ipl-logo

Book Thief Courage Quotes

734 Words3 Pages

However, another important lesson is on display, the value and significance of speaking truth to power and authority is shown through courageous and humane actions as well. These actions can influence others to stand up for what is right and can impact society as a whole. This is displayed in The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak. In the novel, the foster father of Liesel Meminger, Hans Hubermann, exhibits courage and humanity. As the actions he displays clearly disagrees with Hitler's point of view. Despite the risks, he decides to do the right thing and help a Jew publically. On one occasion, he performs an action that is described by the narrator as ‘magic’. The narrator explains how Hans “reached into his paint cart and pulled something out. …show more content…

In Germany, during the 1940’s, most people stood by as these events happened. Their behaviour is not unique to Germany and has been repeated throughout history. As the bystanders displacement of human weakness contributes to the genocide itself. More recently this type of behaviour was demonstrated in Rwanda. The film Hotel Rwanda articulates the significant impact that speaking truth to authority can have. Paul Rusesabagina, a wealthy hotel manager, attempts to save as many Tutsi civilian lives as he can. As the genocide worsened, Paul went to a Hutu General for help. The General offered Paul the chance to come with him to the new Hutu headquarters, where it was safe, because he had a good relationship with Paul. However, he refused. He explained to the general that in times of atrocity, humans must help one another and must rise above inhumanity. However, the general still insisted for Paul to come with him. He took a massive risk and he warned the General that he would be blamed for the massacre and Genocide, and persuaded him to help protect the Tutsis that were hiding out in Paul’s Hotel (George/Ho). The scene articulates how Paul influenced the General to use his power for

Show More
Related
702 Words | 3 Pages

Paul was a young soldier who did not have much to go back home to besides his family, but many other soldiers had families of their own. We saw Paul go through many challenges if it being watching his friend die, going back home, or killing his enemy. Paul was by his friends side the whole time that he was dieing. Paul friend Kemmerich had got his foot amputated and had died from all the bleeding and pain. In the novel we saw at the hospital how poorly the patients got treated and how quickly they got kicked out.

Read More
1054 Words | 5 Pages

He had felt his father growing weaker and, believing that the end was near, had thought by this separation to free himself of a burden that could diminish his own chance for survival.” - Elie Wiesel, Night. In Hotel Rwanda, Paul tried to bribe the Hutu soldiers into not killing his family and used the hotel that he owns to hide Tutsi people from Hutu soldiers. ” PAUL: "Here, here, a thousand US dollars - fifty thousand francs for my family. To let us drive off to the Mille Collines.

Read More
168 Words | 1 Pages

The novel The Book Thief by Markus Zusak has othering present by demonstrating how one of the main characters, Max, is Jewish during Nazi Germany and has dealt with othering and prejudice throughout the story. The author states "'Will you climb in here so that we can defeat this enemy(jews) together (Germany)? (254)''' The example demonstrates how Germany used "othering" against the Jewish community, and how it affected them. Furthermore, they had the mindset of "it's either them, or us," and Germany decided it would not be them to go down.

Read More
1014 Words | 5 Pages

When disaster struck, we all had to do something. I’m not saying I was a hero. All I did was slide around in the mud and try to pull people up” (83, 85). Paul does not think of himself as a hero on any means, even after risking his life to save others. This shows that he can’t see that he is a strong minded and important person.

Read More
1425 Words | 6 Pages

Paul is happy to be home but is frustrated by all of the questions. He is on leave and would prefer to not talk about the pain and suffering of the war. Paul is struggling with feeling at home as he has spent so much time away, and has already had close friends die and seen horrific things, why would he want to relive that? Especially because it is his mother, he doesn't want to explain the awful parts of the war. He then decides to lie to her.

Read More
945 Words | 4 Pages

In The Book Thief, there are many times when the characters have matured from being selfish to caring for others. Liesel,Rudy and Hans like most people in hard times would only care to help themselves survive but they grow to understand the importance of thinking and helping others. The novel teaches us that we need to be willing to look past ourselves and go help others even if that means putting our own safety on the

Read More
727 Words | 3 Pages

If not for his moral obligation to help others, for his own self-preservation Paul tells them they have to call in favors to stay alive: “We can only save ourselves. Many of you know influential people abroad. You must call these people” (George and Pearson 6). While the hotel setting serves as a place of refuge for Tutsi refugees and shapes the actions of Paul, it is his personal beliefs and values that drive his actions to protect the refugees. If not, his own experiences and sense of moral obligation to help those in need are important factors that shape his character development.

