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Part Three : Mein Kampf (My Struggle)



The Way Home Hans Huberman is the struggler in //The Way Home//. He struggles between keeping his family safe and keeping his beliefs. He uses Mein Kampf as a disguise to avoid suspicion from the Nazi Party so they don't realise that he doesn't support their ideals, their anti-Semitic movement while supporting Liesel's thievery of the book //The Shoulder Shrug//. “He knocked on the door of the Nazi Party office in Molching and took the opportunity to ask about his membership application”. Although he makes the appropriate steps to provide his support for the Nazi Party, it is only a facade in order to stop his family being taken away. Hans Huberman is in a conflict that tests his support for the nation's political standing and the protection of his family.

In the section, The Way Home, Hans struggles with the fact that Liesel has stolen a book from the fire that burnt everything that related to Jews. Hans was scared that Liesel would be found with this book and be judged because of its content. Especially as Hans was not yet a member go the Nazi Party. Hans wondered "exactly what kind of threat this book posed to the hearts and minds go the German people." Liesel struggled with the fact that she had stolen this book and she felt that Hans, for whom she had a great deal of respect, would be greatly disappointed in her actions. She was also very worried that Hans would tell Rosa about the stealing and force her " to reveal her own filthy thieving nature."

The Mayor's Library In the section, The Mayor's Library, Leisel Mimminger is the person struggling. She is struggling with the guilt and confrontation of stealing 'The Shoulder Shrug' and that Frau Hermann who is a part of her laundry run saw her steal an "enemy book". This paranoia leads Leisel to lie to Rosa as she misses the Grand Strasse on purpose: "She delivered to the arthritic Helena Schmidt and picked up at the cat-loving Weingarter residence, but she ignored the home belonging to Burgermeister Heinz Hermann and his wife, Ilsa." (Page 141) Leisel is confused when Frau Hermann invites her in to the house to look through the Mayor's library. She wonders if Frau told the Mayor and if the town knows about the book she stole. Yet, the reason for the invitation is that Frau knows that books are important to Leisel.

Liesel struggles with carrying the burden of paranoia of stealing books, Also the fact that she thinks, that the mayor’s wife saw her. She is paranoid because of the mayor’s wife is a powerful woman and can ultimately punish her for her actions. "Every minute, every hour, there was worry or more to the point paranoia" (page number 140 of blue book). It is evident Liesel thinks that she will be punished for stealing "she's going to torture me" (page number 145 of blue book). Liesel is the main struggler in The Way Home. He struggles between keeping his family safe this chapter as she is struggling about the thought of being punished for her actions because she knows that the punishment will be severe. She holds a burden; this is shown through the symbolism of her carrying laundry and keeping his beliefs. He uses Mein Kampf as a disguise to avoid suspicion from the Nazi Party so they don't realise that not letting Rudy carry it when he doesn't support their ideals, their anti-Semitic movement while supporting Liesel's thievery of the book The Shoulder Shrug. “He knocked on the door of the Nazi Party office in Molching and took the opportunity to ask about his membership application”. Although he makes the appropriate steps to provide his support for the Nazi Party, it is only a facade in order to stop his family being taken away. Hans Huberman is in a conflict that tests his support for the nation's political standing and the protection of his family. The Mayor's Library Enter, The Struggler Max struggles due to the prejudice that comes with his Jewishness and is forced to hide and has to travel in plain sight (pretending to be offers to help. I think that Liesel is not Jewish) to find the Hubermanns. "... You find a small black room. In it sits a Jew. He is scum. He is starving. He is afraid." This quote explains his struggles and shows his situation. "I think people have been watching me. And the man with the identity card took longer than I thought, but..." This shows that his friend, who has his own set of issues, is currently struggling with his sense of duty to help his friend the guilt of stealing but the punishment of being caught. The authors purpose for this chapter is to show how dangerous it could be to be defiant and his primal instinct to survive. Max is also struggling emotionally in regards to the guilt he feels from abandoning his family and his loneliness. Enter, The Struggler Max struggles due to the prejudice that comes with his Jewishness and is forced to hide and has to travel in plain sight (pretending to be not Jewish) to find the Hubermanns. "... You find a small black room. In it sits a Jew. He is scum. He is starving. He is afraid." This quote explains his struggles and shows his situation. "I think people have been watching me. And the man with the identity card took longer than I thought, but..." This shows that his friend, who has his own set of issues, is currently struggling with his sense of duty to help his friend and his primal instinct to survive. Max is also struggling emotionally in regards to the guilt he feels from abandoning his family and his loneliness. ‘ Enter the struggler’ centers on the struggle of Max the Jew. He is starved, exhausted and uncomfortable. More importantly, however, he is waiting, sitting on his suitcase. He struggles with his comfortableness, but it is the waiting that makes him most uncomfortable, so much so that he occasionally longs “for them to knuckle the door, to open it, to drag him out.” Interrupting his struggle is the man, who hands him a suitcase and food. This man is affected by Max’s struggle - he is helping Max, but he admits that “I think people have been watching me”, showing that, by helping Max, he is endangering himself. This culminates in the character Hans Hubermann eventually (though not in this chapter) being affected by Max’s struggle, with Hans being the contact given to him by the man. Hans is the one who will help Max, who Max pleads to, even though they have never met each other.

