Anxious People

Anxious People

by

Fredrik Backman

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Jack’s sister and Jim’s daughter is seven years older than Jack. She never appears in person in the novel, as she’s addicted to heroin and lives almost a 24-hour drive away from the small town where Jack and Jim live. The narrator states that it’s impossible to tell when her substance abuse began, but since she became addicted, she’s stopped coming home—though she semi-regularly asks Jack for money to fly home, she never actually comes. Several years before the novel begins, Jack liquidated his savings to send her to rehab, but she didn’t complete the program, and Jack never got his money back. He stopped chasing her after this, while Jim continues to hope that his daughter will one day come home. Jim is motivated to help the robber in part because she resembles his daughter, and Jim’s wife insisted that her family members help “the ones they can.”

Jack’s Sister Quotes in Anxious People

The Anxious People quotes below are all either spoken by Jack’s Sister or refer to Jack’s Sister. 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:
Parenting and Fear Theme Icon
).
Chapter 65 Quotes

“What did you need the money from the bank robbery for?”

The desperation on her face revealed the chaos in her heart as she said: “To pay the rent. I needed six thousand five hundred. My husband’s lawyer was threatening to take the girls away from me if I didn’t have anywhere to live.”

Jim held onto the handrail to stop himself collapsing as his heart broke. Empathy is like vertigo. Six thousand five hundred, because she thought she’d lose her children otherwise. Her children.

“There are rules, legislation, no one can just take your children away from you simply because…,” he began, then thought better of it and said: “But now they can…now you’ve held up a bank and…” His voice almost gave out as he whispered: “You poor child, what have you got yourself mixed up in?”

Related Characters: The Bank Robber (speaker), Jim/Jack’s Dad/The Older Policeman (speaker), Jack’s Sister, The Monkey and the Frog/The Robber’s Daughters
Page Number: 294
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Anxious People LitChart as a printable PDF.
Anxious People PDF

Jack’s Sister Quotes in Anxious People

The Anxious People quotes below are all either spoken by Jack’s Sister or refer to Jack’s Sister. 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:
Parenting and Fear Theme Icon
).
Chapter 65 Quotes

“What did you need the money from the bank robbery for?”

The desperation on her face revealed the chaos in her heart as she said: “To pay the rent. I needed six thousand five hundred. My husband’s lawyer was threatening to take the girls away from me if I didn’t have anywhere to live.”

Jim held onto the handrail to stop himself collapsing as his heart broke. Empathy is like vertigo. Six thousand five hundred, because she thought she’d lose her children otherwise. Her children.

“There are rules, legislation, no one can just take your children away from you simply because…,” he began, then thought better of it and said: “But now they can…now you’ve held up a bank and…” His voice almost gave out as he whispered: “You poor child, what have you got yourself mixed up in?”

Related Characters: The Bank Robber (speaker), Jim/Jack’s Dad/The Older Policeman (speaker), Jack’s Sister, The Monkey and the Frog/The Robber’s Daughters
Page Number: 294
Explanation and Analysis: