Post#4 PMI Chart

Pluses

– An interesting fictional story line set during World War Two that intertwines the book in our world history.

– Death being the narrator made the story really interesting because you could lose your self in the story and then death’s comments would come up and make you think.

– There is great character development in this story for every character, giving a good picture of the kind of person they are.

– An interesting use of objects in this story are used as links to characters pasts. (e.g Hans Hubermann and his accordion links him to Erik Vandenburg, and Liesel and the Grave Diggers Handbook links her to her brother.)

Minuses

– There were many German words in the book and while the author wrote the meaning of the word once and what it meant, I never felt like flipping back in the book to find the definition when the same word is used later.

– Some parts in the book had way too much detail and made the reading really slow.

– The ending could have been written better adding a bit more about what happened to Liesel and what happened to Max, the last part that death wrote ended it well but the story line followed Liesel and Max, and you never find out when Max died or about his life after the War.

– It takes awhile for the plot to pick up and become very exciting.

Interesting Facts

– A New York Times Bestseller, winner of the National Jewish Book Award, winner of the Michel L. Printz Honor Book Award, and many others.

– The entire story is told from death’s point of view.

– Hans Hubmann survived two World Wars.

– Liesel was only nine when she was first brought to her foster home.

By: Sydney

Post#3 How characters are coping with their problems

One of the most difficult problems in this story that the Hubermanns and Liesel had to cope with was hiding Max. He became like family to them, and they became very attached to him. For that reason, it became very hard for Liesel to keep this secret life at home, separate from school and her friends in the other half of her life. “As time progressed, a clear distinction developed between two very different worlds – the world inside 33 Himmel Street, and the one that resided and turned outside it. The trick was to keep them apart.” (Zusak, 221), in this quote it describes trouble keeping the two parts the Hubermann’s and Liesel’s live separate. Liesel copes with this problem extremely well for a girl of her age, she works hard at keeping Max a secret because she is so attached to him and for that reason doesn’t want anything to happen to him. She keeps quiet and lives with the fact she can’t tell her best friend by knowing she is keeping Max safe. She believes she could trust Rudy, but is still scared of the consequences of betraying Max. For Rosa and Hans Hubermann, it becomes very hard on them, and they fight a lot. They cope with their problem of hiding Max and the possibility of being sentenced to death for hiding him, by knowing they are doing the right thing. Max’s father saved Hans life, and Hans feels that if he didn’t help Max and let Max in a concentration camp he would be letting down Max’s father. If someone saved your life and then died, what would you be willing to do to repay them? Would you risk your life, keeping a secret hiding in the basement?

 

By: Sydney

 

Post#2 How Characters are reacting to the Injustice

           Each character in this novel reacts differently to the experiences of the injustice of Anti-Semitism, in The Book Thief. Many of the characters support Hitler and the Nazi Party. The teachers, store owners, and the mayor were all pro Nazi because they were in fear of Hitler and what would happen if they didn’t support him.  Most of the main characters though, didn’t support Hitler. Hans and Rosa Hubermann were against Anti-Semitism but did not voice their opinion because of fear. They instead, agreed to help Max Vandenburg, so in their eyes it was fine that they didn’t speak up because they were compensating for it.  Next there was Rudy, Liesel and the other children on Himmel Street, they were too young to understand the injustice of Anti-Semitism and therefore did what they were taught, and supported Hitler. While many of the children followed what they were taught with out question, Liesel became smarter when Max arrived and began to support Hitler less. Then there are contradictory characters, Rudy’s parents were part of the Nazi Party, they didn’t hate Jewish though, “He was a member of the Nazi Party, but he did not hate the Jews, or anyone else for that matter.” (Zusak, 59), this quote shows how they did what they had to do to keep themselves from being targeted next. Then there was Max who was forced into hiding because of the injustice, he was forced to become a new person acting like a ghost, never seen or heard, in fear of his own life.  Max was scared of looking up and seeing a Nazi standing over him. Max shouldn’t have had to fear living his own life, everyone has the right to live and no one can take that.  All in all everyone reacted differently to their experiences of injustice, but it hit Max the hardest.