Read More
940 Words | 4 Pages

Luke Pitchford 5/16/24 Lamb The Book Thief Essay The Book Thief Books and words connect people in unknown ways. In the realistic fiction novel The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, a relationship that Liesel, the protagonist forges through words, is the relationship with Ilsa. Words contributed to the formation of the relationship because they both had a love for books.

Read More
483 Words | 2 Pages

The power of words in “The Book Thief” and the endless strength they carry is a prime topic throughout the book. “The Book Thief”, a novel narrated by Death about Liesel, a young German girl who is given up for adoption to live with the Hubermann’s shortly before World War II. Liesel discovers the power that words, written or spoken, have to transform people, relationships, and lives. In the novel, Mark Zusak uses the relationship between characters to signify the power of words. Within “The Book Thief” the author suggests that words hold much power and have a major role in crafting the relationships between the characters.

Read More
2274 Words | 10 Pages

In The Book Thief, Hans “held his hand out and presented a piece of bread, like magic” to a Jew that was starving in the concentration camp (Zusak 394). In the Nazi German society, this type of selflessness is looked down upon and punishable. The people in The Book Thief shamed him and “called him a Jew lover” and “was whipped on the street” (Zusak 394). Was this a pointless act that got both the Jew and Hans punished? Death, the narrator, believes that at least “the old man would die like a human” (Zusak 395).

Read More
1320 Words | 6 Pages

Faith is often thought of as simply believing in a religion or deity, but in the dictionary, faith is defined as complete trust in someone or something by. This definition of faith is shown in the works of Eliezer Wiesel, Markus Zusak, Alexander Kimel, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. In Night, Wiesel portrays his struggle with his faith in God during the Holocaust. Throughout The Book Thief, Zusak shows the faith which his characters, Liesel and Max, have in the Hubermanns. Kimel writes about his faith in God as a Jewish Holocaust survivor in “The Creed of a Holocaust Survivor,” and Roosevelt speaks about America’s faith in God and their soldiers during the D-Day attacks during World War II in his well-known “D-Day Prayer.”

Read More
891 Words | 4 Pages

Paul explains that he doesn’t anyone in his training camp. Across from his training camp, there was a Russian prison camp, which Paul explains that many of the Russian soldiers he sees there are very nervous about what is happening. He explains that the Russian soldiers look like peasants with a broad appearance. Paul explains that he is mostly also put on guard of the Russians that he is seeing. He sees that the Russians get along more with each other, almost like brothers, and wanted to know more about them, but he feels like cannot, and only sees them suffering more in the prisons.

Read More
542 Words | 3 Pages

When explaining the hardships of the jews, Death said,“Hans Hubermann held his hand out and presented a piece of bread,”(266). Hans Hubermann went against all Nazi ideals as he treated the jews like humans. While everyone in the crowd was able to ignore their pain, Hans went against Nazi ideals and tried to feed someone. Hans’ demonstrates his courage as he goes against the social norm to not interfere with the jews as he attempts to feed them, his actions in this selection advance the presence of the theme. Hans again is seen rebelling against societal expectations in Nazi

Read More
614 Words | 3 Pages

In the movie Hotel Rwanda, there are many people in the film who chose one of two paths dealing with the conflict between the Hutus and the Tutsi’s. The perfect example of a man that helped his Tutsi’s neighbors and later on ends up saving hundred/ thousands of Tutsi’s lives, was a Paul the house manager, a Hutu. Another example is Tatiana ,Paul wife, a Tutsi, who has too much of a good heart to let her people die. She pushes Paul to help her save her friends and neighbors. Pat, a white woman who helped orphan children, bought 10 Tutsi children to Paul to help keep them save.

Read More
978 Words | 4 Pages

To Heal and to Hurt: The Importance of Words in The Book Thief by Markus Zusak “Words do two major things. They provide food for the mind and create light for understanding and awareness.” This quote by Jim Rohn highlights the two major things words do, indicating they have a power, an important role in everyday lives. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is an outstanding representation of many topics including the most crucial one, the importance of words. It is the late 1930s to early 1940s in Germany during the World War II, and the main character, Death, cannot help himself but to be intrigued by Liesel Meminger’s story, a girl that lives in Munich, Germany on Himmel Street.

Read More

More about Book Thief Courage Quotes

Related Topics

Open Document