Character Analysis
Mr. Hooft is one of the residents at Evergreen, the eldercare facility where Reese works. He's the kind of racist who's always talking about "you people" this and "you people" that. At first, he's really suspicious of Reese: "You murdered somebody? […] You raped a woman?" (7.66, 73), but over time he opens up to Reese about a difficult time in his childhood. Turns out Mr. Hooft, who's Dutch, spent part of his childhood in Dutch Indonesia. After being captured by Japanese soldiers, he was separated from his family and placed in a camp where his job there was literally loading dead bodies onto carts.
Mr. Hooft's life after that, though, was great—or at least that's what he tells Reese:
"When I went home to the Netherlands, I was a hero. My family treated me like a king. […] I came to American when I was twenty and only worked important jobs because I knew who I was." (18.49)
But after a visit from his grandson, John, Mr. Hooft breaks down and admits his life hasn't been so hot: "In five years, maybe I've had three visits, maybe four visits" (24.51), he tells Reese. When Reese wonders why he lied, Mr. Hooft says something very interesting:
"Everything in life is made up. You make up that you are happy. You make up that you are sad. You make up that you are in love. If you don't make up your own life, who's going to make it up for you? It's bad enough when you die and everybody can make up their own stories about you." (29.36)
This, along with a previous conversation they had about hope, leads Reese to realize that he can't just let life happen to him; he needs to make something up. And maybe that something can be good. It's a life-changing realization.
Mr. Hooft's friendship with Reese builds slowly over the course of the novel. His insults eventually give way to gentle joking ("Well, you have to remember you're not too good-looking" (24.61)) and even words of encouragement. In the epilogue, when Mr. Hooft dies, Mr. Hooft leaves Reese a gift and a note. The gift is a silver soap dish that he once accused Reese of wanting to steal, and the note is signed, "Your friend" (35.10). Cue the waterworks.