The Book Thief Essay

758 Words2 Pages

Intro Of all of the MVS Core values represented in The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, I decided to focus on Kindness. I think that the kindness demonstrated by the characters throughout the story contrasts greatly with the hatefulness and death that was happening in Nazi Germany at the time. Finding kindness from unexpected sources in the middle of war and destruction was how the main characters survived and got through the hardest times. I think showing kindness during that time also became a way of showing bravery and strength. At first I found it strange that death narrarated the story, but I think that death narrates the story because it ties everything together. In most cases, for Liesel, death brought kindness. For example she was having …show more content…

Max later returned the kindness when he made a very special gift for Liesel. Next, when Liesel’s family thought that Max was going to die, Liesel gave him kindness by staying with him, reading to him, and giving him other presents. When the whole street went into the bomb shelter and could feel death close by, Liesel demonstrated kindness by reading aloud to distract them from their fear and make them feel better. It started out with her quietly reading to herself but then people quieted down and listened to the words that she was reading. Showing kindness during that time could also be an act against the government and against the whole entire Nazi Party. When Hans helped up and gave bread to an old Jewish man who was being whipped he was thrown away to the side of the road. He was a disgrase to the government and was sent to the army under the worst possible circumstances. Later Liesel and Rudy stored up some bread and handed it out to the Jewish people at the risk of there own safety. This act left them even more hungry than they already were and they almost got caught. After that Liesel looked for Max in the crowds of Jews marching down the street. She finally found him one day marching with the others. He too was looking for her, they saw each other and Liesel ran to him. He tried to get her to go …show more content…

When Liesel lost her brother death experienced a need to stay and watch as she grieved. “I buckled-I became interested. In the girl. Curiosity got the better of me, and I resigned myself to stay as long as my schedule allowed, and I watched.” Death as well as the characters in the story had a hard time with the war. He explained that in this quote “To me, war is like the new boss who expects the impossible. He stands over your shoulder repeating one thing, incessantly:” Get it done, get it done.” So you work harder. You get the job done. The boss, however, does not thank you. He asks for

Show More
Related

  • The Book Thief Morality Quotes

    922 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hans supports the Jewish community, who are viewed as ‘undesirables subhumans’ by society. The ethical values which Hans holds are apparent in the way he treats starving and helpless Jews traveling through Molching, “The Jew stood before him, expecting another handful of derision, but he watched with everyone else as Hans Hubermann held his hand out and presented a piece of bread” (Zusak 395). As a consequence of rejecting societal expectations and ideologies, the character Hans Hubermann solidifies the notion that every individual deserves basic human respect. Therefore, Hans develops a love for humanity and the individual he is helping through refusing to obey corrupt societal expectations. Aiding those who are injured is a gateway to love as it changes the world for the individual one is

    Read More

  • Book Thief And The Devil's Arithmetic Comparison

    278 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Book Thief and The Devil’s Arithmetic both focus on the prejudice Hitler had on different types of people during World War II. Liesel and Hannah both lost someone they had dearly loved. Liesel lost Rudy and Hannah lost many members of her family. In a time of fearfulness, both had told stories to the people surrounding them. Although both were not seen as equal in the eyes of many during their time, I see them as courageous and brave heroes after what they underwent.

    Read More

  • Dialectical Journal For The Book Thief

    1724 Words  | 4 Pages

    Part One: The first book that Liesel “stole” was The Grave Digger's Handbook. This is ironic because it was the day that her brother died and it was the last time she saw her mother. Himmel Street is ironic because Himmel= Heaven and Himmel Street did

    Read More

  • Theme Of Guilt In Fifth Business

    1195 Words  | 3 Pages

    Liesl is a significantly motivating character, that aids Dunstan to cope with and accept his guilt. Liesl reveals to Dunstan that by living a life of guilt, he loses a part of his life, “But you – there is a whole great piece of your life that is unlived, denied, set aside” (216). Liesl provides insight to Dunstan about the results of his constant guilt; it robbed him of his happiness. From this point on, Dunstan understands that he should live for himself, instead of living for others. Furthermore, after meeting Liesl, Dunstan is able to live a fulfilling life since he understands the purpose of his life. Therefore, Dunstan’s guilt makes him live in devotion to Mrs. Dempster, and he eventually learns that he must live a life for himself without the nature of

