King Christian Character Analysis in Number the Stars

The King of Denmark. Christian is a leader beloved by all his people, and rather than shutting himself away in his palace in trying times, he shows that he is as devoted to his subjects as they are to him by taking daily rides through the streets of Copenhagen on his horse.

King Christian Quotes in Number the Stars

The Number the Stars quotes below are all either spoken by King Christian or refer to King Christian. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity Theme Icon

).

Now she was ten, with long legs and no more silly dreams of pink-frosted cupcakes. And now she—and all the Danes—were to be bodyguard for Ellen, and Ellen’s parents, and all of Denmark’s Jews.

Would she die to protect them? Truly? Annemarie was honest enough to admit, there in the darkness, to herself, that she wasn’t sure.

For a moment she felt frightened. But she pulled the blanket up higher around her neck and relaxed. It was all imaginary, anyway—not real. It was only in the fairy tales that people were called upon to be so brave, to die for one another. Not in real-life Denmark. Oh, there were the soldiers; that was true. And the courageous Resistance leaders, who sometimes lost their lives; that was true, too.

But ordinary people like the Rosens and the Johansens? Annemarie admitted to herself, snuggling there in the quiet dark, that she was glad to be an ordinary person who would never be called upon for courage.

Related Characters: Annemarie Johansen, Ellen Rosen, Mrs. Johansen/Mama, Mr. Johansen/Papa, Mrs. Rosen, Mr. Rosen, King Christian

Page Number and Citation: 25-26

Explanation and Analysis:

King Christian Character Timeline in Number the Stars

The timeline below shows where the character King Christian appears in Number the Stars. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...of all, Hans Christian Andersen, was Danish himself. Kirsti begs for a story about a king and a queen, and Annemarie obliges, spinning a tale about a castle full of royalty—including... (full context)

...her Papa told her about witnessing the German soldiers’ confusion at the sight of the king riding through the city unattended by bodyguards. A young boy on the street turned to... (full context)

When the occupation first began many years ago, Annemarie struggled to understand why King Christian didn’t put up a fight against the Nazis and keep them out of Denmark. Papa... (full context)

...Annemarie tells her parents that just as all of Denmark serves as bodyguard to the king, they must now “be bodyguard[s] for the Jews, as well.” As Peter bids the family... (full context)

...loud noises Kirsti claims to remember was really an incident many months ago in which King Christian ordered the bombing of the entire Danish naval fleet to keep the ships from being... (full context)