Empathy And Cruelty In The Book Thief By Markus Zusak

Empathy and cruelty are both aspects of the human soul and are accordingly evident in society and have been through the years. Written by Markus Zusak, The Book Thief is a story told in an omniscient view by the narrator, Death, who observes the life of a young foster girl named Liesel Meminger during the time period of Nazi Germany. Throughout Liesel’s life, Death explores the positive influence that relationships encountered in the book have on the human nature of the characters. The narrator then goes on by looking at the influence that the power of words have on people’s human nature. Finally, Death explores the impact that a specific book written by Adolf Hitler called Mein Kampf as on the human nature of the characters. Summarily, Markus

“Your papa did.” (Zusak 440).

At the beginning of the story, Rudy was stealing apples because he was starving but he later on decides to put his own hunger at risk to follow Hans Hubermann’s example and give out bread to the Jews. This shows that individuals can easily influence others to change their actions in a more positive way. Another example where this is shown is in a flashback of World War One, where Hans Hubermann was saved by Erik Vandenburg, Max Vandenburg’s father. “It said, “Hubermann, sir.” The voice belonged to Erik Vandenburg. He obviously thought that today wasn’t the appropriate time for his friend to die.” (Zusak 177). After Erik’s death, Hans takes the risk of sheltering Max in his basement. Hans’ relationship with Erik positively influenced his decision of sheltering Max because he knew he had to pay back his friend for sacrificing his life for him. Lastly, this is also shown in the relationship between Max Vandenburg and Walter Kugler. Both started fighting each other growing up but they soon became really close friends and Water, in the early years of the Holocaust, helped Max hide from the Nazis. The relationship between Max and