The Attributes of Summer ===In ‘The Attributes of Summer’ Liesel comes to realise that the Mayor’s wife has been struggling with the impact of her son’s death. Liesel asks Ilsa Hermann, “Who is that?” when she comes across the son’s name in the cover of a book. Liesel's questioning triggers Ilsa to explain her son's death in World War One and Isla's struggle with grieving over this becomes apparent to Liesel. Ilsa seems to wallow in her struggle, "When it refused to let go of her, she succumbed to it. She embraced it." As Ilsa explains her son's fate to Liesel, Liesel struggles to know how to comfort Ilsa or how to deal with the woman's grief.===

In this section Frau Hermann struggles because of the loss of her son, Johann, who died in 1918 from the cold: "He froze to death, I'm sure of it" pg158. Frau Hermann is called mad by the town because the grief that consumes her is so strong that she doesn't know how to deal with it. Also Rudy and Liesel struggle because food is scarce on Himmel street because of the lack of money. To deal with the hunger that surrounds them, they revert to stealing apples with a local gang of boys. "Rudy's hunger finally drove them to thievery"pg 163. === Frau Hermann’s struggle is introduced in “The Attributes of Summer”. Her struggle is about coping with the death of her son. In this section Liesel discovers a book inside the Hermann’s Library that has the name Johann Hermann inscribed on the cover. As a result of her some missing in action she deals with her grief in a most peculiar way. “She could have shot herself, or indulged in other forms of mutilations”, but what she choose to do what perhaps her weakest option “to at least endure the discomfort of the weather”. I see this as a tribute to her son who she believes “froze to death”. ===

The Aryan Shopkeeper In The Aryan Shopkeeper, Liesel and Rudy struggle with money. The struggle with money is demonstrated when “pure excitement” is shown when a single pfennig is found on the ground buried in dirt. This excitement is considered not to be normal to someone that has a normal amount of money, but the excitement shared by Liesel and Rudy for a single coin shows how desperate their money problem is. Their struggle is shown to be extremely so that the “good life”, as described by Rudy, is sharing sucks on a single lolly. The desperation in their situation shows how badly their life is and how difficult it was for all sides in the war, not just the Jews in concentration camps.

In The Aryan Shopkeeper, Liesel struggles with carrying the burden of paranoia of stealing books, Also the fact and Rudy struggle with money. The struggle with money is demonstrated when “pure excitement” is shown when a single pfennig is found on the ground buried in dirt. This excitement is considered not to be normal to someone that she thinks, has a normal amount of money, but the excitement shared by Liesel and Rudy for a single coin shows how desperate their money problem is. Their struggle is shown to be extremely so that the mayor’s wife saw her. She is paranoid because of the mayor’s wife is a powerful woman and can ultimately punish her for her actions. "Every minute, every hour, there “good life”, as described by Rudy, is sharing sucks on a single lolly. The desperation in their situation shows how badly their life is and how difficult it was worry or more to the point paranoia" (page number 140 of blue book). It is evident Liesel thinks that she will be punished for stealing "she's going to torture me" (page number 145 of blue book). Liesel is the main struggler in this chapter as she is struggling about the thought of being punished for her actions because she knows that the punishment will be severe. She holds a burden; this is shown through the symbolism of her carrying laundry and for all sides in the war, not letting Rudy carry it when he offers to help. I think that Liesel is not struggling with the guilt of stealing but the punishment of being caught. The authors purpose for this chapter is to show how dangerous it could be to be defiant and not to follow Hitler.

