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Fathomless Compassion In The Book Thief By Markus Zusak

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Our Fathomless Compassion If you others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. -Dalai Lama In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Liesel Meminger relates to others by helping her Jewish friend by allowing him to stay at their house during World War II. They also display this when they were reunited with him at the end of the war. Similarly, in William Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet, Juliet demonstrates her love and devotion to the main character, Romeo, and is willing to do anything to see him again after he was banished. Both Shakespeare’s and Markus Zusak’s works show that people ought to relate to one another with fathomless compassion. I can use this virtue in my own life by strengthening my relationships …show more content…

In the beginning, Romeo is heartbroken over a girl he loves named Rosaline. She, however, does not love him in return. Romeo is still determined to earn her love by attending a party where he tries to look for Rosaline and instead falls in love with a different girl named Juliet. In Romeo's newfound love for Juliet, he compares her to a Saint, “For saints have hands that pilgrims’ hand does touch,/And palm to palm is holy palmers’ kiss./ Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?” (I.V.98-100). Both Romeo and Juliet confess their love for one another, but Romeo wants to take it further, “Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?” By saying this, he attempts to convince Juliet to kiss him on the lips, similar to people holding hands, palm to palm. Their interaction teaches me to show compassion towards people I care for greatly and reminds me to always express my feelings. At the end of the play, Romeo is banished from Verona because of family tensions when he killed Juliet's cousin, Tybalt. This, in turn, increases the tension between the two families and forces the Mayor of Verona to banish Romeo to settle the families’ disputes. Unfortunately, this does not go over well with Juliet, as she fears that she will never …show more content…

The story takes place in Nazi Germany during World War II and is about a girl named Liesel Meminger, who discovers her passion for reading stolen books which ultimately contributed to her ideas about the war. Throughout the narrative, Liesel shows different acts of compassion towards her Jewish friend by going against the Nazis. One example of this was when Liesel becomes friends with a Jewish man named Max Vandenburg. Liesel and her foster family, the Hubermanns, allow Max to hide in their basement throughout the war. Despite the risks involved, Liesel extends a hand of compassion and friendship, offering Max the support he needs during these harsh times. The Hubermanns care for him and let him stay in their house for an unprecedented two years. As the danger increases, Max is forced to leave, and in his final note to the Hubermanns wrote, “You’ve done enough” (Zusak 398). Despite the relief of being caught with a Jew, the Hubermanns were very sad, especially Liesel. Max’s words show the fathomless compassion they showed to him using the word, “Enough” (Zusak 398) as a thank you for putting their own lives on the line for him. This fathomless compassion inspires me to show kindness towards others no matter the effect it could have on me and to always give a helping hand to those in need. Once Max had written his note to the

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Max has a very guilty conscience. Max’s conscience is so foggy because he is asking a lovely family, the Huberman's, to hide him; If he is found, they will be killed alongside him. Max thinks on page 169 “How could he do this? How could he show up and ask people to risk their lives for him? How could he be so selfish?”

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This was the time when Hitler started to take over and orders Jewish stores, homes and anything Jewish be destroyed or vandalized by the Nazi. Liesel’s new foster home was located on Himmel Street where she met her best friend, Rudy. In the basement of the house, they kept Max down I the basement because they could risk him being seen in the house by other people from the outside of the house. The basement was small and disorganized but Max made living down there bearable. There were writings on the walls and paint cans all around.

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It was when Liesel came down, however, that Max found himself interested in life again.” (Page 250). From the day Max left the Hubermann household in fear of being found, Liesel made sure to look

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III. Discussion/Essay Questions: 1. Hans Hubermann hid Max because Hans knew Max’s father and when he died in the war, he promised Max’s mother that he would help in anyway he could. Do you think that Hans Hubermann would have still hidden Max if he didn’t know Max’s father?

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Another important character in The Book Thief and in Liesel’s life is Max Vandenburg. Max is a Jew who loved to get in a fistfight in his younger years. Liesel and Max become good friends after realizing they have many things in common such as the love of words and nightmares. Hatred of Hitler runs deep in Max’s heart and he often writes about it. When Max first begins staying with the Hubermanns he feels ashamed and like a heavy weight on their backs.

