"What she missed most was the certainty of being able to share small details of your life with someone who knew you so well. Who else would possibly care what you'd thought while looking out of the window or what you'd eaten for breakfast?"
Here, Hegi emphasizes the feeling of loss after a loved one has died. She explains that it is the small thing we miss about the deceased, such as having someone to talk to about insignificant details of our lives. As the text spans over two wars, loss is something that many of the characters struggle with in the novel.
“Given a choice, she would rather be the one who was persecuted than the one doing the persecuting-- both had a terrible price to pay, but she would rather endure humiliation and fear than grow numb to what it was to be human.”
Here, Hegi draws on persecution, which is one of the key themes of the text. From the persecution of Jewish people by the Nazi regime, to the teasing of Trudi due to her disability, persecution is present throughout the text in many different forms. Hegi emphasizes the negative impact of both persecuting and being persecuted, but concludes that it is better to be persecuted than to persecute. This is because she believes that persecution requires a denial of one's own humanity.
“These are things," Trudi's father told her long before she was old enough for confession, "that the church calls sins, but they are part of being human. And those we need to embrace. The most important thing--" He paused. "--is to be kind.”
Here, Trudi's father offers a criticism of organized religion. He emphasizes that kindness is the most important thing. This is something that Trudi embodies throughout the text, showing kindness to people in vulnerable situations. For example, she hides Jewish people in her cellar, to help them avoid persecution.
