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Relationship between literature and the Society
Relationship between literature and the Society
Relationship between literature and the Society
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The developmental stage of a young child’s life is very crucial and can be impacted by the media. In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Liesel Meminger is a young girl living in a very important part of Germany’s history, the Second World War. Liesel’s childhood unfolds and develops against the backdrop of a time when words, books specifically were used for power and control. Liesel is someone who has a love for reading and, as such, books become very important to her, not only for her education but for her rebellion and discovering her true identity. Throughout the novel, books become a crucial symbol used to convey the desires and discovery of identity for the main character as her childish ignorance changes to her mature adulthood. After losing …show more content…
her mother and her brother, Liesel’s life and identity is changed drastically many times. It is through books that she discovers and becomes comfortable with this change. When she first meets Hans and Rosa Hubermann, her new foster parents, she does not wish to speak with them or get to know them. However, once Hans discovers Liesel with the book she stole when her brother was buried, The Gravedigger’s Manual, they bond over Hans teaching Liesel to read. Liesle describes the first time her and Hans have a lesson in the middle of the night: “She had done this at school, in the kindergarten class, but this time was better. … It was nice to watch Papa’s hand as he wrote the words and slowly constructed the primitive sketches” (Zusak 67). This quote describes Liesel’s first time feeling positively towards reading, something that she quickly grows to love and find comfort in. Liesel continues to read her entire life, something that before her Papa makes it enjoyable, she dislikes. Liesel becomes more comfortable with Hans, and with the huge change that having Hans as her father is, having never had a father that she can remember.
Liesel also bonds with another person in her life through books. When Max Vandenburg shows up suddenly in her life that she had finally settled and become comfortable with, she is required to change little things in her life that add up into something big. She goes from telling her best friend, Rudy, everything to needing to hide a huge secret from him; a secret that were it to be uncovered, would mean horrible things for everyone involved. Liesel becomes increasingly curious about Max and why she must keep him a secret. Her desire to learn more about the young man in her basement and the book he carries with him (Mein Kampf) causes the two to bond over books, with Liesel spending days trying to find a way to ask “Is it a good book?” (Zusak 210). When Liesel finally asks her question, “Sweeping away the anger, [Max] smiled at her” (Zusak 217). This is the start of a friendship that will last until Death comes to get them. Every relationship starts with an icebreaker and Liesel’s curiosity and desire to learn about Max’s book starts a relationship that affects her for the rest of her life. Two of the most important relationships in Liesel’s life at this point start and are strengthened by the power of …show more content…
books. The Second World War was wrought with propaganda and many claim that the reason Hitler was able to rise to power was because of words, especially his book, Mein Kampf.
Liesel’s life is heavily influenced and impacted by Nazi propaganda and it is through this that she learns the negative side that books have. Max writes Liesel a book in the painted over pages of Mein Kampf about the power of words and how kind words can be used to overcome hateful ones, something that she remembers for the rest of her life. Max writes in The Word Shaker, “It could never destroy all of it, but if nothing else, a different-colored path was carved through it” (Zusak 150). The passage from the novel uses an allegory in order to convey the importance of propaganda in Hitler’s rise; using trees as representatives of books and pamphlets, with characters who are meant to be Max and Liesel. It is through this story, hidden inside Hitler’s book, that Liesel discover that books can be used to help others but also hurt them. Either way, their will always be someone or something that uses even just one book to combat all the others. One book that was never meant to survive is The Shoulder Shrug, a book that Liesel stole from one of the many book burnings that took place across Germany. During a book burning that she attends, the leader says this in reference to the pile of Jewish books “And now we say goodbye to this trash, this poison” (Zusak 110).The book burnings were a way that the Nazi’s
controled the image of the Jewish people that they perpetuated, they were inferior, and as such, all of their works were inferior. The burning of the books was meant to show hatred, power and control of the Jewish people. This is one way that Liesel physically sees books being used to harm others, although she only just begins to realise that Hitler is not a good person. The book burnings are a catalyst for the downward spiral of Liesel’s love and admiration for Hitler to hatred. It is through the Nazi’s, Liesel realizes the power that books can hold over people and how many use that for negative reasons. A crucial symbol used to reflect the desires and discovery of identity for Liesel is books, which is demonstrated as her matureness of adulthood transforms from her childish ignorance. An important part of German history is the Second World War, and was the backdrop that Liesel Meminger’s childhood and developmental years was displayed against. This was a time when power and control was maintained through words, books specifically, Liesel learns about the importance of books through the media around her. As someone who holds a great love for reading, books become very important to Liesel. Throughout the novel, she not only uses books for her education, but for her rebellion and discovering her true identity.
