The Novel ' American Pastoral ' By Philip Roth

Within every human being, through affirmation and recognition by others, one’s worth and value, a sense of belonging is formed. This concept is the main theme within the text, The Book Thief (2005) written by Markus Zusak. The main character, Liesel Meminger, is abandoned by her mother at the age of ten (10) she then spends the next few years finding where she belongs in the world. Throughout the novel Liesel's sense of belonging to the characters Hans Hubermann, Max Vandenburg and Adolf Hitler; the Fuhrer, result in shaping and influence her to view the world differently. This essay will be examining Liesel’s sense of belonging with each of these characters and their effect on her personality, views and ideas.

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’.

The writer of a fiction text uses plot, setting and characters to create imagery and influence the reader's response to how the author wishes the reader to perceive a situation. This can be done through many methods, which include detailed descriptions of any settings, detail of weather, characters stereotypical of society and colour association.

Although Nathan’s motives for forcing his family from 1950s urban America to the village Congo may be genuinely good, his ignorance

It wasn’t until Nathan started going to W.E. Waters when his views changed on his priorities. Being around his “own people” distracted him from seeing what his true goal in life was. Now, instead of focusing on his education, he instead focused on the latest trends and worried about fitting into the social scene believing that he “had to work on getting [his]

As Nathan was treated poorly throughout the story I really saw him forgive his wife time and time again throughout the book. After the death of Nathan and Ruth’s daughter Ariel their relationship was tested to the max. Ruth would isolate herself from her husband and she almost despised him for not being upset with the Lord. Ruth could not accept how Nathan turned to God because she blamed God for all of this. While Nathan was being ignored, looked as bad, or just despised by his wife, he did not fold in and say whatever I give up. Nathan had an understanding and forgiving mindset he understood why his wife felt like this. Nathan forgave his wife while she was in the progress of despises him. Nathan never acted this way towards her, he simply turned the other cheek. Nathan showed a great will power by being able to forgive his wife so easily. This spoke volumes because he simply lived his life in a forgiving manner. As Nathan showed his faith and forgiveness through the story I saw a true man of God. Nathan lived in such a way where he could forgive people for the things they did and this was because of how strong he was in his faith. Living a life like Nathan means to live a life for God. A true man of God allowed for Nathan to live a very purposeful life.

Brutality and Beauty are both aspects of the human spirit and therefore are evident in society and have been through the ages. History can be examined to bring forth examples of both, often side by side, often in times of great destruction such as in times of war. In the novel, The Book Thief, Marcus Zusak explores and compares the juxtaposition between great brutality and beauty in the human spirit evident in the German town of Molching during WW2. The author demonstrates how the characters in the novel can overcome cruelty and ruthlessness with acts of extraordinary kindness and humaneness. This is shown through the novel with Max and Liesel’s friendship, when Hans gives one of the Jewish camp prisoners a piece of bread and when Rosa and Hans protect Max from the Nazis. Zusak illustrates that a human’s capacity for hope is difficult to destroy regardless of the circumstances.

As an American Missionary, Nathan is there to not only spread Christianity but the concept of democracy as well, however this backfires for him. Tata Ndu holds elections to decide whether or not Jesus will be Kilanga’s God. When the elections then go against what Nathan believes to be right, he hypocritically tries to back peddle to which Tata Ndu calls him out for, “Ndu states that ‘white men have brought us many programs to improve our thinking… Jesus and elections’ are two. ‘You say these things are good. You cannot say now they are not good’” (Ognibene 25). Throughout the 50s, America undermined foreign powers, rigged elections and overthrew foreign governments in the name of democracy. This hypocritical violation of the basic foundations of democracy resonates throughout American history and Nathan’s

Most stories are not just stories written to entertain the reader. Intentional or not, writers are often commentating on the world around them. Social commentary is interwoven in the fabric of novels, and it is often up to the reader to determine what they take away from any given work. Although written for entertainment’s sake, stories usually include the social or political views of the author and serve as a platform for their views to be made known.

In The Book Thief, Markus Zusak presents the idea that color follows every person throughout their lives, and shows even in their deaths. As the novel is set in World War II, death is prevalent from the beginning to the very end, which is all described by a personified “Death” as the narrator. The Book Thief begins with a ten-year-old girl, Liesel Meminger, alone and orphaned, her mother taken by Nazis, and her brother dying. After years with living with her foster parents Rosa and Hans, and the Jewish man they hid, Max, Death takes many in the bombing of their home with the rest of Himmel Street. Through this story, the reader is able to pick up on a prominent interest of the narrator – color.

Human beings strived for a better life since the beginning. Mankind witnessed a never ending race for happiness, wealth, power and superiority. Many revolutions changed the course of history and became watershed events having great impact on the human life. While some of the ideas lived on, some of the ideas were short-lived. American Dream was one of such ideas which laid the foundation for the making of United States of America. The Statue of Liberty itself symbolizes the idea of the Great American Dream. The celebrated idea of American Dream had tremendous impact on the entire nation and influenced each and every individual in some way or the other. In fact, it became a significant subject in the course of history and played a quintessential

Homesteading alone was not an indicator for Conrad. Long time career tenure in Germany was not unusual during the Cold War era, especially for Soldiers with German wives. The U.S. Army had 200,000 troops in Germany at the time. Homesteading did not present itself to be an indicator until his actions to stay in Germany became more deliberate and noticeable. He cut short three subsequent tours in the United States in order to return to the G-3 war plans section at 8th Infantry Division (Tepley, 2010). Conrad convinced officers in his unit to pull favors for him, in order to stay in Germany. Conrad possessed a phenomenal work performance and keen ability to navigate both Army and German bureaucracy in support of his command (Sulick, 2013).

Structure and theme: The author of literary fiction explores the imagination for just the right story elements to describe an event in a series of scenes. The author then structures the story and establishes a thematic goal that will influence character and plot development.

The pastoral is a literary style that shows a formal pictures of rural life and the naturalness and innosence environment,which totally differ from the frustration and corruption in cities, the life of pastoralism is characterized by laughter, song and absolute freedom from care and anxiety. It is a life of sweet deliciousness and joy. Pastoral is a mode of literature in which author tried various techniques to place the complex life into simple one

The novelist employs some methods of representation, but he/she does so in the form of a narrative.The novelistdescribes life or experience of life which is content of the novel. Therefore, the content of life which is presented in the novel is important.