Themes+in+The+Book++Thief

**__The everyday, random, flippant life and death choices of human beings __** The dehumanization of the Jews was an early stage of the Holocaust. Hitler vilified the Jews, progressively stripped them of their civil rights, and ultimately denied that they were even human -- thus were the Nazis able to try to exterminate the entire Jewish race. Max bitterly remarks that, as a Jew in Nazi Germany, a cold basement is the only place he deserves as he hides from persecution. In Max's fantasies of fighting Hitler, he imagines Hitler propagandizing against him, condemning Max personally as a villain and extreme threat to the German people. The pervasiveness of anti-Semitic Nazi propaganda and the fact that Max is reduced to hiding in his birth country weigh heavily on Max's conscious, and he appears to resign himself to the notion of his own inferiority. Death's cynical narration echoes this sentiment. Max's self-deprecation is probably tied into his feelings of guilt over having left his family to save himself.

Of Hans giving an old Jew being sent to a concentration camp a piece of bread, Death narrates: "If nothing else, the old man would die like a human. Or at least with the thought that he //was// a human. Me? I'm not so sure if that's such a good thing." **Death struggles to understand humanity's capacity for being both good and evil – what makes someone choose one over the other?** Death is stunned both by the murderous Nazis and mankind's irrational taste for war and by the few human beings who exhibit remarkable compassion and strength, like Hans and Liesel. Wondering if the human race is worth anything, Death is torn by this opposition and cannot reconcile it: "I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race -- that rarely do I ever simply //estimate// it." Ultimately, Death tells Liesel in the last line of the novel, "I am haunted by humans." **It is the capacity of human beings to make different moral choices and the apparent capriciousness of these decisions that haunts Death, which is only capable of a single action.**

Sometimes a fictional interpretation of history is exactly what we need in order to be able to come to a real understanding of what it meant to live through historic events, particularly horrific ones. Markus Zusak provides us with a masterful interpretation of the Nazi period of German history from the perspective of ordinary people suffering through it and striving to keep their lives together and their souls alive and kicking within the horrific and ever-tightening boundaries constructed by the Nazi regime, which offer fewer and fewer choices to both Jews and Germans. **He gives us a gut-wrenchingly palpable empathy for people facing harrowing decisions on a daily basis.** His marvellous characters bring to life **the dilemmas of those who believe they should help the Jews as well as the equally nightmarish predicament of Jews who through receiving help put others in danger.** We see much of this through the perspective of the main character Liesel, who is only a young girl. Her innocence and the gradual realizations she comes to about the events swirling around her in a maelstrom of horror evoke a remarkable empathy in the reader. If you want to understand how the little people cope with such tragic historic events without allowing their souls to be crushed, read this book. Ultimately it is a portrait of the resilience and hope of the human spirit.

==Students: If you are interested in writing about decisions faced by characters in __The Book Thief__, have a go at answering some of the following questions, or completing one of the sentence starters. A great way of preparing to write about this type of theme in an essay would be to write a paragraph answer to one of these questions that incorporates the related quote.==

Liesel's book stealing never quite qualifies as strictly ‘criminal’ behaviour. As Rudy points out, it's almost silly to call taking books from Ilsa Hermann's library "stealing." Her book thievery presents a choice Liesel has which is….
 * The book thief had struck for the first time – the beginning of an illustrious career. (5) ||

Being a Jew in these times means being a criminal. There is no move a Jew in Nazi Germany can make that isn't considered a crime. In such a society, small choice mean life or death. For Jews, the choices are… For Germans, they have the choice to…
 * The Star of David was painted on their doors. The houses were almost like lepers. At the very least, they were infected sores on the German landscape. (8) ||

Liesel is at the Hitler's birthday celebration book burning, of course and although she is appalled by this crime against literature, she is fascinated. But, Liesel could have at least thought about stopping the books from being burned. Why doesn't this occur to her?
 * Although something inside her told her that this was a crime – after all, her three books were the most precious items she owned – she was compelled to see the thing lit. (18) ||

With Hitler's birthday comes a grim realization for Liesel. Her mother's disappearance can be traced back to the birthday boy himself. This realization is very important to all her future actions and her general development. It is perhaps at this moment Liesel makes the decision to…
 * "Did the //Führer// take her away?" (19) ||

Max's best friend Walter Kugler is about to go to Poland to fight on the side of the Germans. Of course, he's been drafted and wouldn't have gone of his own accord. It must make him feel like a moral criminal – fighting for a cause he does not believe in. At the same time, by helping Max, he's committing a crime with a death penalty. Perhaps **//this//** will this make him feel like a criminal in the long run. What are his choices and the potential consequences?
 * "Sorry it's taken so long. I think people have been watching me. And the man with the identity card took longer than I thought […]." (23) ||

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">This highlights Himmel Street poverty, which has only increased since the war began, due to rationing. It's also due to the fact that there were no more Jewish customers. How does the setting of a poverty stricken German town in the midst of the turmoil of WW2 affect the characters choices?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">[…] but it was the stealing that cemented their friendship completely. […] it was driven by one inescapable force – Rudy's hunger. The boy was permanently dying for something to eat. (24) ||

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">We see this pattern over and over again. The crimes committed against Rudy by Hitler Youth leaders help cause Rudy to commit some crimes of his own. Do you agree with Rudy decision to fight injustice with criminal behaviour? Why/not?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">She also realized it was most likely these sodden days at the Hitler Youth that fed his, and subsequently her own, desire for crime. (39) ||

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">In Nazi Germany, every moment can present you with a life or death decision. What decision is made following this event? What were the consequences?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">"When a Jew shows up at your place of residence in the early hours of the morning, in the very birthplace of Nazism, you're likely to experience extreme levels of discomfort. Anxiety, disbelief, paranoia" (33) ||

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">Here, Death is referring to Liesel's inability to do what she thinks she should – apologize to Ilsa Hermann. In Liesel's code, failure to apologize is a great crime. So, she does apologize to Ilsa in the long run. Why do you think Liesel makes the decision to pursue her ‘relationship’ with Isla Hermann, despite the difference in their positions and the moments of conflict they experience on the way?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">Liesel Meminger was a criminal. But not because she'd stolen a handful of books through an open window. (54) ||

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">Feeding the Jewish prisoners on their way to Dachau, is obviously considered a crime by the Nazi guards. It can also be seen as an act of non-violent resistance to what the Nazis are doing. It might seem like a small thing, but it was big to the Jewish people who saw it as an act of true kindness. Explain, in your own words how this small action symbolizes the great dilemma all Germans faced during the Nazi rule. Cite three more moments in the text where characters are faced with a similar dilemma.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">[…] Hans Hubermann held his hand out and presented a piece of bread […]. (58) ||

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">Why do you think Zusak has characters face these difficult choices throughout __The Book Thief__?

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">What connections could be made between these moments of decision (or indecision) and events/decisions beyond this text?