"The Girl" has a name!

  Through out the beginning of the book the main character is referred to as "the girl". So this had me confused, why keep one of the main characters name a secret. The one who is referred to as "the girl" is the little girl who goes through the Vel d'hiv roundup with her family in 1942. She remained nameless until page 118 when she is hiding at a farmer’s house; here she tells them that her name is Sirka! This was surprising because I was expecting her to say Sarah, because the title Sarah's Key made me think that was her name. So I thought that maybe Sirka was a Jewish name that could also mean Sarah or something. Then on page 132 she tells us her name is SARAH! FINALLY! Sirka is her baby name, but now she is referred to as Sarah, Sarah Starzynski. This was so exciting to finally have a name for her! But why no name at the beginning? I think it could possibly be because to have a name is to have an identity. Having an identity, especially in her situation can give more vulnerability. She didn't want Sarah to be vulnerable; she wanted her to be portrayed as a stronger, braver character. Being a vulnerable person in her situation is very dangerous, and once she felt she was out of danger she was ok with being more vulnerable. And by telling them her baby name first allowed her to have time to gain more trust with Jules and Genevieve. Once she saw that they were there to help she felt safer and was ok with being herself and more vulnerable. "The girl" has a name!