Post #6 Is the ending of your novel satisfying? Why or why not?

  The ending of the story is satisfying and it isn’t. The reason the story is satisfying is because Liesel gets to see Hans come back from war before the explosion. She also gets to see Max for after the explosion and after the town is rebuilt Max comes into the Rudy’s father shop and says hello and goodbye. Liesel gets to say goodbye to her close Jewish friend but doesn’t get to say goodbye to her family. The disappointing part about this story is that all of Liesel’s family and a majority of her friends are killed in a bombing. She does not get to say goodbye to Rudy, her love interest but she did kiss Rudy and she did show her emotions even though he was dead and he could not show his emotions back. After she kisses him you finally feel that she would feel complete and happy that he got the kiss he waited his whole life for.  She doesn’t get the chance to properly thank and say goodbye to her foster parents who loved her. Although all of the happiness is shadowed by the darkness and sadness it does exist. I also found it satisfying that she took her fathers accordion and kept it. I am sure that would have meant a lot to her father. After losing her family she moves on and doesn’t always waste her life thinking about her loss. She ends up getting married and having children and grand-children.

Post #5 How is some of the harm the characters experience repaired in your novel?

  Some of the harm is repaired by Max coming back. When Max leaves Liesel and Hans feel to blame for they helped other Jews and so when they don’t see him they are upset. She sees him walk through Molching in the Jew parade. She fears losing her friend. After the war she sees him again and this time he is freed from the concentration camp and so he can freely speak to her and he can be friends with her. There is a very small description about Max’s visit to Liesel. The harm seems to be repaired between Liesel and Max but they only seem to talk for a split second. The book says “Liesel came out. They hugged and cried and fell to the floor.” (Zusak, pg 549)   He put such little effort into this part and so much effort into the rest. This quote is so simple and to the point it just says that they talked and hugged. The resolution is very subtle but it does exist. You do not find out if they spend the rest of their lives together. The harm of Rudy never getting a kiss is solved by Liesel kissing him in order to wake him but it does not work. Rudy waits his whole life for a kiss from Liesel and of course she kisses him when he is dead. Also Liesel’s fear of abandonment is actually worsened due to the fact that her foster parents and almost all of her close friends are killed. She feels completely alone and lost until she sees Max again.

 

 

Was the Injustice in The Book Thief resolved well?

By: Sydney

Favourite Character in The Book Thief

By: Christian and Sydney

Post #6 Is the End Satisfying

          The end of The Book Thief is not very satisfying at all it ends with Liesel dying and no back story other than her growing old and living her life and then dying. Liesel joins death at the end finding out he has the story she wrote of her life. All you know is she lived and had a family, the ending of this story is very flat and boring, it just ends. In the ending you don’t find out what happened to Max or what really happened at all after the bombing, other than her living with Rudy’s father. One of the most disappointing and unsatisfying parts in the story is nothing happens between Liesel and Rudy because in the end he dies. This for me was on of the worst parts in the end because there is no closure there. This ending is very much like The Kite Runner, in both novels they just end, and while the authors do create a little closure to end the story, they still leave a lot of questions unanswered and the reader trying to tie up the lose ends. In The Book Thief, the reader doesn’t find out what happens to Max or why Liesel moves to Australia. In The Kite Runner, Amir takes in Sohrab to honour Hassan’s memory and to do what his friend and bother would have done for him, but the author doesn’t indicate whether he really gets over not stepping in and helping Hassan all those years ago. All in all both endings of the books for me were disappointing and could have been a lot better thought out, and instead of just ending them created the closure needed for all the characters.

 By: Sydney

Post #6 Is the end satisfying?

Personally, I do not like the end of the book. Everyone just dies. The end. Even though I don’t like the ending it is still sort of satisfying. Usually when I read good books I wonder what happens to the characters after the book ends. In this book I know that nothing happens to most of the characters because they’re dead. A lot of the characters that died at the end of the book where main characters that the reader got attached to so it’s sad. I like the idea of Max surviving. I guess in an evil way it’s satisfying that many people who were hateful towards Max didn’t survive the Second World War but Max did. I was thinking that Liesel was left all alone because everyone she knew and cared about died when Himmel street was bombed. However, she wasn’t all alone because she had the mayor’s wife, Max, and a room full of books. Rudy’s Dad was probably left more alone than Liesel. All of his children and his wife died as well as all of the neighbours and friends he’d had for many years.

