ipl-logo

Laws In The Book Thief

1344 Words6 Pages

Law, a system that is enforced by the government which determines what is right and what is wrong; crime or virtue, is enforced for a better society. When someone commits a crime, they are then to face the consequences of it, or meet punishment. Markus Zusak’s novel, The Book Thief, is a memoir that has many instances that exemplify crimes being committed. These crimes consisted of being a member of the Jewish population, attempting to help the Jewish people, and going against the government. Nazi-occupied Germany enacted many of these new laws for a "better" society. However, evidence in The Book Thief suggests that these laws are not just. This proposes that the law is not always righteous, as the government could go corrupt at any time and …show more content…

The act of antisemitism is a major theme in The Book Thief, as Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Germany, is one of the crucial antagonists in the story. Hitler enforced laws into the country that forced the Jewish people to live in both fear and suffering. His reign has completely and utterly stripped the Jewish of their every human right. He deemed the existence of the Jewish people a crime and committed mass genocide against them. This resulted in forcing the Jewish to seek refuge in their own country; “Max made his way to Munich and Molching, and now he sat in a stranger’s kitchen, asking for the help he has raved and suffering the condemnation he felt he deserved” (Zusak 196). Max is a Jewish boy who was forced to hide in the main character’s basement for survival. Him being pushed to the point of requiring to seek refuge to escape from his …show more content…

Considering the circumstances of the mass amounts of lives that he stole, it would be more than reasonable to question whether or not he truly cares for his country. He had ordered all those he believes to be criminals to be executed or punished in the most barbaric ways possible, yet those decisions are arguable to be unrighteous. A leader that has high expectations to bring the best and only the best has only brainwashed his people, creating even more crimes in his society. This could be seen by Fraud Diller’s corner shop’s rule that, “If you walked into her shops and didn’t say ‘heil Hitler’ you wouldn’t be served” (Zusak 50), assuming that she regarded those who did not respect the leader, were against Hitler, or in other words, people suggestive of treason. A world where a single person’s name is considered being more significant than the lives of millions is more than exemplary of the tyranny that hailed Germany. The people had lost their ability to speak out freely, and the ability to hold personal beliefs, considering the words, “‘I hate the Fuhrer” (Zusak 115) was more than enough for Hans to slap his foster daughter across her face and order her to “Don’t ever say that!” (Zusak 116). If such words are powerful enough for a father to feel the need to sternly lecture his daughter, there is no doubt that the

Show More
Related
1005 Words | 5 Pages

No German citizen, and not even Adolf Hitler, would support the large-scale, systematic murder of people they thought to be equal. The thorough dehumanization

Read More
507 Words | 3 Pages

The Book Thief film does not do the book justice. This is because many scenes were skipped over and not shown in the film. Some scenes that were not shown in the film were when Lisel and Rudy stole with their groups, Liesel and Max's nightmares, and finally when Max gives Liesel a handwritten book. These scenes changing or not being shown take away from the book and do not show the true themes in this story. SECTION HEADER

Read More
1207 Words | 5 Pages

Research Paper: Formal Outline People Who Helped in Hidden Ways Topic: Germans that helped the Jewish people during World War II Working thesis statement: Helping Jewish people was very dangerous in Nazi Germany during World War II because of Hitler’s bigoted nationalism, yet numerous Germans civilians and soldiers assisted a Jew in some way during the time of war. In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Liesel’s fictitious family and friends help Jewish people in the same ways that real life Germans helped Jewish people to hide and escape during World War II. Rolling Introduction Introduction Paragraph #1 Introduction Paragraph #2 Element #1: Religious intolerance and persecution of the Jewish people was common in Nazi Germany; however, there

Read More
655 Words | 3 Pages

Circumstances can make or break you, yet Markus Zusak uses Liesel to show it can make you into the person you can be. Like for example, when one gets tossed with people she has no idea she can turn into the person one is truly made up of or she can let her break her to make her complain and not take the advantages she is given. In The Book Thief, Markus uses Liesel to illustrate how tough circumstances can build you. For Liesel, defining tough circumstances were when she had to live with foster parents, when she had to learn to read, when she had to read in front of her class and be made fun of, and the dealing with her mother and brother dying. These are a few of the many tough situations that built her throughout The Book Thief.

Read More
456 Words | 2 Pages

Narrative Tension in The Book Thief In Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, the most apparent form of narrative tension is anticipation. As an example, he uses anticipation because everyone wants to see what is going on within the next pages of the book. He uses a variety of elements to keep the reader interested in what is going to happen. In the writing it states, “A SPECTACULARLY TRAGIC MOMENT/ A train was moving quickly.

