Emotional Adaption In Markus Zusak's The Book Thief

Emotional Adaption Since the beginning of time tragedy has shaped our history and molded us a species. Today one hears the stories of the millions of people who died as a result of the holocaust and wonder what emotions they must have felt. Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief follows the story of a young girl and her loved ones living just outside of Munich during World War Two. Characters such as Rosa, Liesel, and Frau Holtzapfel were particularly affected by such tragedies, often violations of their universal rights. In some cases these crises made them stronger and better prepared for future crises, in others the sheer amount of tragedy made them more susceptible to the growing pressures of the world. From the beginning of the novel Rosa Hubermann

When Hans received a letter stating that he was being sent to Russia to fight in World War Two, Liesel began to lose hope as “Rosa had a small rip [tear] beneath her right eye and within the minute her cardboard face was broken (418).” Rosa had seen too much suffering, experienced too much heartbreak to control her emotions. She was face-to-face with reality and couldn’t turn away as she was known to do. To make matters worse, Hans left Mölching during a dangerous time when bombs rained from the sky in Germany. After Hans left, Rosa -not being able to cope with the amount of danger faced by all of her loved ones- was seen by Liesel, “sitting on the edge of her bed with her husband’s

In the case of this novel the term “survival of the fittest” becomes heartbreakingly true. Liesel being prepared for the ultimate demise of almost everyone around her by each catastrophe she experienced throughout her life. Tragedy found her on her trip to the Hubermann’s house just before she was adopted. On the train, “There was an intense spurt of coughing […] and soon after – nothing […] Liesel Meminger could see without question that her younger brother, Werner, was now sideways and dead (20).” Liesel reacts to this situation as any girl of her age would. Disbelief overcomes her, soon after grief envelops her. The only person that would have been with her through the entire adoption process was gone. She cannot contain her emotions and is haunted by this awful memory for years to come. Despite this experience Liesel is able to pick up her life where she left off for the time being and continue, if somewhat painfully. She would feel pain similar to that day again, this time however it was physical. Liesel had found Max, a Jewish man who had stayed with the Hubermann family in hiding for a long period of time, in a crown of Jewish people being marched to the Dachau concentration camp. She stopped to hug him and talk to him, but the punishment that would ensue would leave scars for months, both physical and emotional. A soldier had