Book Thief Destruction

In Markus Zusak’s best selling novel, ‘The Book Thief’ he utilizes a stark contrast of ideas in beauty and destruction. In real life, war and famine devastate the people of this world. At the same time, however, there are elements of beauty such as peace and love. Many events in the book display this contrast, such as Death’s exhaustion of the human race and their complexities, or when Hans slaps Liesel to protect her. Because Zusak interconnects beauty and destruction, he is suggesting that the kindness of humanity far outweighs it’s cruelty
Beauty and destruction are intertwined throughout the book. Hans Hubermann has to deal with the strain Nazi-Germany puts on his moral compass. Sometimes, it leads to situations in which he has to do what’s

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

Throughout the book, Death is seen as someone who is distraught and horrified of humanity’s inner workings. An example of this is when Death talks of the war and how he had to get through it. He says, “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” (309). Death is being pushed to the limit by the war. It “is like the new boss who expects the impossible.” The unrealistic expectations force Death to “work harder.” He overworks himself and becomes extremely tired and exhausted by the time he got “the job done.” By speaking “incessantly”, war is constantly telling Death to get the job done. The continual work and pressure makes him overwork. Death is continually exhausted by the wars in which he has to participate in. He doesn’t enjoy the horrid acts that humanity commits. He uses the kindness of humanity as a way to redeem the negative qualities that destroy it. An example of this is towards the end of the book, when Death is with Liesel, thinking, “I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words and stories so damning and brilliant....I am haunted by humans” (550). Humanity extremely confuses Death. He doesn’t understand how it can be “so ugly and so glorious” at the same time. In this case, “the same thing” he