The Book Thief Act 1 Scene 19

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PART ONE
Page 52
The Evidence: This page contains a panel sequence that relates to Vladek’s time as a prisoner of war. It begins with a German commander announcing that those who have been captured will assist in carrying dead and wounded German soldiers to Red Cross trucks. Here, Valdek is questioned of his whereabouts by two soldiers which he answers by leading them to the soldier he killed prior to being captured. This ends with Valdek coming face to face with the soldier and his remark, “And I said to myself: ‘Well, at least I did something.’”
My Understanding/Interpretation: This sequence comes to contain several meanings beyond that of the reader’s initial belief. In my interpretation of this, there comes to be two contrasting meanings …show more content…

In this page, Valdek speaks of the fact that he did not contain the right papers in boarding the train, yet boarded such with a clever plan. This being his successful attempt in convincing a train man that he was a Pole, like him, and gaining his assistance in getting to the right side of Poland to his family due to this “connection” and similarity with the Pole.
My Interpretation/Understanding: This scene includes the tensions present between the Germans and the Poles at the time. This is so as Valdek mentions that, “The Poles were very bitter on the Germans, so it was good to speak bad of them,” which refers to the tensions present with these two groups of people over territorial differences. This being due to German attempts to conquer the land at the time and the ongoing war present. This is a crucial aspect as it is not only a critical issue of the time, but Vladek's knowledge of such leads to his safe homecoming due to his ill-talk of the Germans. Besides this tension, I also came to interpret this scene to also speak of the racist and race-favoring values present at the time. This conclusion being based upon the fact that this train man was incredibly willing to aid Vladek due to Vladek's disguise as a Pole as it came to be evident that a Pole would be less inclined to aid a Jew, but loyal in assisting one of their own …show more content…

This is so as this scene comes to demonstrate the innocent and caring intentions of Valdek who gains the courage to ask for shoes, a belt and several other items for a friend who was in great need of such. This being the Jewish viewpoint of such as one, especially a Jew present in the Holocaust, can come to view Vladek's act of something noble in attempt to aid a friend. However, the supervisor’s angry response comes to illustrate German, Polish and other supporting races’ perspective on the Jews as the line, “You Jew! You’ve been here a few days and you’re ready to do business?!” comes to relate to the “business” and “profit-loving” Jewish stereotype that these races associate with Vladek's actions. In which one who contains this perspective can view Vladek's request as something containing audacity to ask for more once given something that was a gift. In other words, these panels come to illustrate the two contrasting perspectives present in the Holocaust as those against the Germans can view Vladek's actions as something of attempted kindness towards a friend, while those for the Germans contain a similar viewpoint as the angered supervisor who interpreted Vladek's actions to correlate with the “cheating” businessman

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