Feelings Towards Others Cause Irrational Actions in Markus Zusak's The Book Thief

Throughout The Book Thief, Hans Hubermann, constantly shows courage and humanity when putting a Jew's life before his own. Hans, being the kind of man to care for others, regardless of religion, notices his friend’s Jewish shop being terrorized by some Nazis and decides to help him(Zusak 181). Hans Hubermann’s greatest obstacle throughout the book was that he didn’t believe in persecuting people of the Jewish faith, when the greater majority of German people did. He, unlike everyone else, was a rescuer, not a bystander. Instead of watching what was happening to the man, Hans decided to take action and help him. In doing this he has put a target on himself and risked his own life and family just because he didn’t agree with Hitler’s convictions.

Adolf Hitler is a prime example of the cruelty in humans in The Book Thief. Hitler fed the German people lies, conned them into his accepting his beliefs and then completely destroyed all hope throughout the entire country. He made people feel terrified for living lives guided by their own beliefs, and that they shouldn’t feel comfortable in their own bodies if their features were different than what Hitler said was acceptable. Liesel couldn’t even feel safe with herself because she had brown eyes. If a Nazi soldier were to see her and look into her eyes, it would be an automatic trip to death camp. When Liesel first meets Rudy, he shows her the road of yellow stars (Zusak 51). The road of yellow stars

Death is a very well-known figure that is feared by many in all countries. He is suspected of being cruel, disturbing and all synonyms of horrifying. Death is inevitable and that is the most fearing aspect of his persona. In Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, Death is made to seem or resemble humans. Effectively using the narration role, Death introduces a unique description and definition of colors in which he uses as a tool to effectively engage the readers to the events occurring throughout the book. He also demonstrates him personal and different experiences as well, mostly about soul gathering and the implications of WWII that have affected him. On the contrary to Death’s dead, appalling and scary nature that many interpret him to be

In a story, the setting is vital because it not only shows the characters surroundings, which will cause them to act a certain way, but it can also help to depict a theme. In The Book Thief, a novel by Markus Zusak, just like in many other books, the central setting helps to develop themes and ideas in the novel.

Guilt and shame can play important roles in both the creation and alleviation of conflict. In particular, shame can be an important factor in the development of conflicts. The nature of shame and the resulting tendencies to withdraw and lash out defensively can lead to escalation of an already tense situation. Max and Michael both suffer from guilt because of their desire to live and their abandonment of their family, both of them deal with this guilt by parting their relationship with their loved ones, when they feel this guilt it makes them enclosed and only talk to people who make them forget about this burden.

The acts of human nature can become a very difficult concept to understand. Markus Zusak uses Death throughout the The Book Thief to express the complexity of human nature. Death illustrates how complicated beings humans are and how they hold the capacity to act in both evil and beautiful ways. Throughout the novel Death helps give readers insight to the ignorance displayed and the pain it may cause a person. In the most troublesome and discriminatory times of the Holocaust, Death will point out the beautiful acts of compassion carried out by characters involved in the novel. Sometimes beauty and pain is mixed within the sacrifice some make for those they love and are loyal to.

The abstraction behind the term empathy is easily argued as one of society’s greatest misconceptions, actively acting as a redoubtable paragon of delusion. Much of this idea is founded upon the belief that the general collective are inherently good people. However, the concept, through its delusive facade, is repeatedly betrayed in the media as well as in various works of classical and modernized literature. As effectively portrayed in the novel, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, as well as in the film, The Boy in Striped Pyjamas directed by Mark Herman, this self gratifying concept created by society is recurrently illustrated and personified through the events of the holocaust. The basis of this argument is engendered by the belief that relationships— amatory or platonic— are radically based off the findings of common interests, more specifically those developed between the protagonist and supporting characters of each given story. This concept of empathy, although perceived in leading roles, is a non existent trait among humans that is recreated purely in the interest of convenience further demonstrating its delusory nature. Through friendships formed by elements of relatability, the struggle-some attempts at being sympathetically rounded, and prompted acts of benevolence that work in the favour of self image, this quality of empathy as argued inherent in humans is proven to be nothing more than an inventive trait idealized in fictitious characters.

Guilt plays a very big role in “The Book Thief”. It is one of the ways in which characters suffer. Guilt is a feeling of having done wrong or failed in an obligation. The feeling of guilt is inescapable and it constantly makes you “look behind your back”. Analyzing my observations, I concluded that there were two major characters that experience guilt: Hans Hubermann and Max Vandenburg. “Imagine smiling after a slap in the face. Then, think of doing it twenty-four hours a day.” (Zusak 211). This was a description of the feeling of guilt that Hans Hubermann was experiencing. He felt guilty because hiding a Jew. In Nazi Germany, this was very wrong. In fact, it was considered a crime. This feeling of guilt was eating him. Max Vandenburg was also being

In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Liesel Meminger, her family, and friends helped the Jewish people at the risk of being caught, similar to how real German people assisted the Jewish people during WWII. While others watched as soldiers marched Jewish people through Molching, Liesel’s foster father Hans tried to help: “The Jew stood before him, expecting another handful of derision, but he watched with everyone else as Hans… presented a piece of bread…” (Zusak 395). Hans felt pity for an old Jewish man and put himself in danger in order to help him. By helping the old man, he was put under suspicion.

