The Kindness and Cruelty of Humans Katie Vezina ENG 4U1 Braga Since the dawn of time, mankind has always struggled with the battle between good and evil. In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, kindness and cruelty is something nearly all of the characters struggle with. In World of Wonders by Robertson Davies, Paul is on the receiving end of kindness and cruelty and Willard acts cruelly. In “The Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas” directed by Mark Herman, the characters are challenged by the fight of good and evil in the course of World War Two. The novel World of Wonders, the novel The Book Thief, and the movie “The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas” exemplify the ongoing struggle between kindness and cruelty. All three works show that younger people's naivety …show more content…
In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, the children often act selfishly because they do not understand the realities of life. During the Second World War, Rudy and Liesel act very cruel towards the other people in their town. Death eventually reveals “The depressing pea soup and Rudy’s hunger finally drove them into thievery. It inspired their attachment to a group of older kids who stole from the farmers.” (Zusak, 150). Rudy and Liesel ended up robbing many people after this because they wanted food so desperately and did not realize that robbing people would not fix the issue. Later on in the novel, Liesel acts unkindly towards Isla Herman, the mayor’s wife. After Isla fired Liesel’s mother, Liesel says “It’s about time you faced the fact that your son is dead. He got killed! He got strangled and cut up more than twenty years ago! Or did he freeze to death? Either way, he’s dead! He’s dead and it’s pathetic that you sit here shivering in your own house to suffer for it. You think you’re the only one?” (Zusak, 253). Liesel is very young, and she doesn’t understand that it’s normal for a mother to mourn the loss of her son for a long while. Liesel treats Isla as though she is weak for being sad about her son’s death because Liesel is angry that she fired her mother. She does not understand that Isla had to fire her because of loss of money during the war. Isla did not fire her in …show more content…
Liesel’s goodness through the course of her life was rewarded to her in the long run. She lived a long life, something she genuinely deserved. In World of Wonders, Willard receives poetic justice through his death. Willard was a disgusting man, who lead a horrifying life. He hurt people and acted incredibly selfishly. While Paul is telling his life story, he says “Then he whirled me around, lifted me up on the seat in a kneeling position, pulled my pants down and sodomized me.” (Davies, 28). Willard raped Paul when he was young, permanently scarring him. Willard did not live a moral life. He died fittingly. When describing Willard’s death, Paul says “…for a few hours before the end he was a leaden color, and his mouth was open so it was possible to see it was almost black inside… he looked like one of those terrible drawings of a Daupier of a paper corpse.” (Davies, 128). Willard died in a very disgusting manner. He died as he lived. According to the novel, he deserves the manner in which he died. Even that did not do justice to the awful things he did to people. In the film “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas”, Ralf is the character that seems to receive the most karma. Ralf was the Commandant of a Jewish concentration camp during World War Two. He treated his children, his wife, his parents, his soldiers, and the Jewish people like they were nothing. He was an incredibly rude man. He received karma in the death of loved ones.
As Liesel matures from a child into a young woman, she learns the value and power of words. This evolution is clear considering Liesel
Impulsive Courage What is childish may be impulsive, but what is impulsive is not always childish. The term “childish” is often associated with foolishness and naivete, having a negative connotation. Children tend to act impulsively disregarding any danger or consequences. However, sometimes their actions can be seen as courageous and even wise, especially when their intentions are pure and righteous. On the contrary, many adults are disciplined to make wise decisions and not act impulsively, particularly when they have a family to take care of.
Glossary-bases connections: Nuremberg Laws: In the Book Thief Max mentions how he used to work at an Engineering Factory but when the Nuremberg Laws came into place he and all the other Jewish employees were fired. The Nuremberg Laws were a series of Anti-Semitic laws against Jews originated by the Nazi government in 1935. This is what caused Max to lose his job. Stereotypes:
Liesel has realized she must respect the man who was the reason for her and her entire families suffering. She has realized she officially has lost her home, that she is completely isolated from the community. “It was quite a sight seeing an eleven year old girl try not to cry on church steps, saluting fuhrer”(Zusak 115). After losing all of these emotionally wrecking things Liesel learns and understands she needs to keep going forward. She refuses to give up she although times are rough manages to think, it could be worse.
