I’m discovered, I’ll tell the Nazis that I tried to stop you from escaping. If I can make them believe me, I still may have a chance of saving my daughter” (288). Liesel’s dilemma illustrates The Moral Challenges of Resistance Efforts.