    Read More

  • Difficulties In The Book Thief

    1704 Words  | 4 Pages

    The main character Liesel, known as “the book thief” is who Death is looking over. Liesel, her mother, and brother are on a train to Munich. On the train ride her brother dies. She and her mother get off the train to bury him. The first book Liesel steals is from the gravediggers. They continue the journey to a town called Molching, where Liesel will be raised by foster parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann. Liesel adjusts to her new home life. Hans teaches Liesel how to read. The war is escalating in Germany. The town holds a book-burning to celebrate Hitler’s birthday. That’s when Liesel steals another book from the flames. Liesel’s job is to deliver laundry to the Hermann family. The Hermanns’ have a library full of books. Liesel is allowed to read them in the study. Meanwhile, a German-Jew named Max needs help, so he seeks out the Hubermanns. Max hides in the basement, so he is safe from the Nazis. Liesel begins stealing books from the Hermanns. The Nazis parade the Jews through the town of Molching on their way to the concentration camp for everyone to see. Liesel is given a blank notebook to write her own story. One night the neighborhood is bombed. Hans, Rosa, and the rest of the neighborhood is killed. Rescue workers find Liesel under the rubble. She leaves behind her finished book, called The Book Thief. Death, who has been watching, rescues the book. Liesel ends up living with the mayor

    Read More

  • Paradox In Ww2

    1140 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Book Thief is a novel, written by the author Markus, about a young german girl named Liesel who suffers the death of her brother, and the separation from her mother while becoming part of a small town in Germany called Molching. The narrator in The Book Thief, Death, tells Liesel’s story while giving hints that show the paradox of humanity does exist in the context of the main character’s actions during WW2. For example, at the end part 9 when Liesel and her best friend Rudy witnessed a plane crash in the town of Molching after many bomb attacks occurred, both approached the devastating scene. When both of them discovered the man in the plane was still alive, Rudy had reacted, “Carefully, he climbed to the dying man. He placed the smiling teddy bear cautiously onto the pilot’s shoulder. The tip of its ear touched his throat. The dying man breathed it in. He spoke. In English, he said, “Thank you.” (Zusak 490-491). In other words, Rudy had given this suffering man trapped in a crashed airplane a teddy bear, to comfort him in his death. The paradox of humanity can be found in this quote because Rudy, not caring about the fact that this man was probably off to kill people of Germany, gave this man comfort and an act of kindness. We can see two different sides of human behavior in this particular scene. One human showing care to another human that had different intentions of doing good

    Read More

  • We Are All Bystanders Analysis

    509 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the Book Thief, both Liesel and Hans have very altruistic personalities. When the Jew’s march through Himmel Street to get to Dachau, everyone knows where they are going. They watch them march by, walking around them and staring. 75 percent of Hungary’s 600,000 Jews were killed by the Nazis, and only a few brave people tried to save just one Jew. (We Are All Bystanders page 4) These people risked their lives to shelter Jews, much like Rosa and Hans Hubermann. As the Jews march to Dachau, and the residents of Himmel Street stand and watch the Jews marching towards their death at the concentration camps, Death writes, “The book thief could do nothing but watch them back in a long, incurable moment before they were gone again. She could only hope they could read the depth of sorrow in her face, to recognize that it was true, and not fleeting.” ( ) Liesel feels helpless, like she can’t do anything. She longs to call out to them and help but knows that it would be worthless. A few minutes later, however, Papa takes action. Papa quickly grabs something from his paint cart and helps an old man who was struggling to walk and gives him some bread. Papa took action when no one else would. Papa pays the consequence, but in that moment, Papa displayed moral courage. Papa’s selfless personality let him reach out to help the man, even

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Hatred In The Book Thief

    553 Words  | 2 Pages

    Zusak demonstrates this through Liesel’s relationship with her mum. Her mom left her to fend for herself with an unknown family because she and her husband were communists that greatly disliked by the Nazis. “A gang of tears trudged from her eyes as she held on and refused to go inside.” This quote shows that Liesel’s has a strong relationship with her mother due to the fact that she doesn’t want to be apart from her. This is important because it contradicts the well-known statement that a mother's love in unconditional. Zusak uses this to challenge a point that most deem a fact. The relationships that are most important are those with our family members as we expect endless love, yet even abject hatred can destroy the strongest of bonds. One must be careful to not let the hate projected upon one to them to create a mutual hate. Zusak shows how dislike is destructive through Max’s obsessive hatred towards his oppressed; the nazis. Max’s relationship with the Nazi’s is filled with anger because of how the way his people were treated and hated by Hitler. “White light lowered itself into a boxing ring … Diagonally across, Adolf Hitler stood in the corner with his entourage” In this excerpt, Max’s true hatred is shown by him visioning a fight between him and Hitler. Zusak displays how the Nazi’s dislike of the Jews leads to Max sharing the same feelings for the Nazi’s. Hatred can start off being one

    Read More

  • The Book Thief Theme Essay

    715 Words  | 2 Pages

    In The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, beauty and brutality is seen in many of the characters. Rudy, Liesel, and Rosa display examples of beauty and brutality often without realizing what exactly they are doing, because it is a part of their human nature. Zusak not only uses his characters, but also the setting of the novel in Nazi Germany to allude to his theme of the beauty and brutality of human nature. The time in which the novel is set, during World War II, displays great examples of beauty and brutality, such as the mistreatment of the Jews. As a result of this time period, the characters have to go through troubling times, which reveals their beautiful and brutal nature in certain circumstances. Zusak uses his characters and their experiences to demonstrate the theme of the beauty and brutality of human nature in the novel.

