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Morality In The Book Thief And Swing Kids

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January 30th, 1933 Hilter rose to power. Thus, the start of and beginning of the holocaust began under his reign. In the Book Thief by Markus Zusak and the film Swing Kids shows that act of conformity is necessary for survival but not ethically right. Throughout the book and the movie display acts of kindness but this kindness does not go without punishment because it does not fit into society. While the fear of being different keeps the social norms alive.
In the setting of Nazi Germany, the idea of criminality is twistedly put upside down. Hitler’s laws necessitate citizens to commit crimes in contradiction of humanity, and when Liesel or Hans displays compassion to Max they are inhospitably chastised. In the book thief the act of going out …show more content…

The fact leading into the support of the Nazi Party in the book, The Book Thief, “In 1933, 90 percent of Germans showed unflinching support for Adolph Hitler.” (Zusak, 63). The Startling statistic showed the support given to Hitler. The question remains: what about the other 10%? The 10% shows the other part that did not support Hitler. Because of the fear of being punished or taken away led the 10% to conform or face the consequences. In the book the author Zusak uses the denotation of the two words: proud and afraid to show what fear can do. Max on his way to Himmel street tells him self, “Look proud, he advised himself. You cannot look afraid. Read the book. Smile at it. It's a great book – the greatest book you've ever read. Come on, Max, you're only a few hours away.” (Zusak, 158). Fear is like an infection. It spread like wildfire until someone catches it and trys to extinguish you. Later, we also see in the movie at the end of swing kids when the main character is taken away. This seen his best friend turns him in because of the fear of not conforming to society because of the punishments that might come with

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Elie Wiesel, a male Holocaust survivor, once said: “The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference” and “Indifference, to me, is the epitome of evil.” During the Holocaust, over eleven million innocent people were killed because of the hate and intolerance the Nazis had for them. Many people fight against the injustice of the Nazi party and without them hundreds more people could have died. Intolerance and hate were some main causes of the Holocaust, and the fight against it is shown in The Book Thief, The Whispering Town, Paper Clips, and Eva’s Story.

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January 30, 1933 was the day that President Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler Chancellor of Germany, which was the beginning of the Holocaust (Google History). In Source A, a young Jewish girl, Anne Frank, wrote in her diary that the Gestapo was taking away Jewish friends and acquaintances and sending them away to concentration camps. She listened to the English radio to later find out that they were being killed and gassed. Source B reveals, that in the steps to genocide, people classified as different are prohibited rights and personal honor. They are referred to as “sub-human, while the Nazis referred to Jews as vermin” (Source B).

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“Do not compare yourself to others. If you do so, you are insulting yourself.”. “If you win, you need not have to explain... If you lose, you should not be there to explain!”. “If you want to shine like sun, first you have to burn like it.”.

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However, words also separated them when Max, a Jewish man had to leave the Hubermann’s home in fear he would be found. It was Hitler’s words and his believes that had brought Liesel and her friend apart. Thus, Liesel knew how powerful words are. “The words. Why did they have to exist?

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Memories and Grieving Impacting Ethical and Moral Decisions In J.K Rowling’s novel Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and Mark Zusak’s novel The Book Thief, memories act as an important basis for the actions and choices of characters. Memories of influential people in character’s lives often act as a basis point for his or her ethical or moral beliefs.   Thus, when acting or making choices, memories of loved ones and the grief associated with loss are significant in character’s choices.

