Significance of The question game

The question game that Sara and Armin play at Sara's birthday party symbolizes the joy of being known. Though Sara is only a child and has no formal notion of romance or sexuality, she takes the attention of twelve-year-old Armin as a precious gift. By paying attention to her, by probing her childhood mind and forcing her to announce herself to him, Sara feels "like I finally exist. I'm a person. Someone with a favorite book and a favorite tree. A favorite shape, which is good, not bad. All those answers filled me like an empty house in a coloring book" (97). In this way, Sara attaches the experience of being fully known to Armin himself, which helps explain the love she has carried for him all the way into her thirties.