Henneke’s Decisions in Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse (Essay Sample)

Every challenge and decision people face can define who they are and what they value. In Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse, Hanneke Bakker is living in Amsterdam during the year 1943. As she is experiencing World War II with a black market job, soldiers patrolling the city have made life difficult to endure and have prompted people to look out only for themselves. On one of her errands for her job, Hanneke is met with a request from Mrs. Janssen, one of her customers, to find a missing girl named Mirjam. As a result, she becomes forced to choose between risking her family's safety or helping the girl Mrs. Janssen is desperately looking to find. Hanneke’s initial choice of refusing to help the resistance, along with her ultimate decision to help Mrs. Janssen, display her morals and values as well as the changes in them. 

Hanneke’s refusal to work with the Resistance despite her advantages as a black market worker highlights her value of self preservation. While talking to Ollie, her old friend, she is told that the resistance could use her help acquiring black market goods to help the people of Amsterdam. However, Hanneke refuses to help, despite her known resourcefulness. Even though Hanneke is aware of the resistance’s work of fighting Nazi oppression, she chooses to ignore it in order to guarantee her own safety first. She does the bare minimum as a black market worker to stay out of trouble and keep her family afloat. Hanneke’s carefully constructed lifestyle highlights her determination to survive. When Ollie tries to convince Hanneke to join the resistance, she responds, “None of that means I’m ready to risk my life. I already take care of my parents, and they would starve if something happened to me” (Hesse 62). Hanneke knows she is already risking her life but she is doing it for personal reasons. It is clear that she prefers to preserve her own life rather than risk it to save someone else. 

Hanneke’s choice to help Mrs. Janssen reflects her change in values. While talking to her during an errand, Hanneke is reminded about how much she cares about the people she loves and how hard it is to see them lost. She narrates as Mrs. Janssen says, “I need your help finding a person. Someone special to me. She looks over my shoulder, and I follow her line of vision to where her eyes are fixed on a portrait of her family” (Hesse 9). This interaction indicates that despite their little time together, Mirjam and Mrs. Janssen formed a bond strong enough to care for each other. Due to the loss of her family members, Mrs. Janssen became lonely, making it clear why she was adamant about finding Mirjam. The initial hesitancy Hanneke displayed is her survival instinct. She is familiar with the feelings of wanting to save someone but is not sure how to help because she will have to risk the lives of the people she loves. After leaving Mrs. Janssen’s house Hanneke thinks to herself, “Why do I know that this afternoon, unless I manage to talk myself out of it, I’ll go back to Mrs. Janssen’s?” (Hesse 23). Hanneke’s rhetorical question indicates that she has already started to come to terms with the fact that she cannot turn her back on someone in need. Before helping Mrs. Janssen, her routine pattern would be to drop off the goods to each customer and have no conversation. After learning about Mirjam, she began to start interacting with her customers more often and becoming interested in their needs outside of the things she sells. For example, Hanneke always thought of Mrs. de Vries, one of her customers, as a cold, conceited woman but the reason she acted like that was because she was hiding people in her home. Her learning this skill proves her growth in values. She is not being forced to help Mrs. Janssen out of guilt, but because she genuinely cares. Hanneke knowing she will help Mrs. Janssen highlights her care for others despite the desperate time she is living in. 

Being pushed into a tough lifestyle can force people to adapt, causing a change in one’s qualities and values. Hanneke’s choice of working such a dangerous job as well as deciding to help Mrs. Janssen defined her values in life. Despite working in the black market, she still found time to look for Mirjam. Similar to Hanneke’s situation, sometimes going off of the predetermined path can pay off. Throughout her journey in finding Mirjam, Hanneke was able to gain perspective on different people’s lives and how they deal with the things in her life. Her new perspective is shown when she began to interact with her customers more often and became slightly involved in their lives. This demonstrates her growth throughout the novel. Unlike in the beginning of the novel, she realized how relying on and working with others can be more productive and safe. As readers, knowing how to empathize with others can give perspective and insight to what other people go through.