For most people, childhood is a time that should be celebrated because of the bliss and innocence one experiences then. For others, it is the complete opposite. Childhood for those few can be described as being full of uncertainty and fear. In The Book Thief, Markus Zusak portrays Liesel’s childhood and adolescence as a time of tribulation and terror after being separated from her family, having to conform to a society she did not agree with, and living surrounded by war and violence. At only nine years of age, Liesel was separated from her biological family.
In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, anticipation is one of the many ways narrative tension is being shown throughout the story. At the beginning of the story, Markus uses anticipation as a way to get the readers to keep reading. Zusak writes, “It’s just a small story really, about, among other things: * A girl *Some words * An accordionist *Some fanatical Germans *
The Book Thief is narrated by Death. Throughout the book he makes casual remarks about his job, but occasionally he puts the casual talk on hold, and that is when one can infer that he cares about something. Rudy Steiner was a talented boy, from running around a track, to soccer, to memorizing facts about ancient beings, he was the best of the best, and what is hard to like about that? Nearly all the time, death is associated with all objects depressing.
He killed himself for wanting to live” (Zusak 503). While Michael deals with guilt by self destructing, Liesel, the main character, handles guilt using other methods. Liesel encounters guilt through the death of her loved ones in addition to the sadness of losing everything she had. She deals with this guilt by stealing books and reading with her Papa. By stealing books, she achieved the famous nickname, the Book Thief.
A sacrifice can happen in many different ways for your family or simply for a friend. Either way a sacrifice can show someone what they truly hold dearly to themselves. Markus Zusak shows that there are many examples of characters sacrificing objects for their family in The Book Thief. A character whose sacrifices stood out to me was Hans Hubermann when he gave up his cigarettes to buy Liesel books for Christmas. Hans Hubermann makes many sacrifices for his family to provide to theme with happiness.
Comparing and Contrasting the complex mind of children and adults We live in cruel world full of bad people who do bad things and good people who are capable of doing bad things in the stories “The man in the well” and “If You Touched My Heart” readers witness several different types of people all of which except for one know right from wrong. The two stories both show how sick one’s mind can be as well as how cruel a person can be. Some at a very young age but also as adults.
The Book Thief Narrative Tension Markus Zusak uses all three forms of narrative tension in his story, The Book Thief, but it is clear that anticipation is the most used out of all of them. An early example of this is when Zusak uses anticipation at the beginning of the section, The Eclipse, to gain the reader's attention. Zusak foreshadows the future by using colors associated with certain events. Zusak starts The Eclipse by saying, “Next is the signature black, to show the poles of my versatility, if you like. It was the darkest moment before dawn.”
Humans lie and steal without hesitation to survive. That is how man is. However, human nature does not allow for cruelty to exist without the other end of the spectrum - kindness. In his novel, The Book Thief, Markus Zusak reveals the extreme malice possible in humans, along with the tenderness that stems from it. In times of hate and paranoia in Nazi Germany, ones who live morally are rare.
He even tried to push her away, but the girl was too strong.’” (511) The time of the Holocaust was hell-like for the Jews. Just because of their religion, they were harassed and and abused by the Germans in inhumane ways. However, Liesel was a girl who stood up for humanity and justice.
According to dictionary.com when the word savage is used a noun the definition depicts “a fierce, a brutal, or a cruel person”. The unit Lord of the Flies suggests that humans are naturally evil demonstrated by their cruel actions towards others and destructive behavior. Multiple sources identify that humans are naturally cruel because of their tendency to lash out towards weaker or subordinate beings around them. Another finding about humans is that embedded deep in their identity is their main trait of destructive behavior by trying to show superiority over others or by tearing things down for their own personal gain. The huge controversy is that humans are naturally angelic and kind hearted however this isn’t true seeing as how the about
Life is not always beautiful, that is a fact. It is a fact that every human being has come to realize. Another fact that we all know but cease to accept is that life is brutal, that is another fact, except that, it is a fact no one wanted to accept until that one turning point in a person’s journey in which they realize that there is not always a way out. In “The Book Thief”, the protagonist, Liesel Meminger comes to realize that in life, there is beauty and brutality, sometimes both combined together with a fine line between them. The author, Zusak, uses three out of the five senses-vision, hearing and the ability to feel, both physically and emotionally as imagery to communicate the ideas of beauty and brutality to the reader and enforce