“The Aryan Shopkeeper”, is the only part of the chapter where Leisel and Rudy can be kids and eat a lolly and not worry about anything. They can be happy for a short time despite being in an environment where it is hard to be a kid and whatnot without being taken away for being suspected non-conformative. J “The day had been a great one, and Nazi Germany was a wondrous place.” (p169)

The Struggler, Continued Max struggles to act like he enjoys Mein Kampf, escape the notice of the Nazi party, with his beliefs and with his identity. He reads Mein Kampf to appear more Nazi, using the power of words to disguise and protect. Having the book changes the way the other German passengers of the train view him and their impressions of his character. Max also struggles with his fear as he focuses upon enjoying the book and acting non-Jewish. "Ignore that woman on the other side. She's asleep now anyway." He struggles to keep his cool, encouraging himself, "Come on Max, you're only a few hours away." Later in the novel, he uses Mein Kampf as a way to help Leisel in her struggle with identity and importance. Max struggles to act like he enjoys Mein Kampf, escape the notice of the Nazi party, with his beliefs and with his identity. He reads Mein Kampf to appear more Nazi, using the power of words to disguise and protect. Having the book changes the way the other German passengers of the train view him and their impressions of his character. Max also struggles with his fear as he focuses upon enjoying the book and acting non-Jewish. "Ignore that woman on the other side. She's asleep now anyway." He struggles to keep his cool, encouraging himself, "Come on Max, you're only a few hours away." Later in the novel, he uses Mein Kampf as a way to help Leisel in her

Tricksters In the chapter "Tricksters' Rudy and Liesel struggle with feelings of guilt because they tricked a boy called Otto Sturm into "losing control of the bike, sliding across the ice and lying face doen on the road" (page 176 Snow book) They carried out this plan while Otto was delivering food to Priests, so that they wuld be able to steal the basket of food and run off with it. After their plan was sucessful, Otto was lying on the ground and they didn't fully understand what they had done, LIesel asked Rudy "Was he breathing?" Rudy's guilt started to show "Keine Ahnung" Rudy replied, he had no idea. They had another conversation about it later when Liesel asks Rudy "Do you feel bad" and he replies "Of course I do, but i'm not hungry anymore and I bet he's not either." Rudy then tried to to deal with the guilt by trying to justify their actsions, saying "Don't think for a second that the priests would get food if there wasn't enought to go around at home." While Rudy thinks that their hunger is a good enough reason to do what they did, Liesel is still struggling, "He just hit te ground so hard." (Page 178 SSnow book)

The Struggler, Concluded

 In this section, Max Vandenburg struggles with his feelings. He has survived the train journey but is yet to enter the Hubermann’s house. He struggles with his fear and with hope. The persecution and danger has made him paranoid to be out in the open after so long in a room at his friend’s home. Personification of “Everything stiffened… Dark passive buildings… It all watched him” is used to show his fear of being caught out in the open. It is also shows that Max is pushing away the hope for safety. For Jews in World War Two, it was tempting fate and far too dangerous a time to allow themselves to have hope in their safety or for a better future. Max Vandenburg had to remind himself “that this was no time for hope”. Another thing Max struggles with is the guilt of what he will do to others to ensure his own survival. He has already abandoned his family and now wonders “How could he be so selfish?” asking the Hubermann family to “risk their lives for him”. The many emotions Max struggles with shows the pain of existence for a Jew during this time and how hard it was for innocent men and women to be persecuted in this time. Max Vandenburg is the character who struggles in this section. Max is first presented with the difficult task to inconspicuously make his way to his shelter, 33 Himmel Street. Through Death's narration, we realise Max's attitude towards survival, stating 'if they kill him tonight, at least he would die alive'(182). This quote alludes to the idea that although Max's life is in jeopardy, if he happens to die, at least it was with hope for survival. Due to the strict anti-Semitic regime during Hitleristic Germany, Max was reluctant to involve others in his predicament: "How could he show up and ask people to risk their lives for him? How could he be so selfish?" (183). This quote elucidates Max's guilt in thrusting his own problems upon the Hubermanns, and we understand, through this, the depth of his struggle for survival and his hestiant acceptance of this help