Max Vandenburg's Book Comparison Essay

The second portion of the book introduced us to the part of Liesel’s life in which Max Vandenburg became part of the Hubermann family. After Max arrived at the end of the first section, Viktor Chemmel and Franz Deutscher were introduced as well. At first, Max had an awkward relationship with the Hubermanns, but he and Liesel eventually became united by their shared love of words. Nevertheless, the issue of concealing Max from the Nazis became a problem for Liesel’s family, especially when Max fell ill, which is another major trouble that the Hubermanns were forced to endure. Another conflict occurred when Ilsa Hermann could not afford to pay Rosa to work anymore; Liesel

Liesel’s empowerment stems from three sovereign aspects, from discovering the influence of words through books, to discovering new ideas and concepts, and revolting against the horrific Nazi agenda. The younger generation in The Book Thief during Nazi Germany shows a constant hope for the Jewish people in the future. Liesel’s empowerment not only benefits her, but it benefits other people as well, like Max. “Now I think we are friends, this girl and me. On her birthday it was she who gave a gift to me” (Max 35.20) this quote reveals the trust that Max has put into Liesel because of her strong willed empowerment, which gives him strength to keep continuing his journey with the family.

This part of the novel resembles a point in Liesel’s character in which she was passionate about the things she was feeling - almost as if she was determined to do something about it. As this event occurred, Liesel was filled with anger about her parent’s disappearance. She had recently found out that Hitler had something to do with it, which pushed Liesel to the conclusion that Hitler was not a man to be celebrated. As her hatred for Nazi ideals grew, so did her bravery.

Liesel is being effected by the holocaust in many ways. I think Liesel only knows part of what's going on. She's be effected because her foster parents Rosa and Hans are hiding a jew. The jew's name is Max and they hide him in the basement. Liesel promised Papa that she wouldn't tell anyone about Max.

When Liesel asks Max if the book is good and he replies with ,"'It's the best book ever.' Looking at Papa, then back at the girl. 'It saved my life.'"(217) Words in this case had the power to save a life and it was just because they were the right words. If he was carrying a jewish book, he would have been taken away immediately by the Germans. Max challenges the core ideals of Nazi rule buy transforming his copy of Mein Kampf into the story of his life that he names The Standover Man.

Throughout the novel Liesel is known for having a close relationship with her father, Hans Hubermann, when Liesel first moved to Munich and started school she was falling behind the other students in her class. In order to help Liesel advance in her studies, Hans taught her to read and was her confident when she needed to discuss something. Hans Hubermann was one of many of Liesel's loved ones that died during the air raid on Himmel Street. Liesel's close relationship with her father left her devastated when she learned of his death, she also stated “Goodbye, Papa, you saved me. You taught me to read. No one can play like you. I’ll never drink champagne. No one can play like you.” (Page 361) The short and choppy sentences found in this quote may represent the fast heartbeat Liesel had as she said goodbye to Hans and felt the numbing attitude of guilt from having to start a new life without him or a home - the air raid destroying both. Survivor’s guilt is also felt by Michael Holtzapfel, a veteran of war and the son of Frau Holtzapfel. During the war his brother, Robert, dies in the field. When Michael is granted leave to return home, he “killed himself for wanting to live.” (Page 339) Also, during an aside that contains the

Max Vanderburg’s arrival is the third important experience in Liesel’s life. Hiding a Jew in their basement causes the family to be in huge danger because if the government found they were hiding a Jew, Hans and Rosa could be taken to prison. Max Vanderburg also serves as a good friend to Liesel to whom she can tell everything. Max starts writing and drawing things for Liesel which brings them even closer.

Max Vandenburg has experienced great loss similar to Liesel’s story. He is a German Jew that lives during World War 2. His father, Eric Vandenburg, was friends with Hans Hubberman, Liesel’s foster father, and Eric saved Hans’ life so now Max hopes that Hans is willing to help him. He feels extremely guilty that he left his family in order to save himself and believes that he had a choice to leave not that it was an act of survival. Max feels like he is a great burden to the Hubbermans because he knows that he is causing them serious danger by staying in their home but if he leaves there is a big chance that he will die. Max Vandenburg has started to get angrier and angrier at Hitler because of the situation Hitler has put him in. To release

Secondly, the dangerous exchanges the young adults make defy the Nazis' regulations. Max's transactions with Liesel shows major resistance towards the Nazi party. He paints over Mein Kampf and writes his own story over it to give to Liesel. This strengthens their bonds and gives a better understanding between them. The narrator states, “during that week, Max [has] cut out a collection of pages from Mein Kampf and paints over them in white”, he also continues, “on the paper that [has] bubbled and humped under the stress of drying paint, [does] he begin to write the story” (Zusak 223).