Max uses Mein Kampf as a kind of cover so people wouldn’t suspect that he was a Jew and he escapes to the Hubermann’s house as Hans promised to help the Vandenburg’s if they ever needed it as he was friends with Max’s father in the war and Max’s father saved Hans’ life. Liesel is curious but also scared of Max at first but they bond over the fact that they both have nightmares, have lost their families and are both “fist-fighters” Since Max is always hiding in the basement, Liesel begins to describe the weather to him and brought him snow where they had a snowball fight and built a snowman with Hans and Rosa. Soon after, Max falls ill and she brings him 13 presents, hoping that he will wake up and reads to him every morning and night. Max also begins to share stories with Liesel and for her birthday makes her a book called “The Standover Man” which is about his life and journey. Max also begins to have daydreams where he fights Hitler and Hitler always uses his words to excite the crowd and uses them as a weapon. Liesel and Rudy also begin to steal food with a group of
In Markus Zusak’s novel, the book thief, Liesel Meminger is surrounded by death and fear as that is the norm in the 1930’s. Liesel is a strong young girl who has been deeply affected by her brother’s death and her mother leaving her and finds comfort in ‘The Grave Digger’s Handbook’, the book she stole at the site of her brother’s burial. Throughout the novel Liesel finds comfort in other books and reads them to escape the terrible reality that is Nazi Germany. Together with books she overcomes obstacles she wouldn't have been able to do without them
Liesel experiences abandonment throughout her life, and the novel during a suppressed time in World War II Germany. Through her experiences Liesel’s learns to equate abandonment with love knowing that circumstance have forced her loved ones to leave her.
One may hear the words love and abandonment and believe they are opposites, but this is not the case in The Book Thief. Markus Zusak uses abandonment to bring together two characters. One night Liesel and Max reveal to one another their reoccurring nightmares. Liesel has a dream where she feels abandoned by her mother and brother while Max has a dream where he abandons his family. Even though Liesel is abandoned and Max is the abandoner they both feel the same way toward what had occurred to each of them. Through this sharing of nightmares comes a special unspoken connection between the two. Liesel and Max go from strangers to practically brother and sister who love one another, which may seem odd for the love came directly from abandonment. Liesel’s first encounter with abandonment came from her brother dying on the train on the way to Liesel’s foster home. Liesel was very upset and hurt by her mother and did not under stand why she was doing this until later. “She saw it all so clearly. Her starving mother, her missing father. Kommunisten” (Zusak 111) Liesel connected the dots and realized that her mother was married to a communist, which was a great danger during the reign of Hitler. Liesel came to comprehend that her mother gave her up to keep her safe and away from Hitler. Her mother did all of this out of love for her. All the pain and suffering that Liesel has gone through has been caused by
This realization, although suspected by the narrator for a long time, shows the true irony of Liesel’s thefts: that she never needs to steal them. When she steals her last book, The Last Human Stranger, she even takes a plate of cookies and leaves a note. Although none of these books are featured as heavily as her first few thefts, their titles reference parts of Liesel’s struggles such as her relationship with Max, her role in uplifting her community in the bunker, her continuing education, and her status being the only survivor of the final bombing. In conclusion, the books which Liesel steals are very influential in her development through the course of the novel, with the titles themselves references other parts of her life.
8.The Standover Man: Max makes the book for Liesel’s birthday. In the book he talks about how they have things in common, and how she gave a gift to him on her birthday. It connects her to Max.