Read More
1041 Words | 5 Pages

(page 102, The book thief). The Nazis were so unwilling to accept others views and beliefs, if you didn’t have your flag out, like Liesel's family in the novel, The Book Thief, didn’t, then your whole family could be killed. Hitler was the root of this intolerance and it was especially taught to the youth. Some of the youth rebelled and so did adults. While some rebelling was silent, people would not participate in as much Nazi propaganda as they could or some would even risk their own lives to hide Jews.

Read More
888 Words | 4 Pages

“It’s just a small story really, about, among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist fighter, and quite a lot of thievery…” (Zusak, pg. 5) The novel, The Book Thief written by Markus Zusak in 2005 explores the theme of family relationships. It is through nine-year-old Liesel Meminger, the protagonist, that the idea of a broken family during the era of Nazi Germany is explored. The Book Thief depicts the struggle of young German girl, Liesel Meminger, living in Germany during the time of Hitler’s reign.

Read More
663 Words | 3 Pages

During the Holocaust, even one one word against Hitler was enough to be killed. At the time, it would be completely unacceptable. When I was reading through The Book Thief, I came across a chapter where Liesel said “I hate the Führer. I hate him” (Zusak 115). In my opinion, this was a grave mistake because making a mistake at the wrong time can be a big issue.

Read More
1320 Words | 6 Pages

Hundreds of men and women have debated the human conscience, the morality of thousands of different situations and still, we can not agree on one singular statement. Constantly, we have argue over human nature and ethics in war or simply everyday life. Many have argued that the first instinct of humanity is simply survival, to preserve oneself to live another day. Yet, that isn’t always what’s displayed over intricate and troubling past. In The Book Thief, Zusak argues a different, yet compelling truth.

Read More
1279 Words | 6 Pages

Chapter 5 of Law in America is describing how a country or a group of people create rules based on their culture, time and place. The author states that people without rules or laws cannot build a country that is a suitable place to live. The law teaches people how to be polite to others, not to kill or steal others’ belongings and not to create a conflict over others’ faith. People are scared of breaking the law because of the punishments that follow. Without a law people are not fearful of the punishments, so they do as they please.

Read More
880 Words | 4 Pages

Markus Zusak has assembled ‘The Book Thief’ using a variety of narrative conventions. These include a unique narrative viewpoint, plot structure and use of imagery, all of which provide meaning to the reader. (33 words) A narrative’s point of view refers to who is telling the story. In this case Zusak’s narrator identifies himself as Death.

Read More
1144 Words | 5 Pages

People Who Helped in Hidden Ways Topic: Germans that helped Jews during World War II Working thesis statement: Helping Jews was very dangerous in Nazi Germany during World War Two because of Hitler’s bigoted nationalism, yet numerous Germans civilians and soldiers assisted a Jew in some way during the time of war. In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Liesel’s fictitious family and friends help Jews in the same ways that real life Germans helped Jews to hide and escape during World War II. Rolling Introduction Introduction Paragraph #1 Introduction Paragraph #2 Religious intolerance and persecution of Jewish people was common in Nazi Germany; however, there were some Germans that helped Jews despite the dangers. Some brave German soldiers and

Read More
1266 Words | 6 Pages

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak tells the story of Liesel Meminger, a girl living in Nazi Germany through the narration of death. Just nine years old when her brother dies and her mother leaves her in the care of the Hubermanns, Lisel turns to the comfort of books to ease her pain. However, as she grows up the innocent words in her books lead her to discover the immense pain words carry through the horrific doings of Hitler. A man seen by many Germans as their savior, Hitler rose to power in the early 1930s, vowing to change the economy and transform Germany into a superior country. The portrayal of life in Nazi Germany depicted by The Book Thief is accurate due to events in the book that correspond with those in history such as the book burning,

Read More
1008 Words | 5 Pages

Max and Liesel gain a very strong friendship until he must leave for the family’s safety. In the end, the Allied Powers bomb the city, leaving Liesel as the lone survivor, leaving Liesel to face an extremely difficult time. In the end, the narrator, Death, reunites her with Max. Liesel lives a wonderful life and passes peacefully. In the novel, The Book Thief, Zusak proves the satisfaction found in corruption and harmful choices

Read More
1612 Words | 7 Pages

DEFINITION OF LAW: Law is outlined as the principles and regulations set by the governing authority, and have binding legal forces. It must be endorsed and obeyed by the citizens, subject to penalties or legal consequences. It depicts the will of the supreme power of the state. The basic purpose of law is to regulate the society, to safeguard and shield the rights of people and to resolve conflicts. It acts as barrier is preventing people from behaving in a negative manner that affects the rights and quality of life other people, hence violation of law implies the punishment of lawbreakers Dysfunction of Law: Dysfunction of law means failed to abide by the law.

Read More

More about Laws In The Book Thief

Related Topics

Open Document