Brutality In The Book Thief

The Book Thief takes place in Germany during the reign of Adolf Hitler. When Hitler invaded Poland, France and Britain declared war on Germany, formally starting World War II. The Holocaust occurred during World War II in Nazi Germany; it was the deliberate murder of over six million Jews, and millions of others were traumatized by unrelenting treatment in concentration camps. There are numerous types of people in the world; one group presents ferocious qualities, and another group presents exemplary qualities; however, there are also people that balance both qualities. In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Zusak demonstrates the theme of beauty and brutality in human nature through the characters of Liesel Meminger, Hans Hubermann, and Rosa Hubermann. Markus Zusak portrays Liesel Meminger as a character that displays both brutality and beauty in human nature. Liesel represents beauty in the brutal world around her. An example of Liesel showing infernal qualities is when she and Rudy go to the mayor’s house to steal a book called The Whistler. Liesel gets Rudy to help her by

One example of her implementing brutality is when she calls the people around her out of their names. Rosa often calls Liesel and Hans a saukerl; a saukerl loosely translates to filthy pig, and she uses it to describe her loved ones. Although, that was an example of bad character, Rosa also implements good behavior; such as, going to Liesel’s school and pulling her out of class to tell her good news about Max waking up from his coma, she tells her in code because it cannot be known that they are hiding a Jew at their house. In addition to this, an example of beautiful behavior is Rosa allowing Max to stay in her house even though a Nazi soldier may catch her and send her to the crematorium. Rosa is another character Zusak uses to show there is beauty and brutality in the