Which character in the novel you sympathize with?

Explain why you sympathize with this

character with close reference to the text.

The novel I have learnt is Dear Mr. Kilmer by Anne Schraff.

This novel is about a boy named Richard Knight who loves poetry and hates violence.
He learnt many life lessons when he exchanged letters with Mr. Joyce Kilmer. The character I
sympathise with is Hannah Schemer because [she had to face discrimination throughout this
novel / she was a victim of prejudice and was discriminated].
First, Hannah was a victim of prejudice. This is shown in the novel during the Liberty
Bonds incident. This event began when the school held a patriotic programme to help sell
Liberty Bonds to help finance the war between America and Germany. Mrs. Hansen
organised an essay writing contest to choose who would play Lady Liberty and the
Doughboy. Richard won the Doughboy role while Hannah won the Lady Liberty role. In her
essay, Hannah wrote about peace based on her experience as a victim of prejudice due to
the war. Even though she wrote an excellent essay, nobody clapped hands as they were
prejudice towards her who was a German-American yet chosen to play the icon of America,
Lady Liberty.
Next, Hannah was also discriminated by her own classmates because she was
different from them. Hannah is a German-American and due to the war, many students saw
her as an enemy because of her origin. As a result, she was discriminated and bullied. For
example, Richard saw her crying in the hallway because her book cover was scribbled with
“Dirty Hun.” Hun was an insult used to refer to Germans. Other than that, Hannah’s family
tavern, Prairie Haus was also vandalised with “Dirty Huns” painted on the walls. This is also a
result of discrimination by some of irresponsible Turtle Lake residents.
In conclusion, I sympathise with Hannah Schemer because she had to go through
her daily life being discriminated and as a victim of prejudice. If I were Hannah, I would be
devastated and dejected if I received such treatment. In my opinion, we should not
discriminate innocent people only because they came from the same group of people we
dislike. People like Hannah and her family are more patriotic than others. Hannah’s brother,
Otto, joined the war to fight against Germany and he might have to kill his own relatives. So
the Turtle Lake residents should not have discriminated Hannah’s family just because they
had German root.