Hans' Dual Personality in The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The Book Thief is a historical fiction novel by Markus Zusak set in Munich, Germany during the Nazi reign from 1936-1943. The novel incorporates a main character that is, in the beginning, an innocent child who doesn't understand the world and takes her on a journey where she grows up and matures through the hardships and challenges of her life. The story is narrated by the character Death, who is a fresh take on the Grim Reaper, only wearing the black cloak when it's cold and never carries a syte. Death describes the life Liesel Meminger, an orphaned girl who witnesses her brother's death and burial and finds herself being adopted by the benevolent old couple, the Hubermanns. The rest of the story follows Liesel's journey through her incredibly challenging life with the Hubermanns and characters such as Rudy, The mayor's wife, and Max helping her along. Symbolism in The Book Thief deepens the story by conveying many different ideas and emotions that supports the reader's understanding of the story. This is especially apparent with the use of the gravediggers to help the reader remember characters, the use of color to help the reader feel the proper emotions and remember the correct events, and the use of Liesel's changing feelings about Rudy to convey how Liesel grows and matures through the book.

Reflection: The Book Thief contains many important concepts, but three of them play major roles in developing the characters and creating themes. One key concept discusses the power and significance of words. As seen in the novel, words can be used to influence people in negative and positive ways. For example, reading and writing save the lives of Hans, Max, and Liesel in the form of letters, a copy of MKPF, and Liesel’s life story. On the other hand, Hitler uses words to encourage the German people to hunt down and kill Jewish people. This shows how words can kill people and save people’s lives. Another important concept in The Book Thief is that life is unpredictable, and it can’t be meticulously planned out. Fate and chance will make a difference. This is shown when Hans switches seats with Reinhold Zucker in the military vehicle. Neither of them knows that the bus will crash, and the person in that seat will be killed. But fate isn’t tested, so Hans’s life is spared, and Zucker’s life is taken away. The last major concept, and perhaps the most important, is used as the framework for one of the most crucial themes. It is that humanity displays its duality in extreme ways. From Hans risking his life to give a piece of bread to a frail, old man, to Hitler killing six million Jews in cold blood, humans are capable of the amazingly kind and the incredibly

This also shows the reader that by Hans recognising the old jewish man as human, the life of the Jewish man is significantly impacted as he now feels something of worth and can die now knowing he is a human. This act of giving bread also impacts the life of Hans, as Hans is made to join the army in the most dangerous class of work as he is now seen as a ‘Jew Lover’. Through this quote the audience can see that change is inevitable and impacts the course of ones life, as through one act of kindness, two mens lives are significantly impacted. Zusak explores the concept of changing perspectives through how he incorporates the idea that change is inevitable and impacts the course of ones life, into the roles of his characters in his book ‘The Book Thief’.

“Why do I want to live? I shouldn’t want to but I do.” (Zusak 487) The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is encircled with the idea of trying to find freedom from one’s guilt. Several characters’ in this novel such as Hans Hubermann, Max Vandenburg, as well as Ilsa Hermann all experience guilt throughout the story which slowly eats away at their lives and it’s up to them as to how they will deal with their guilt. Guilt came in to Hans Hubermann’s life when he escapes death in World War I. Hans friend Erik, saves Hans life and now, Hans carries the guilt of Erik’s death and promises to help Erik’s family. Little did Hans know, that in the near future he would save Erik’s son, Max Vandenburg from death. Previously, Max Vandenburg left his family

The Book Thief, written by Markus Zusak, outlines the tragedies and events that take place in Liesel Meminger’s life, in Nazi Germany. Throughout this young girl’s struggle of living in the oppressive Nazi regime, she is able to learn crucial lessons about life and the art of survival- some that follow her to the grave. The most important lesson she learned and the pivotal theme of the novel is that rebellion can be and beneficial in certain situations.

According to Napoleon Bonaparte, courage isn’t having the strength to go on … it’s going on when you don’t have strength. Liesel, Max and Hans are the main characters in “The Book Thief” that have acts of courage entirely change their lives. This novel takes place during WWII in Germany. Countless Jews are desperately looking for the courage to endure the harsh rule of the Nazis. On the other hand there are some Germans who use their courage to stand against the Nazis in their own exceptional ways. The characters in “The Book Thief’ show acts of courage and this greatly affects the course of their life and relationships with other characters.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, shows the theme statement of surviver's guilt can be dealt with through kindness and friendship, and is proven in how characters manage the guilt by assisting the living. To start, Hans' life is

Death. To many, it is the end of life and start of a new beginning from this world, but in The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Death is our narrator. He is the one who guides us through the life of a young German girl named Liesel during Nazi Germany. Death manages to see her three times, and soon enough, becomes fascinated by her and the trials she must face in her life. Liesel manages to change Death’s character, surprising him in a way he thought humans never could and changing his viewpoint on them forever.

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.

In Markus Zusak's novel 'The Book Thief', human beauty is displayed through the actions and words of Hans Hubermann. Hans was never impatient or dismissive of Liesel, when she wanted to stay up reading or when she had her obligatory nightmares. Instead, he comforted her and gradually taught her to read. Hans took Liesel with him when he was painting and

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

“When a Jew shows up at your place of residence in the early hours of the morning, in the very birthplace of Nazismn, you’re likely to experience extreme levels of Discomfort, Anxiety, Disbelief and Paranoia.”, The propaganda of Hitler was the most important aspect in the The Book Thief because it often set the mood that I was feeling and that feeling was sick and cringing while reading the Novel. Before the war, The Nazi’s passed laws to effectively get rid of the Jews Human Rights and basically stripping and restricting them from being “human”. Max, The “Jewish Fist Fighter”, was a victim of the Propaganda and his presence served and reminded me the vast superiority that the German’s had against the Jews during the Holocaust.This made me think so negatively on the Propaganda that was set against the Jews and completely disagreeing with the way Hitler was seeing things because of the fact that for Max to be, “lucky”, lucky meant that his home was the Hubermann’s freezing basement

In Nazi Germany, the axis fought extremely hard to oppress Jews and dehumanize them. These ideals were pushed upon the German citizens relentlessly during Hitler's reign through laws. In the book, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, the author presents the readers with characters who are under Nazi rule. These characters are all affected by the government in different ways, but the overarching theme of the book is the dehumanization of good people. Hans, Rudy, and Liesel all give humanity back to someone who has been dehumanized, even in the face of adversity.

In Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, the importance groups and their consequences are evident in the character Hans Hubermann through his choice to keep a girl from a communist family and hide a Jew in the 1940s Germany. First of all, Hans Hubermann and his wife, Rosa, decide to take take in a young girl named Liesel, a brown-eyed girl whose father was Communist. Hans’ decision to only become a foster parent but also hold a girl without German features makes him unknowingly part of a group considered dangerous to the Germans at the time. Even though the consequences for keeping Liesel could result in suspicion by other Germans, he uses his heart rather than his knowledge of the repercussions to decide to keep her, therefore placing him in a class

If you believe in yourself and have dedication, pride, and never quit, you will be successful. Markus Zusak, the author of The Book Thief, creates a story of a young orphan named Liesel Meminger, who is living with her new foster family. She learns the wonders of reading from her foster father and grows to love books. During Liesel’s time with her new family, she shows determination through her efforts and kindness with her encounters with other people. Liesel in The Book Thief expresses her traits, such as hardworking, and bravery.