According to Rush W. Dozier, Jr, "...No one escapes the experience of fear and fear's companion, pain. We are born in fear and pain. Our lives are profoundly shaped by them, as well as our efforts to avoid them.". Both of the novels, Blubber by Judy Blume, and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, explain how morality can be swayed by fear, at school with friends, or as a jew in Nazi Germany. Fear becomes more and more apparent as Hans Hubermann, a main character in The Book Thief, reveals that he does not agree with the Nazis, and when Jill Brenner, a main character in Blubber, goes against her morals for the sole purpose of fitting in with her peers. In both novels, dialogue, literary elements, and characters actions demonstrate that fear can motivate one’s actions more than morality.

The Book Thief shows many different people who deal with the guilt of living and this aspect of the book is important for others to read about because it shows how it is okay grieve someone's death but sometimes you need to move on and not be stuck in the past. This is also a very important aspect that is vital to the book because it shows more than just one problem the people in Nazi Germany faced other than the extermination of the Jews. The guilt of living is not a bad thing all the way through sometimes it helps people do things they would never imagine doing or risking their lives for others. Hans Hubermann taking in Max Vandenburg even though he was a Jew and this was illegal because he felt he owed Erik Vandenburg a favor for saving his life is an example of

Words can influence the mind in many ways that thought may not be able to. They are carefully placed and shared in different ways by each and every individual. Words have powerful impacts and can majorly impact how one may think, feel, or even lead others to feel. Written by Markus Zusak, “The Book Thief” describes a story of an innocent foster girl, Liesel Meminger, who resides in Munich, Germany at one of the most troubling time periods in history, Nazi Germany. A tale narrated by the one and only Death himself, shows the perspective from his point of view, as well as others, describing how Liesel had been seized away from her birth mother at a young age, and put into a foster family. Her new family, the Hubermanns. As she matures and grows into a more critical thinker, understanding and analyzing everything that carefully happens around her. Her foster-father, Hans guides her and teaches her how to read, which little does she know sparks her journey, the art of stealing books. Liesel soon discovers that words aren 't simply lines on a page, they are strong emotions packed into a form that merely is held in her delicate hands. Not only did she hold the pages of emotion, she held a power, a dangerous weapon of words, a weapon of control, and every book that she had stolen was giving her unimaginable power that made her think in ways that she would’ve never thought she could have. As with Nazi propaganda, and a gift that enabled her to broaden her worldview. Liesel evolves

The young Rudy grants humanity to someone who is commonly dehumanized when he retrieves a book for Liesel, feeds the jews bread, and gives the teddy bear to the dying pilot. Liesel is a young girl who has had a tough life. She has lost her biological mother, lost her brother, and he has been stationed at a foster home. Rody jumps into Liesel’s life, and giver her comfort through all the pain she has faced. One day, a bully threw Liesel's new book into the river and Rudy stood up for her when he “Jumped in, caught up to it, and held it in his right hand” (241). When Rudy retrieved this book, he was acting out against the bullying that Liesel faced, and he was acting in support of Liesel. Just as Hans Hubermann handed out bread to Jews, Rudy and Liesel do the same. This act could get Rudy in heaps of trouble, but he does so anyways in protest to the dehumanization of the Jews. We know Rudy and liesel are very happy and proud when they support humanity as “There was the trace of a grin on

“Even death has a heart” (Zusak 242). Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief is a novel of love, death, and survival. This novel consists of the love of a parent, the death of a friend, and the survival for those who are strong willed. Many were not compatible with the traumatizing events throughout the history of World War II, resulting with population decreases. Zusak’s The Book Thief is a story, narrated by Death, of Liesel Meminger and all her accounts with death and how she coped through it all; her survival was all through words. Throughout the novel, Death repeatedly adds his own thoughts and feelings of Liesel and the events around him. The Book Thief makes readers realize the power that words can have; we as readers just have to pay attention

“Here is a small fact: You are going to die”(Zusak 3). The Book Thief, a historical fiction book by Markus Zusak, is narrated by Death. The novel takes place during the 1930’s and 40’s in Nazi Germany and follows 9 year old Liesel Meminger, who death refers to as “The Book Thief.” After her father, mother, and then brother are killed, Liesel becomes an orphan and is taken in by Hans and Rosa Hubermann in Molching. Throughout the book, she meets many people including the Mayor’s wife, Isla Hermann, and Max Vandenburg, a Jew who is hiding from the Nazi’s in the Hubermann’s basement. Although Liesel’s life is filled with death and loss, she ends up surviving an air raid on her street and after the war, she is reunited with Max who survived