How Does Zusak Use Internal Resistance

Harper Lee’s novel, Go Set a Watchman, presents a southern society during the beginning of the civil rights era. Markus Zusak writes about a small town in Germany during WWII his novel The Book Thief. In each of their novels, Zusak and Lee present a society almost devoid of resistance due to the deep integration of prejudice and bigotry within their societies. While Lee’s novel focuses on an individual’s reconciliation with the society, Zusak focuses on an individual trying to overcome and grow out of that society. Despite their differing commentary on individuality, both Lee and Zusak show how complacency can lead societies and individuals into seemingly unaccountable atrocities.
Lee and Zusak both use the popular opinion in their novels

to demonstrate the level in which bigotry permeates these societies. When Jean Louise goes to follow Hank and her father to an unknown meeting, she stumbles upon a citizens’ council meeting filled with “not only most of the trash in Maycomb County, but the county’s most respectable men” as well (Lee 105). This meeting shocked her as the speaker “spewed filth from his mouth” while the whole town sat by and “condoned” his racist comments (Lee 111). In fact, this racism extends so far that citizens “must conform to its ways” to be a part of the society (Lee 231). This deep-seated racism and bigotry is likewise found in Zusak’s novel, beginning with the Hitler youth crying out “one united ‘heil Hitler’” (Zusak 109). This shout is to commence a large festival celebrating Hitler’s birthday and all of his ideals. The gathered crowd was a “horizon of Nazi flags and uniforms” that continuously “rose upward” (Zusak 110). “The crowd was itself,” entrenched in the ideology which pervaded throughout Nazi Germany (Zusak 110). There was no “reasoning with it” or escaping it (Zusak 110). This is a society fully devoted to its bigoted ideas and values. Just as it was necessary to conform to the southern society in Lee’s novel, so to was it necessary to join the overbearing Nazi ideology found in Zusak’s novel. These public displays of support for and concurrence with a hateful ideology by the masses establish these thoughts as grotesquely normal in these societies.
Lee and Zusak present their main characters as directly opposed to their own societies in order to establish a dichotomy between the known evil of the society and the perceived good of the character. In reaction to the seeing the hatred in the citizens’ council, Jean Louise is absolutely horrified. It brought about a physical reaction in her, causing her to feel sick and to begin “to tremble” (Lee 111). Even after she had left the citizens’ council and began to calm down, she “vomited up her Sunday dinner” (119). Jean Louise’s physical revulsion to the racism and acceptance and agreement to it that she encountered in the citizens’ council establishes her as completely opposed to it. While Jean Louise may be driven to a physical response to the evils of her society, Liesel responds vocally to the wrong she sees in her society. Just as a cry of “heil Hitler” (Zusak 109) started the festival, Liesel later reciprocated with her own shout of “I hate the Führer” (Zusak 115). Liesel is not hesitant to shout her opinion of the idol of her society, even if she is ignorant of the potential consequences. To make up for this shout, her father forces her to join in with the festivities to try to hide her outburst. Even then, she is in “absolute misery” as she repeats “Heil Hitler” (Zusak 116). Her reluctance to join in with praising Hitler and her open statement of outright hatred towards him easily establish Liesel as opposed to the common attitude of her society. While Jean Louise and Liesel differ in their individual responses to the hatred they see, Liesel with a vocal, more open statement of opposition and Jean Louise with her physical ailment, both show that they are directly opposed to what they see as wrong within their societies.
Despite the fact that Jean Louise and Liesel are both opposed to their society, they combat the evils they see with very different approaches: Jean Louise with an inherently pessimistic approach and Liesel with a more optimistic one. When Jean Louise confronts her father, she decides immediately that “she would not argue with him; that was useless” (Lee 238). Instead, she would only tell him how wrong he was and then leave. She knew that “she’d never won an argument from him in her life” (Lee 238). She chooses not to try to convince him that his actions are wrong despite having a chance to change him. She goes in with a pessimistic view only trying to shove her opinions onto her father and not even hoping to change him. In contrast, Liesel approaches her society with a more optimistic view. Even though she seldom makes any direct actions against her society in order to change it, Liesel continues on while being hopeful, affecting those that come in contact with her positively. While many her town is seeking shelter in bomb shelters, Liesel begins to read. In spite of the danger, she read. As she read, “the youngest kids were soothed by her voice” and everyone else was enthralled in her tale (381). This positive action of reading in a society that burns books comforts not only Liesel, but also those around her. This positive effect of Liesel’s actions is contrasting to Jean Louise’s negative effect. Regardless of the fact that they both try to challenge their society for the better, Jean Louise’s pessimistic attempt does little help while Liesel’s optimistic attempt helps Liesel and those around her.
While Jean Louise’s internal resistance in the end only truly affects her, Liesel’s external resistance has effects that are felt by those around her.

After her struggle with her father and those in Maycomb County, Jean Louise ended up changing none of them. Seeing this she decided that she does not “like the way these people do, and so [she has] no time for them” (Lee 267). She decided that she would not talk to the people she did not agree with. In the end though, she “stopped running” and “turned around” to face them again (Lee 266). This act of turning around was her acknowledgment of people with different opinions and values. Despite raising a cry against the inherent racism and bigotry she encountered in her town, Jean Louise ended up only changing herself. By focusing on changing herself and not necessarily trying to convince others of their wrongs, Jean Louise is mostly unsuccessful in changing her society for the better. Contrary to this, Liesel looks outward in her response to the bigotry she finds in her society. In a short story that closely mirrors her own world, Liesel is compared to a “word shaker” (Zusak 450). As the word shaker, she grows a giant tree of positive words among the trees of hateful words planted by those complacent to and in agreement with that society. Finally, her tree fell, in the forest of hateful words. Even though “it could never destroy” all of the hate, it left “a different-colored path” through it (Zusak 450). This story shows Liesel’s ability to impact those around her with her words. This outward approach to the problem allows Liesel to have more of an impact than Jean Louise did in her own society. While Jean Louise’s self-discovery was important for her, her intense inward focus acted antithetically to the larger injustices she encountered in her own society. Liesel was able to look beyond herself and combat the wrongs she encountered in her

society.
Lee’s Go Set a Watchman and Zusak’s The Book Thief both present societies deeply embedded in bigotry. Each also present a protagonist opposed to the society as a whole. While Lee’s Jean Louise ends up focusing too much on herself and is unable to change the society around her, she is able to accept those around her. Contrary to this, Zusak’s Liesel is able to both better herself and to change and help those around her. While self-discovery and introspection are important aspects of life, they are detrimental to challenging larger socially accepted injustices.