My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry Character Analysis

Growing up is challenging even when things go right. When dealing with the death of one’s only friend/grandmother and constantly being bullied for being different, things are even more difficult. This is what Elsa, from Fredrik Backman’s My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, has to deal with. The two main themes of the novel are growing up and the importance of staying true to oneself throughout this process. My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry focuses on Elsa. She is a seven year old living with her pregnant mother and her mom’s boyfriend. Elsa is very different from other kids her age; she is an avid reader and does not conform to society’s standards of young girls. This causes her issues at school and prevents her from making friends. In fact, her only friend is her Granny, who lives in the same building as her. They do everything together. Granny tells her stories about The Land of Almost-Awake, where you go right before you fall asleep and even teaches her a secret language. Granny is much like Elsa in that she is different. Some people even see Granny as crazy, considering she has done things like throw monkey feces at police officers when her and Elsa broke into a zoo. Elsa does not know that Granny is battling cancer, and …show more content…
In the final letter of apology of the treasure hunt, she writes to Elsa and tells her: “You are the best of us all. Grow up and be diffrent and don't let anyone tell you not to be diffrent, because all superheros are diffrent”(365). Elsa receives this letter after Granny has passed. It indicates Granny’s greatest wish for Elsa’s future. Granny herself defied convention and became a doctor at a time when doctors were mostly male. She did not settle into the conventional role of a mother, and her actions saved many lives. It is her greatest hope that Elsa follows in her shoes and continues to be herself and continues to her