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Emma MacDonald

Mrs. Dietrich

Honors World Literature

29 May 2019

Body Bio Essay

The Holocaust was a global event that brought out the true colors and character traits of

all those who had to experience the tragic events. In the book, The Hiding Place, written by

Corrie ten Boom, all of the characters experience changes and go through hard times that lead to

their true traits and colors shining through. Nollie was the narrator, Corrie’s sister. Nollie goes to

college for teaching, gets married and has six children in the book. Throughout the course of the

book, Nollie experiences many rough situations that lead her to become a strong role model and

example throughout the book. Though she does not have the largest role in the book, her strong

and independent nature shines through to leave a lasting impression on the readers. Nollie ten

Boom’s traits of her unwavering faith, caring, and positiveness all support the common themes

for moral choices, the importance of family, and unconditional love through the tough times in

this book.

Nollie is one of the strongest examples of faith in this book, shown very clearly through

two certain occasions. The first being when the Nazi’s plunder her home for the first time, and

she tells the truth instead of lying and getting away with her hiding of the Jewish girl, Annalise,

“God honors the truth-telling with perfect protection!” (Ten Boom 93). First off, the fact that

Nollie takes on the risk of taking in the young Jewish girl proves her strong faith in God and care

for those in desperate need. Then, the fact that Nollie refuses to lie even though it would have

saved herself the trip to jail because she knows it is morally wrong. This truth-telling test is a big
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focus throughout the course of the whole book, and many of the other characters, including

Corrie fail to pass it and give in to the temptations of lying. The second examples, when Nollie is

speaking to the Nazi officer when he is arresting her, “’Keep the door of my lips’ Psalm One

Hundred Forty-One” (Ten Boom 93). Even in the times of her most desperate fear, Nollie turns

to her unwavering faith to get her through. Her mentioning of faith in God and belief in the Bible

was a brave moral decision because the Nazi officers could have punished her even more

severely simply because they hate the Jewish people and their beliefs. Her strong faith in God

leads to her caring attitude which proves her strong faith rooted by the connection within the ten

Boom family.

Nollie’s apparent care and concern for others and their needs, especially for those in her

family roots the theme of the importance of family. Throughout the course of the book, the

concern the ten Boom family has for each and every member that is a part of it is very prevalent.

Nollie, always putting the needs of the family first, is shown from the very beginning. During the

day of the centennial of the ten Boom watch shop, Nollie takes time out of her hectic day to bake

for the celebration, “Nollie came out of the kitchen, her pretty round face flushed with baking”

(Ten Boom 15). Nollie is a mother of six children and her whole day involves doing things for

them and providing for her family, and so when she stops the craziness of her life and puts it all

aside so that she can help out her sisters and her father for the party, it shows that she really has

care and concern for them. The ten Boom family exhibits strong characteristics and an admirable

ability to stick together through the horrible times they lived through and the family connection

is a strong theme. Nollie was just one link of this family, but a chain is only as strong as its

weakest link, so all of the members of the ten Boom family had to do their part in keeping the
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connection through the harsh days. Nollie’s bright and positive attitude really helped the family

in their times of desperate need.

Nollie from her description in the beginning of the book, had a unique ability to see the

brightness in the things around her and to find beauty in special objects. After Nollie’s arrest, the

whole ten Boom family is pretty shaken up and unsure about what is going to become of them,

but she finally returns home after her arrest, “Seven weeks in prison had left her pallid-faced, but

as radiantly Nollie as ever” (Ten Boom 119). This was a positive change from the anxious and

dismal feeling that the ten Boom’s had been feeling before since they were so worried about

Nollie. Nollie’s apparent strength through this time of struggle shows the constant theme of love

towards all through the darkest of days. Without Nollie’s looking on the bright side of thing the

ten Booms could have fallen into a slump which could have led to further punishment

consequences if anything were to have happened. This common theme is exhibited again when

Betsie and Corrie read the Bible and bring religion into the concentration camps, a big risk on

their part that they had the courage to take, for the benefit of the other people around them. This

can also support the common theme of finding light in the darkness which is basically the theme

in which the whole book revolves around.

Although not all of this evidence is very clear when simply reading the lines of the book,

The Hiding Place, written by Corrie ten Boom, can have a whole separate level of meaning when

read between the lines. There are multiple connections on so many levels that can be made.

Nollie and each character’s traits and qualities had beneficial effects that created the encouraging

atmosphere the book had. Nollie was faithful in the hardest of situations when she took on the

theme of moral choices. She was caring towards her immediate family as she realized her

position and the need for her in it. Lastly, Nollie was positive through one of the darkest periods
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in world history, the Holocaust, which reflects the unconditional love throughout the whole

story. All of these traits aid in forming Nollie’s character into the small, yet crucial role that she

plays. Even though she may have seemed small and insignificant, the book would have changed

a great deal without Nollie ten Boom.

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Works Cited

Ten Boom, Corrie, John Sherrill, and Elizabeth Sherill. The Hiding Place. Barbour Publishing,

Inc., 1971, Ohio.