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Jews were being put in Concentration camps, but because of his knowledge he goes into hiding at the home of the Huberman’s. The book describes him as an introvert because in the book it states, “He was the type of person who worked quietly away for very little reward. He kept to himself...”(Zusak 188). Max has positive solutions that he wants to fulfill in a negative way. We can can determine this because Zusak expressed in his writing, “Punches are thrown, the crowd

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(page 203). The severity of the situation of Nazi Germany and giving refuge to a Jew is represented in the explanation. This is of vital importance as Liesel learns to understand and deal with her opinions and manners in a fascist Nazi Germany setting. The Hubermann family’s livelihood heavily depended on this. As, if Liesel let the information that Max, A Jew, was taking refuge in their basement, there would be a huge price to pay, possibly their lives.

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“It’s about time you faced the fact that your son is dead . . . He’s dead and it’s pathetic that you sit here shivering in your own house to suffer for it” (Zusak 262). During the Christmas season, Max falls extremely sick and does not wake up for days. During the time he is unconscious, Liesel gives her thirteen, random presents.

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Rudy and Liesel became the best of friends, they would always compete in games together. A couple years after Liesel's arrival an unexpected Jewish visitor named Max came knocking at the Huberman's door. He was brought in with open arms. He and Liesel found that they had similar backgrounds, which strengthened their relationship throughout the story. Relationships can be the most rewarding and the most painful; you

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Finally, Max had given up basic human needs like food, warmth, and a bed to protect The Huberman's from getting arrested and even killed by The Nazi. Which although isn’t a lot, it still shows how he is kind enough to give up these basic human things which most of us wouldn’t do. The modest things he did like giving advice to Liesel about life and boys and

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Max Vandenburg, a Jewish man who first appears in front of Hubermann's place as weak and sick. He seems weak at first but he pushes all of that aside. Max also has a deep hatred for Hitler due to his acts on Jews. He spends most of his days in the basement doing whatever he finds entertaining like writing, drawing, or even exercising. Max once wrote a book for Liesel on her birthday by cutting out paper of Hitler’s book and painting them white and drawing the pictures with black paint.

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To love is to risk. Whether that is risking life, belief, health, or reputation, it is still a risk at any rate to give devotion to another. No era in history knows this better than during the Holocaust. Still, the most unexpected of people would die trying to help Jews escape persecution, they would help others who didn't share the same moral foundation as they did, they would share food rations when they barely had enough for themselves, or they would risk their public standing and forever be labeled as a sympathizer just to help a suffering soul regain his balance. Similarly, Markus Zusak's The Book Thief demonstrates a complete comprehension of how humans act against self preservation and individual comfort when challenged with harrowing situations that appeal to their own personal connections.

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In the novel, Liesel’s behavior shows justice and love through her friendship with Max. Although her relationship with Max in the beginning of the book was rather awkward, soon her perspective towards Max soothes and their relationship bonds to a friendship. There are some times when Liesel’s actions were unbelievable, especially during the Jew parade. “ ‘ You have to let go of me Liesel.’

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Romeo and Juliet, the story where two forbidden lovers take their own lives for the sake of love. Within this story Shakespeare shows multiple kinds of love that everyone experiences in life, and within this essay i will be talking about two. The two main types of love i noticed in Shakespeare’s story “Romeo and Juliet”, were Unrequited love and obviously, the main focus, romantic love. These two types of loves have their share of differences but surprisingly they have their similarities as well. The first type of love shown in Romeo and Juliet is unrequited love.

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The theme of this book is learning to love and care for the people around. How I came to this conclusion is by how Liesel acts towards Max, her foster parents, Rudy, and her neighbors. Liesel cares for people even if they weren't like her and she doesn't understand why there is hatred in this world. She wanted the world to be a happy place for everyone including Jews to be friends with one another. On page 426 in ‘The Book Thief’, when Rudy’s father went to war Liesel could relate to Rudy because “her mother.

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