The Upstairs Room

Children’s innocence usually allows them to navigate the world without major worries. However, sometimes traumatic experiences force children to lose this naive outlook. Such is the case for Annie, whose experiences hiding from the Nazis, force her, over time, to face realities and assume responsibilities outside the realm of childhood innocence.

As the war begins, Annie is a carefree child who doesn’t fully grasp the magnitude of the war or her family’s situation. After they move outside Winterswijk, Annie is ecstatic when her father gets her a dog. She often took this puppy, Bobbie, out for walks and “stood in the field for a long time” (16), sometimes wandering far, exploring the land, and even making friends with a neighbor. She innocently wonders why no one’s worried about her and goes home only to hear more talk about the US, so she returns to the field, preferring exploration to a reality she doesn’t yet understand. Her innocence is apparent when she’s forced to wear a yellow Star of David: While the adults around her are furious, she thinks, “But the stars weren’t so bad. I fingered mine. It made me look grown-up” (21). Instead of feeling fear about how the star identifies her as Jewish, Annie delights in being more like the adults.