“But now all at once she remembered that she was in Frankfurt; everything that had happened the day before came back to her, and finally she recalled clearly the instructions that had been given her by the lady-housekeeper, as far as she had heard them. Heidi jumped out of bed and dressed herself; then she ran first to one window and then another; she wanted to see the sky and country outside; she felt like a bird in a cage behind those great curtains. But they were too heavy for her to put aside, so she crept underneath them to get to the window.” Again the writer uses very long sentences. Also this sentence tells us that she had finally remembered where she was. This sentence is written in such a way it feels like time is moving much faster than normal which is the main culprit that contributes to the pace of the passage.
Suddenly the writer changes the sentence length to short sentences from very long ones. The next few sentences talk about her trying to peek through the heavy curtains and see through the windows, but she is unable to do so. Also she is very scared as she can only see walls and windows and thus her place of living feels like a maze to her. “She could see nothing but walls and windows and again walls and windows. Heidi felt quite frightened.”
Her normal attitude was to wake up early and see nature. She wanted to see if the sky was blue and the sun was above the mountains. “Heidi was accustomed to get up early and run out at once to see how everything was looking, if the sky was blue and if the sun was already above the mountains, or if the fir trees were waving and the flowers had opened their eyes.” There is personification used to describe the fir trees as “waving” which is an action of a human during a greeting or farewell. Another personification is used by comparing the blooming of a flower to the opening of a human’s eye.
“As a bird, when it first finds itself in its bright new cage, darts hither and thither, trying the bars in turn to see if it cannot get through them and fly again into the open.” This phrase tells us that the writer is comparing Heidi to a bird who wishes to become free. Heidi wants to be as free as a bird and see the outside world. She cannot bear seeing only surrounded by walls and windows, she needs fresh air. She was longing to see green grass and unmelted snow but she was unable to get out. She tried opening the windows put it was of no avail. Later she remembers that she had seen only stones outside her house. And while she is imagining all these, her focus is broken due to Tinettes call for breakfast. This marks the start of direct speech in this extract. The weird thing is that Heidi didn’t understand Tinette by her language but by her expression.
So Heidi pulls out a stool, sits on it and waits patiently for something to happen. Then Fraulein Rottenmeier, a new character that is introduced into the passage, comes into the picture and calls Heidi by another name “What is the matter with you, Adelheid? Don't you understand what breakfast is? Come along at once!” This tells us that Heidi maybe the real name whereas Adelheid is the nickname. It could also be the other way around. Fraulein Rottenmeier appears to be a very grumpy person from his way of speaking. Also the writer has not told anything about the characters relationship with Heidi.
The writer introduces another character, Clara, who appears to be a very kind and cheerful person from her speech. “"Yes, they will," Clara assured her.” This tells us that Clara was a very optimistic person too. Another character, Sebastian, is introduced by Clara who is supposed to be a strong person as he can open the windows whereas neither Heidi nor Clara can do so.
“Fraulein Rottenmeier told her to follow and remain with Clara until the tutor should arrive and lessons begin.” The use of the words lessons and tutor tells us that Heidi was home taught and did not go to school. This is also the reason why she wanted to look out of the window. She did not like staying enclosed and wanted freedom.
After she found out that Sebastian can open the windows, she felt a “great relief” as she considered herself to be “shut up in prison.” This tells us that Heidi was not at all happy with her place of living and she never went to school. Also she was forced to stay inside the house and not go out as if she was a prisoner locked up in jail.
In my opinion, I feel that Heidi is a very sad girl. She is not allowed to leave her house and stays locked in as if she has committed a crime. She needs a bit of freedom. In life everyone needs a bit of freedom. Staying locked up in a place is worthless as u don’t know the outside world. The writer has done a marvellous job in describing the environment and emotions in such a way, that I could actually imagine the whole thing happening right in front of my eyes.