While at first there was very minimal contact between them, it didn’t take long until a deep bond between Liesel and Max formed. The Standover Man was given to Liesel as a late gift for her birthday and was a very short picture book about Max’s struggles, his strong connection with Liesel, and how much he appreciates all he feels she has done for him. The bond they already had before the making of this book was powerful enough as it was, but as a gift it had a similar effect as The Grave Digger’s Handbook in that it allowed for Liesel to comfortably add someone new into her family. This larger attachment to Max that was largely solidified through the gift of The Standover Man can be clearly seen through how Death, and by extension Zusak, described how guilty Liesel felt over the coma Max went through and how worried she was about his health. Aside from bonding them together, The Standover Man served to represent Liesel’s rebellious nature farther that just stealing a book as it was with The Shoulder Shrug, but by actually loving a Jew as family, strictly against the narrative that was being pushed by Hitler and that he proposed in his autobiography, Mein Kampf. This was done by painting over ripped pages of the Mein Kampf and using those pages as a sketchbook for Max in which he would paint things much as The Standover Man, which served as a token of gratitude from the Jewish Max to the German Liesel for her strong friendship, almost as a spit in Hitler’s and the Nazi’s face. Although The Word Shaker was written on painted pages of the Mein Kampf, Zusak didn’t make the pages visible as he did with The Standover Man because in this case the act of rebellion and main focus wasn’t the rejection of what the Mein

THrough out the story liesel shows her love for her papa, but it starts when liesel has nightmares ,and hans comforts her. “Possibly the only good think too come out of these nightmares, was that it brought hans hubermann, her new papa, into the room, too soothe her, too love her.” (Zusak36) Liesel thought that she lost everything. When hans started comforting her she began too have hope for happyness. Another person Liesel loves is max. Although not family by blood, they have a strong relation ship and in the end you see that. Max finds leisel after the bombing 2 years later. ¨Liesel came out. They hugged and vried and fell too the floor.¨

Max Vandenburg, who was a very supportive boy of Liesel, always helped her during her worst times and even her best times. Max had missed Liesel’s 12th birthday so he made her a little gift. He took a book called Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler, but made it his own called The Standover Man. He gave this book to Liesel as it symbolizes how people have always stood over him in his life to help him just like Liesel has. “During that week, Max had cut out a collection of pages from Mein Kampf and painted over them in white. He then hung them up with pegs on some string, from one end of the basement to the other … Only then, on the paper that had bubbled and humped under the stress of drying paint, did he begin to write the story. It was done with a small black paintbrush” (Zusak 223). This quote reflects the power of words because Max is doing this for Liesel since they are good friends, and since it's her birthday. This comes to show that Max is about positive words towards his friends, but mainly Liesel.

In Markus Zusak’s novel, The Book Thief, the character liesel Meminger, the heroine, becomes a kind, strong and brave girl since she finds hope in the book through the story. After Liesel meets Max, in the basements where Max hides, Max gets cold and becomes very sick due to the lack of fresh air and sunlight. To help Max recover, Liesel spends all of her times reading books to Max: “In place of The Whistler, she’d read The Standover Man several times at Max’s bedside. That was only a few minutes per reading. She’d also tried The Shoulder Shrug, even The Grave Digger’s Handbook, but none of it seemed quite right. I want something new, she thought.”(Chapter 44, 512). Liesel shows her friendship to Max. The hope and strength which she finds

The story of Liesel Meminger was told to you by Death. But how about another perspective; a perspective that provides more hope. No, we’re not going to be hopeful, we are going to be sanguine. Just like Liesel was.

Over time, they find things that draw them together and they become close friends. This is amazing because at the time Germans were completely against Jews and the only thing most of them wanted for them was for them was to be sent to concentration camps. Sharing the fact that they both “lost” their families, they realize that both have misfortunes, but they also realize that they can never give up. Eventually, they overcome their fears and nightmares. Liesel also teaches Max that he can express how he feels about everything through words. Liesel and Max both had some kind of a passion for reading and writing which created another strong bond. In times of hardship, they were both the quiet man, and the outgoing girl that were able to support each