Character Analysis
Daan's traditional mom and Jacob's "Dutch mom" isn't the easiest person to read. She's not the most thrilled when Geertrui invites Jacob for a visit without consulting her, and it turns out she doesn't really want him around once he's in the city either. Why? We're guessing that Jacob stirs up a lot of memories and trouble for Tessel since his grandpa was actually her dad.
It's clear that Tessel doesn't think of Jacob as her real father since Dirk raised her, but this doesn't change the fact that Geertrui wants her to know the truth. We get to see enough of Tessel's negative response to the news (or hear about it at least) to make us wonder whether the truth is always better to know. As Jacob questions whether he should let his grandma in on the secret about his grandpa, he's confronted with the fact that the truth has done Tessel no good—she'd rather not know.
She feels this way when it comes to the war too. She tells Jacob:
I wish people would stop. So much pain, why do we go on remembering it so much? It would be better if we forgot. But people say, no, we must always remember so that nothing like it ever happens again. To which I ask, when has the human race ever forgotten about their wars, and how much has that prevented another being fought? (14.56)
Tessel might pose this question to Jacob, but we (the audience) are being asked to think about it too, on account of how we're the ones reading the book and all. Is it important to remember war? Does it keep us from fighting again? We'd like to think it does, but look around the world—there have certainly been plenty of wars since WWII ended—so perhaps Tessel has a point.