Post #5

In The Book Thief, it first seems like there is not much resolution to the problems in the book; people are killed, relationships are broken and fears are enhanced. However, once you look deeper into the ending of The Book Thief it is evident that there is one part of the story which provides a glimpse of hope. At the end of the book, Liesel learns that after Max left her home to protect the Hubermann’s, he ended up surviving the concentration camps and being released when the war was over. The close relationship between Liesel and Max proves that this survival would be a significant moment in Liesel’s life, especially after losing so much, because she still has someone she loves with her. As well, because Max was a Jew, the reader is relieved by the fact that he was able to survive the gruesome treatement from the Nazis. Since a character who was faced with such antisemitism and injustice actually managed to stay alive, (until death by natural causes), everyone can take comfort in knowing that there is some hope for them after all. While taking souls from Auschwitz, Death says, “”Sometimes I imagined how everything looked above those clouds, knowing without question that the sun was blond, and the endless atmosphere was a giant blue eye.” (Zusak, 350). This quote demonstrates that even when the most horrific events are taking place, there is always hope left in the world.

Ruth

The Cycle of Disappointment and Amazement

The ending of The Book Thief, for the most part, is satisfying enough. The Book Thief being a cynical book meant that the downer ending was going to happen. The story doesn’t really end that happily, with only the two major characters, Liesel and Max, surviving the course of the book. What is probably the most infuriating part of the ending is the fact that nothing ever happens between Liesel and Rudy. It’s was obvious that the two liked each other and, at one point, the author sets up a scenario where the two seem like they are going to kiss, but it never happens. It’s really sad and ironic that the two of them do end up kissing, but after Rudy dies. One of the comments made by Death during the end of the book was, “I wanted to explain that I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race- rarely do I ever simply estimate it.” (Zusak, 550). The quote relates to a theme in the book which is, humans are unpredictable; they can both amaze and disappoint. Adding that comment really summed up what The Book Thief was all about. The mostly cynical ending of The Book thief is in contrast with the more idealistic ending of Slumdog Millionaire. In Slumdog Millionaire, Thomas, the main character, ends up with the money he won and with it he provides happy endings to most of the other important characters. The Book Thief’s ending may come of as cheap way to not finish all the different character arcs, but what the author did do, was finish Liesel’s arc. It was a sad ending, but one that shows that life is short and people must take each day like it’s their last.

 Life and Death

Post #5 How is some harm repaired.

In The Book Thief harm does not seem to be repaired very much.  I suspect that Liesel was neglected when she was younger because she had never been  to school or learned to read and that is repaired by living with the Hubermanns, a family that loves and takes care of her. I think a little bit of harm is repaired when Hans gives bread to the Jewish man. He was treated so terribly, worse than an animal, but Hans showed him that no matter how some people choose to treat him he will always be human. That is some pretty important harm repairing. The most huge harm repairing in the book is at the end of the war when all the Jewish people, who are not already dead, are released. One of the released Jewish people is Max who is reunited with Liesel.

Remember You’re Not Alone

The Book Thief is very much a cynical book. Problems are brought into the plot and they aren’t all resolved. Liesel’s fears of abandonment are actually worsened near the end of the book, as most of the people she has learned to love throughout her life die during a bombing. Liesel’s essentially left all alone. The only ray of hope is that Max survived through the Holocaust. It seems cruel to have Liesel lose almost everyone, but at least Max, the person she came to see as a brother, lived. Although subtle, the impact of Max’s survival is shown when Liesel and Max meet after the war is over. “Liesel came out. They hugged and cried and fell to the floor.” (Zusak, 549). It’s not the most idealistic resolution, but now Liesel can realise that everyone hasn’t abandoned her yet. Instead of spending her life alone, she can spend it with Max. This type of resolution is exactly what happens in The Book of Negroes. In The Book of Negroes, Aminata seemingly loses her whole family. It’s not until the very end of the book that Aminata is reunited with her long lost daughter, May. This reunion allows Aminata to realise that her job is finally complete and that she can leave the world without any regrets. Yeah, both Liesel and Aminata lose most of their loved ones, but they each get to reunite with one person they had lost and though they would never see again. It is also safe to assume that Max’s feelings of helplessness have finally left him, as his mere existence no longer endangers him or his loved ones.