Humanity

In The Book Thief by Mark Zusak, an emerging theme is Humanity since Jews are forced into hiding because of Hitlers reign and many civilians were forced to believe that Jews are horrible people, and that Hitler is right. Because of this “brainwash” over the civilians because of Hitlers speeches and the downfall of Germany after WWI, people turned to any hope, and that hope was Hitler. When Jews were forced out of their homes and were being threatened in Germany, many civilians, deep down, knew that dehumanization isn’t right, and that people shouldn’t be doing this to other people, just like how Hans Hubermann had felt ever since Hitler became the Fuhrer of Germany. When Hitler took it farther by sending Jews out into death marches and concentration camps, Hans couldn’t take it anymore. He knew this was wrong, and that people on the streets shouldn’t just watch innocent people, civilians, be treated like this. On a death march, Hans offered an old Jewish man a small piece of bread, but was beaten by a nearby SS officer who had witnessed such an “atrocity”. Hans was soon forced into joining the German army, and fortunately survived many attacks. This shows more of dehumanization of the humanity in Germany since Hans helped the Jewish man, he was sent to join the German army, even though he didn’t want to. Liesel, Hans Hubermann’s foster daughter, quickly learned that Jews were civilians of Germany as well, and shouldn’t be harmed. After Max’s arrival on 33 Himmel Street, Liesel grew fond of him and a strong bond was created through their love of literature and dialogue with each other. Since Max was a Jew, she realized that Jewish people aren’t different, and that they are just regular human beings. This shows that humanity was disrupted when Hitler became the Fuhrer of Germany. Even though he thought that “brainwashing” civilians into believing that Jews are bad, stronger people made sure others heard their opinions, even if it meant dying for them to be heard.

Significant Setting and mood in the book thief

An important setting and mood in The Book Thief was when Liesel, the main character in the novel, learns more about Max Vandenburg in her basement. Max is a Jewish fist fighter, and was sent to the Hubermann’s household so he wouldn’t have to be taken away to the concentration camps. After leaving his whole family behind, he reached Hans Hubermann’s home and there, Rosa and Hans Hubermann gave him some pea soup, some water, and a bed next to Liesel’s. When Liesel first learnt about Max, she was shocked because she didn’t know who he was. When she learned from Hans that Max is a Jew, she began to have mixed feelings. For example, when Rosa would clean his clothes, Liesel would think Max was disgusting. Hans knew that Liesel would eventually tell someone about Max, so he told her to keep her mouth shut or him, Rosa, and even her would be taken away, at the very least. After that threat, Liesel knew to keep this thought of holding a Jew in her house a secret. Max was moved into the basement after that too. After Max’s arrival, Liesel didn’t have much time for practicing words in the basement, so Hans continued Liesel’s lessons. She would also occasionally read in the basement with Max, since she had become very accustomed to his presence. Liesel then started to feel sorry for him, sitting in the cold, hard basement, with only Mein Kampf to read, so Liesel would bring the daily newspaper to him. She would also check if Max figured out the crossword or not. She then felt bad when he couldn’t enjoy the nice hot weather, so she would always tell him what the weather was, and occasionally leave the door open so Max could see the sunlight. This shows that the basement and the friendly relationship between Max and Liesel is significant because this was where they would chat together, and read books. When they were both reading, the unspoken “vibe” between them would be strong since they both loved to read. The basement would be where Max and Liesel would speak to each other and where Liesel would tell Max what her day was like. Max would tell Liesel about his life before escaping, and tell her tales of him winning and losing fist fights. As you can see, the basement was where the mood of friendship, comfort, and story-telling grew when Max Vandenburg  arrived on 33 Himmel Street.

“To their left, flames and burning books were cheered like heroes.”

In the novel, The Book Thief by Mark Zusak, the quote above is significant because it shows that the people of Germany celebrate Adolf Hitler’s birthday with passion and with content, and believe in his concepts and ideas with all their heart. For his birthday, German officials tell everyone to bring in something to throw in. Hitler considerably wanted some old books, but anything from old newspapers to flags worked too. When everyone brought their things to throw into the bonfire for Hitlers birthday celebration, Liesel’s foster family brought a flag, and threw it in. This quote and excerpt of the bonfire adds historical context to the story, and shows what time periods that Liesel’s story is from. For example, it showed how Hitlers “celebrations” went throughout Germany, and how people praised him. This quote also stood out to me because it showed how dehumanized Liesel’s generation and life became after Hitler became the next Führer of Germany.  I believe that this quote foreshadows that, because of the Germans belief and passion for Hitler, Germany would go to a long extents to push through and try to win WWII. It also shows that the German people will show commitment of Hitlers beliefs to win the war, show other countries that they are correct, and their belief of dehumanization is correct. They would show this through starting the Holocaust, the Night of Broken Glass, the Night of Long Knives, and through racist and horrifying propaganda and speeches that Hitler had started. Lastly, this quote connects to larger thematic ideas because this book really shows Hitlers ideas of trying to conquer the world by first brainwashing his own people in Germany, and then conquering the world by power and strength of his Nazi party, but eventually, Hitler’s whole plan of brain washing becomes Germany’s downfall.

Characterization of Liesel

In The Book Thief by Mark Zusak, the protagonist Liesel Meminger is one of the most significant characters in the whole book. Liesel is significant because she shows everyone perseverance after dealing with the loss of her brother and leaving her mother to live in a foster home. Even though she wasn’t over this huge loss, she tried to forget about it by bonding with her new family, and making friends with other kids in her neighborhood. Liesel is the protagonist in this novel because she’s the main character and narrator at different points of the novel. Also, The Book Thief tells the story of Liesel herself, and the antagonist, the perspective of death, writes that her story is inspiring and begins the whole book with his views on Liesel. Through the perspective of death, we learn of Liesel’s story and her unfortunate losses. Liesel herself is a shy, skinny, German girl, at around 10 years of age. When Liesel was on the train to her new foster home, her little brother, around 6 years old, had died, which added to her sadness. When Liesel finally arrives into her new foster home, she was meant to go with her brother, but after he died, she was so scared since Liesel was facing this new family all by herself. After finally getting out of the car, she began to learn about and from her new foster family. Her new “Mama” was Rosa Hubermann and her new “Papa” was Hugo Hubermann. She quickly learns that Rosa is very opinionated and makes sure Liesel knows each of her opinions of everyone she passes by. Rosa is also strict, which is the opposite of her father. Hugo, on the other hand, is a carefree, happy go lucky kind of person. He doesn’t have a good relationship with his wife, but he still loves her. Liesel, at around page 90, meets a boy named Rudy Steiner, who she loves to play with. After all these new people in her lives, they’ve grown Liesel and made her a new person. She’s finally accepted death and learned about how hard it is to cope with loss, she’s learned to accept her new family, Rosa and Hugo Hubermann, and she’s learned to trust her new friend.