When school teacher Erin Gruwell moves to Long Beach, California to teach at a school in a district that struggles with extreme racism, gang violence, and segregation, she is presented with extreme difficulties in circumstances where students are split in hatred by their race, have all been affected by gang violence, and fear for their lives every day. However, despite these dire circumstances, Gruwell helps the students understand each other and break down barriers of predisposed hate and discrimination in order to connect by writing their stories in diaries, participating in group activities and charitable events to bond with one another, and empathize with each other’s hardships. Likewise in the book, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, although …show more content…
Hence, Hans is extremely worried and cautious about being caught hiding a Jew, knowing that it could mean the death of them all, yet still proceeds with this humanitarian gesture, showing beauty where there is hatred and war. Another quote that emphasizes the enormous risk the Hubermann family is taking by hiding Max is when the Nazi soldiers arrive at their door and ask, “‘I need to inspect your basement, just for a minute or two, to see if it’s suitable for a shelter” (Zusak, 344) as the family waits in utmost anxiety as it was being searched, thinking “[none] of them had the audacity to consider what they’d do if the basement was appointed as a shelter. They had to survive the inspection first.” (Zusak, 344). Thus emphasizing how much the Hubermann family risks everything to help a complete stranger simply because it is the right thing to do, demonstrating kindness and sacrifice in times of war, hatred, and discrimination among