    Read More

  • The Book Thief And Rudy's Relationship

    667 Words  | 2 Pages

    The book takes place in WWII, and centers around what Death sees in this time. Death’s job is to collect the souls of many found dead, but he takes an interest in Liesel, who isn’t someone he really needed to pay attention to. However, he followed her because he pitied her, and The Book Thief is the story of her life, narrated by him. Everyone always tells you to find the silver lining in the bad things that happen, but this book doesn’t just tell someone to do that but shows someone how to do that. He makes Liesel’s best friend, Rudy, smile by showing him Liesel kissing his corpse. He follows Liesel because he sees something interesting in her, showing even Death has a heart. He chose to retell signs of good that he saw in the book, specifically

    Read More

  • Theme Of The Individual Vs. Society In The Book Thief

    1112 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many people, such as Liesel, conform to societal expectations in public while keeping their rebellion in private most of the time. They do this to survive in a culture that persecutes anybody that they disagree with or disagrees with them. For example, “‘I hate the Führer,’ she said. ‘I hate him.’… ‘Don’t ever say that!’… ‘You can say that in our house,’ he said, looking gravely at Liesel’s cheek. ‘But you never say it on the street, at school, at the BDM, never!’’ (p. 115-116) This was when Liesel found out that the Nazis took away her mother for being a communist and was naturally upset. Her foster father, Hans Hubermann, slapped her for saying that, at

    Read More

  • Why Is Liesel Wrong For Stealing Books?

    741 Words  | 2 Pages

    To begin, I personally don’t believe Liesel is wrong for stealing a book from the bonfire because it was going to be destroyed anyways. It shouldn’t harm or have a huge impact on someone else. The book could have been thrown out by someone who did not want it anymore. Her family cannot really afford books and Liesel is

    Read More

  • Book Thief Destruction

    1058 Words  | 3 Pages

    By “looking gravely at Liesel’s cheek”, he is extremely serious about the situation. However, he goes on to tell her that she “can say that in our house.” This essentially means Hans tolerates Liesel saying that, so long as Liesel never says it “on the street, at school, or at the BDM.” He does not want Liesel to get herself into trouble, so he decided to slap her to ultimately protect her, which is a thought-provoking moment. The two contrasts work together seamlessly to provide the idea that the destruction of Hans slapping Liesel is negated by the beauty in his willingness to protect her. Beauty intertwined with destruction is also present when the Himmel Street residents are in the bomb shelter, and Liesel begins to read to them. Death says, “The youngest kids were soothed by her voice, and everyone saw visions of the whistler running from the crime scene” (381). This quote shows the beauty of Liesel’s words alongside the ongoing air raid sirens. She was able to make the children

    Read More

  • Grief in Shakespeare's Hamlet

    1120 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many sources on grief declare it to be something that must be faced or it will never go away. Ophelia never faces her grief, but it does go away when she drowns herself. She resorts to singing to solve her problems, while Laertes takes to violence. He believes he will feel relief once Hamlet is dead. Hamlet, on the otherhand, grieves for his father and does not take action for some time. He also has strong feelings on how his mother should take a longer time to grieve for her former husband. These three characters endure the same sort of grief at times, but choose toreact differently. There is no right or wrong way to grieve, but as many of the characters in Hamlet discover, grief can overtake one’s life and lead to downfall.

    Read More

  • The Book Thief

    865 Words  | 2 Pages

    During Markus Zusak’s book we observe the beauty of humans at many times. One of the most beautiful things a human does is when Max, the jew the Hubermanns are hiding from the nazis, gives Liesel a book that he made himself. But he says that “Now I think we are friends, this girl and me. On her birthday it was she who gave a gift to me”(Zusak 235). Max made this book for leisel by taking paint from the basement and painting over pages in Mein Kampf. He lets the pages dry and then he writes a story on them. He makes this book for Liesel because he can’t afford to buy one, and even if he could he can’t leave the house. But when he gives Liesel the book we also examine humans doing something so unbelievably nice. Liesel accepts max as a friend. Which in the long run will help Max out a lot, because he is locked in the basement and he can’t even go up stairs during the day. So someone who is there to talk to him, and someone for him to talk to will help him out. Throughout this book we watch their friendship grow. Liesel feels bad for Max because he is stuck in the basement so on a regular basis she will tell Max what the weather is like...

    Read More

More about The Book Thief Essay

Open Document