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Empathy And Cruelty In The Book Thief By Markus Zusak

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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 …show more content…

“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

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Books can change the way people live. Books can change religion, and even the way people live their lives. In Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, during the time of Hitler's reign, the book Mein Kampf has changed the lives of Germans and the characters. The books have been used as protection and even to express thoughts and feelings. Mein Kampf is significant to the novel because of the way Max and Germany used it, and the way it resulted.

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Liesel’s second relationship forms with Max Vandenburg, a Jewish man that hides in the Hubermanns’ basement, who grows into one of Liesel’s closest friends. Max and Liesel are similar in two ways, they both endure nightmares and take refuge and comfort in Hans. One sunny Monday, Max requests that Liesel describes the weather to him, as he desires a forbidden taste of life outside his confinement, “ ‘The sky is blue today. Max, and there is a big cloud, and it’s stretched out, like a rope… the sun is like a yellow hole’ ” (249).

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The Book Thief takes place during World War II in Nazi Germany: a place led by Hitler where ethics is disregarded by the majority. Whether or not people agree with Nazi views, wise-decision making

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The unbreakable, Max Vandenberg, Max Vandenberg is a Jewish fist-fighter who ends up hiding in the basement of the Hubermann’s residence. Max windups there because Max’s father saved Hans’s life in World War I, as a way of repaying Max’s father Hans takes Max into care, however, this inevitably positions the Hubermann’s life in grave jeopardy. Max also feels ashamed of his burden towards the Hubermann’s, since he knows that his presence means that the Hubermann’s are no longer safe. Besides from their deep hatred for Hitler, Max, and Liesel connect in plenty of ways, they both suffer nightmares about their bygones, as well as imagining themselves literary fighting Germans. They also use Hans Hubermann as a way to relieve themselves from problems

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This shows that he cares because Hans does everything he can for Max and gets him healthy which later helps him survive. Another example is when Death says, “Ilsa Hermann offered to carry the case, but Liesel held it firmly as they walked down the police station steps. [...] The mayor drove. Ilsa sat with her in the back” (Zusak 545).

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War is a violent conflict of people against each other, but war also brings about major struggles of a person against their own beliefs, wants, and feelings. Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief demonstrates this effectively as it follows a young girl named Liesel Meminger and the people involved in her life during the time of World War Two. The Book Thief serves as a powerful insight into the internal struggles of someone living during wartime showing characters internally battling with guilt, perseverance, and courage.

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The Book Thief, written by Markus Zusak, is an emotional narrative which tells a story about a young girl during the Holocaust. After her brother’s tragic death Liesel Meminger’s mother is forced to send her to a foster home. As Liesel starts her new life in Molching, a town in Nazi Germany, she hopes to improve her reading and writing skills. During her time in Molching, Liesel is exposed to many horrific events which impact her life. While dealing with these struggles Liesel gradually builds a relationship with Hans Hubermann, her foster father, in the hopes that he will teach her how to read.

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“I hate the Fuhrer,’ she said. I hate him” (115). Adolf Hitler is responsible for causing World War II and many deaths of millions of Jewish people. Throughout the story, Max Vandenburg is a character who is hiding from Hitler and all Nazis just because he is Jewish. He hides in the basement of the Hubermanns, Liesel Foster family home.

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Max not only is in danger himself, but puts Liesel's whole family at risk. “Now I think we are friends, this girl and me. On her birthday it was she who gave a gift to me,”(Zusak Ch 12). Liesel gave Max the gift of friendship, and that meant a lot to Max. Liesel hugs Max as an act of pity, but Max sees it more than that.

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Mark Zusak’s The Book Thief tells the captivating story of a young girl living in Nazi Germany. The book realistically portrays what life was like for those living under the rule of Adolf Hitler. The main character, Liesel Meminger, struggles to comply with the way of the Nazis, and finds herself rebelling against them in various circumstances. In this way the book inspires readers to think about what it means to be a hero, and to stand up for what one believes is right, although it may not be viewed as acceptable by society. Zusak’s passionate writing style can be seen through his ability to seemingly effortlessly capture an image or landscape and develop unique characters that readers can emotionally connect with.

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Since Hans is a good man, and had helped Jews in Molching before, he agreed to keep his promise to Max’s mother to help Max by sheltering him. Hans reasons for helping Jews were that he appreciated fairness, a Jew once saved his life, and he couldn’t join a party that antagonized people. These were the same reasons real-life Germans provided for assisting Jewish

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The novel ‘The Book Thief’ by Markus Zusak follows the story of a young girl while depicting Germany during the Third Reich. Even though the novel’s context, the Third Reich, has been the inspiration and focus of many literary works, Markus Zusak manages to make the ‘The Book Thief’ stand out. A major contributing factor to this is that Death was chosen as the narrator. In his novel Markus Zusak portrays a Death who is different to the standard, westernised depiction of Death. The author distances himself from beliefs such as Death being a Grim Reaper, and develops a Death who is quite similar to humans.

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One by one they climbed into the ring and beat him down. They made him bleed. They let him suffer." (Zusak 254). Max is struggling to understand that he's a Jew, doesn't understand why people hate him and why people follow Hitler.

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“He - if there’s anything you ever need” (179). Hans Hubermann made a promise to Erik Vandenburg’s wife to help out in any way he could. He stuck to this promise and, consequently, agreed to house Max twenty years later. This shows how Hans kept to his promises and people could trust him. Housing a Jew in Nazi Germany could have lead to severe punishment, nevertheless, Hans decided to help Max in his time of need because he knew that he needed to stick to his commitment.

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“Friendship isn’t about who you’ve known the longest. It’s about who walked into your life, said “I’m here for you and proved it.” (Anonymous) These words perfectly describe the beginning of Liesel and Rudy's friendship. In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Rudy and Liesel, young teenagers, create an unbreakable bond that helps them find happiness during World War II in Nazi Germany.

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