Unbeknownst to Liesel, Max secretly writes two graphic stories for her, enshrining the power of words, rewarding her developing power of words and giving her strength to write her own words. The Standover Man; the first of the two complete illustrated stories, encapsulates Max’s feelings towards Liesel and their developing friendship. Within the context of the story, Max is depicted as a bird- like creature who fears ‘men standing over’ him. His fear may be associated with the events of his life that have left him vulnerable, for example, losing his father at a young age and losing a fist fight to a friend. As the story progresses, it becomes evident that Liesel’s presence provides comfort to Max, as he begins to realise that ‘the best standover man [he’s] ever known is not a man at all’, but is Liesel; a companion who is ultimately able to redefine Max’s preconceived notion of ‘the standover man’, as being someone associated with abandonment and antagonism to a compassionate figure that he need not fear. The second story, The Word Shaker, written by Max, and created with the assistance of the Hubermanns, juxtaposes a book of oppression and detestation into a story of hope and resilience, to impart optimism within the reader. The fact that the faint text of the Mein Kampf does not leak through the painted pages, as it did in The Standover Man, is symbolic of how the only way to obliterate the legacy of Hitler is through the union of Jews and Germans. This is utterly uplifting, as they elicit the realisation that even for Max, who is secluded from the world and tormented by the Nazi morals, is powerful enough to overcome his fear of Hitler’s
Max showed her a side of the world that was technically forbidden for her German roots and family. Either way, her family housed a jewish person. Which was illegal at that time and punishable by death. Not a topic to take lightly. Anyways, Max wrote Liesel a book called “The Standover Man”. A quote from the book makes his story ironic. “It makes me understand that the best standover man I’ve ever known is not a man at all…” (Zusak, page 205, line 5-8) This is ironic because Liesel could be a man with her guts, but she is different. She doesn’t put up with any crap from anyone (but her parents of course), but she can also at the same time be very caring. She is as mean as an angry bull, but as nice as a caring mother with her newborn child. It’s kind of hard to think of any female being like that but that is how Liesel is
“I am haunted by humans” (Zusak 550). The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is about the horrors of World War II. Liesel and her family help out an old friend by hiding a Jew. Liesel also steals her first book when she at her brother’s funeral. Liesel Meminger’s remarkable actions like feeling good when she steals a book and her family hiding a Jew help demonstrate why Death is “haunted by humans”.
...by American bombers and everyone but Liesel dies on the street. Liesel only survives because she was writing a book of her own, and was in the basement when the bombs struck. When she is rescued by the police, she rushes to find her parents and Rudy, but only finds them both dead. The story ends with her being adopted by Ilsa Hermann. Of course, this does not mean the story is over; there is an epilogue. Max survives the war and later finds his way back to Liesel, who rejoices when they finally meet. When Liesel finally dies, death takes her away from the others and shows her the book that she was writing when the bombs fell. She asks him if he understood the meaning of it, to which he responds with his own sage advice. When death takes her soul away for good this time, and takes one last look at the title of the book. The Book Thief by Liesel Meminger.
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...
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.
Liesel Meminger, the book thief, is traveling with her mother and brother on a train to Munich. Liesel’s brother abruptly dies on the train and the train attendants stop the train so Liesel and her mother can get off and bury the body. Liesel spots a black book, The Gravedigger’s Handbook, in the snow after the burial and picks it up. Liesel doesn’t know how to read.
How does society and the characters identities influence the choices they make? Since The Book Thief is a historical fiction text, the fictitious characters interact in a realistic WWII setting in Germany. Three characters in the book,Liesel Meminger, Max Vandenburg, and Rudy steiner develop their identities within the parameters of the Nazi controlled society. However, if Liesel Meminger, Max Vandenburg, and Rudy Steiner were characters in today's society, their lives would be different.
With examples of family, love and friendship, expresses the hope that through the healing power of words, the corruption and hate in the world can come to an end. Even though the style of writing is simple and direct, it does a good job conveying the different themes of the story, including the different conflicts between politics and religion, separation of families, death, etc. The power of words is shown as soon as Liesel learns how to read. Her will for prosperity and curiosity becomes more powerful with every word she learns.