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Narrative Perspective Sebold writes her novel The Lovely Bones in first person perspective to portray the story of the protagonist, Susie. The protagonist tells the story of how she was murdered and what happened in her point of view: “My murderer was a man from my neighbourhood.” (page 2) Being written in first person perspective, it impacts the text because all the ideas are explored in one person’s point of view, Susie’s. This creates a lot of bias instantly as obviously Susie is angry about being killed and only her side of the story is told, as well as because we are made to feel sympathy for her as shes the victim. She is speaking from heaven, she sees her happy family devastated by her death, “After a few days in heaven…” This is significant

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Introduction: During the Holocaust, many people suffered from the despicable actions of others. These actions were influenced by hatred, intolerance, and anti-semitic views of people. The result of such actions were the deaths of millions during the Holocaust, a devastating genocide aimed to eliminate Jews. In this tragic event, people, both initiators and bystanders, played major roles that allowed the Holocaust to continue. Bystanders during this dreadful disaster did not stand up against the Nazis and their collaborators.

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The Holocaust of Nazi Germany, World War I created a new stigma about warfare. During WWI Adolf Hitler the German leader created what is known as the Final Solution, (252). This Final Solution was the creation of a system of camps that were specially build for the incarceration or extermination of the European Jews, (252). Hitler’s mission was to rid Germany of Jews and eventually the rest of Europe. Jews were captured and forced into camps where they faced horrific treatments and many times death.

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For most people, childhood is a time that should be celebrated because of the bliss and innocence one experiences then. For others, it is the complete opposite. Childhood for those few can be described as being full of uncertainty and fear. In The Book Thief, Markus Zusak portrays Liesel’s childhood and adolescence as a time of tribulation and terror after being separated from her family, having to conform to a society she did not agree with, and living surrounded by war and violence. At only nine years of age, Liesel was separated from her biological family.

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“Look proud, he advised himself. You cannot look afraid,”(Zusak Ch 25). Max fought for the safety of his life for two years by hiding out. No matter how hopeless your situation might look, keep fighting because you never know what will happen unless you try. Having Max living in Liesel's basement teaches her first-hand how serious things are, and the dangers of what Hitler can do.

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"Do you know why most survivors of the Holocaust are vegan? It's because they know what it's like to be treated like an animal,” as said by Chuck Palahniuk, the man himself. The term Holocaust has been studied by many different sceintists for over 30 years and The holocaust was a very murderous event killing over 11 million people. The man who lead the very murderous event was Adolf Hitler. In some schools, the teachers try not to even bring up the holocaust because they try to forget about it.

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Hans Hubermann, Liesel’s foster father, helped Jewish people in whatever way he could. When a Jewish shop named Kleinmann’s was vandalized, Hans asked the owner if he needed any help cleaning up, and promised to come back the next day and paint his door, which he did (Zusak 181-182). Hans delayed applying to the Nazi party because he didn’t agree with their beliefs, and by helping the owner he was put under more suspicion, however he felt that it was a proper action and didn’t allow danger to stop him. In addition to Hans act of kindness, the Hubermanns took a Jew named Max into their care, and allowed him to stay with them to be safe. In a book overview, Tabitha Hall observes, “Though not Jewish, Liesel and her foster parents struggle as they keep their Jewish friend hidden…” (“Overview: The Book Thief”).

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1721 Words | 7 Pages

Humans lie and steal without hesitation to survive. That is how man is. However, human nature does not allow for cruelty to exist without the other end of the spectrum - kindness. In his novel, The Book Thief, Markus Zusak reveals the extreme malice possible in humans, along with the tenderness that stems from it. In times of hate and paranoia in Nazi Germany, ones who live morally are rare.

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1318 Words | 6 Pages

Most people say that blood runs thicker than water, but in this book that is not the case. In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, family is shown in an extremely unique way. Generally, when people imagine the average model family, they see a family that has money, a family that is prim and proper and usually, a family that is biologically related. Though, family in this book is based on shared hardships and having faith in each other, not by blood relation. Hans and Liesel’s relationship is a great example of trust.

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Hans Hubermann belonged to that ten percent,”( Zusak pg 67). The Germans showed hatred for the Jews and blind submission for Adolf Hitler; this quote shows what percentage of German citizens look down and believe that they are better than the Jews. The people who helped the Jews had to put aside the hatred that they had been taught to feel towards the

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