By:Sydney

Post#1 Issue of Injustice

          The Book Thief by Markus Zusak was set during the time period of World War Two when the Nazis were in power. During World War Two the biggest issue of injustice was Anti-Semitism, which is also the issue of injustice in The Book Thief.  Anti-Semitism is shown in our novel with the prejudice against Jewish people. Max is one of the main characters in this novel and is Jewish; he is greatly prejudiced against based on his religions and beliefs.  Max is forced into hiding and is punished for something he can not control. Liesel Meminger, and Hans and Rosa Hubermann help Max and protect him and care for him, something they could and do get punished for. The Hubermann’s will protect Max, but do not stand up to Hitler or the Nazi party for him, because at the same time they do not want to be in his situation. Max’s situation is very much like Hassan and Amir’s situation in The Kite Runner, Hassan gets picked on and abused by bullies for being a Hazara.  Amir does not abandon him but does not stand up for him either, or stop it. Like in the book thief where many German’s believe they are above Jewish people, many Pashtuns believe they are above Hazaras.  Anti-Semitism is common in a lot of counties though not publicly, one of the biggest displays being the Holocaust in World War Two. This issue of injustice wrong and should be viewed that way, everyone is human and should be judged on personality and actions, not religion or race!

By: Sydney

Post#4 Write A PMI for this book.

Positives	Negatives	Interesting facts
– brilliantly written- characters are described expertly for you really connect with and like the characters. – packed with exciting events from the track race to the book robberies to the farm robberies – storyline was very good  about an illiterate girl in Nazi Germany whose brother just died and she has such a bad desire to read that she steals books. She goes to live with  foster parents and then a Jew comes along and they hide him in their basement -creates pathos in the reader with the struggles -favourite book so far	– all of the characters die in the end but the main two characters die of natural cause- a lot of German words which made it harder at points but there was never more than a sentence. -anti-Semitism killing several Jews -not a fast read	-based in Nazi Germany during WWII- Hitler Youth Groups which is basically the same thing as Scouts and Girl-guides but they were training the kids more like they were soldiers instead of teaching them to have fun and basic life skills – Zusak kills all of the characters in his book by a bomb except Max and Liesel but death still gets them in the end – the perspective of death as a narrator was a fascinating original way to tell the story. -the book is written by an Australian Author talking about the perspective in Nazi Germany during WWII

Escaping Into Books and Protecting Those You Love

The two most important characters in The Book Thief are Liesel and Max. Throughout the novel, both of Max and Liesel encounter various problems which they try to cope with. In Liesel’s case, most of her problems stem from her fear of abandonment. Liesel was “abandoned” by her mother when she was young and that caused her to fear being all alone. That’s why when both Max and Hans, two people that have had an impact in her life, leave, Liesel gets scared that she will never see them again. Liesel copes with these problems by reading. Books help Liesel escape her worries/fears and, to her, reading gives her power, something she feels she doesn’t have. In Max’s case, he has to deal with the fact that people want him dead for being a Jew and that he is endangering Liesel’s family by staying with them. Max tries to cope with his problems and eventually takes matters into his own hands. Max leaves Liesel’s family, essentially protecting them, only leaving a note saying, “ you’ve done enough” (Zusak, 398). This course of action is in complete contrast with what happens in Monkey Beach. In Monkey Beach, the main character, Lisa loses two people that were very important to her. While Max decides that he will fix his problems by not endangering people anymore, Lisa runs away from the pain of losing her loved ones, essentially leaving her life behind. It’s hard to say if the characters are coping well or not with their problems. It seems more like they’re dealing with their problems the only way they can.

Post #3 Do you think your characters are coping well with their problems?

   I think the majority of the characters are coping well with their problems. Hans has always been calm but he is handling his problem poorly. His problem is being nice to the Jew for he felt sympathy for them for the Jew fell to the ground and couldn’t get up because he was hungry. Hans was punished for this action by becoming a Nazi and having to be sent off to war in Russia. He does not want to have to kill innocent civilians or Jews for they have done nothing wrong. He disagrees with Hitler. Liesel is handling her problem of being illiterate and missing her brother very well after awhile at her foster parents. Ever since she arrived she has been having bad dreams of her brother which causes her to wet her bed and from that began stealing books. Every time she awoke from her bed her step father would be there and he would help her read and get to the appropriate level of reading. Max solves his problem of being a Jew in Nazi Germany by constantly running away from the Nazi’s and hiding with either the Hubermann’s or Walter Kugler. He also continuously fights Hitler in his dreams which ends his battle mentally but not physically. This works for awhile until Hans feeds the hungry, dying Jew on the street. After this incident, Max finds it too dangerous for him to live in the basement so he runs away before the Nazi’s get suspicious.

Post #2 How are characters reacting differently to experiences of injustice?

     In this book Max reacts to the issue of injustice of anti-Semitism by running away from the Nazi’s and technically putting a normal German family in danger. He seems selfish leaving his family but if you had the choice of dying or living you would choose to live. Most of the sub characters saw Jews to be an inferior group for they believe in a different religion than everyone else does and because Hitler didn’t like them. Those characters are wrong in the eyes of Hans for he has seen the potential behind a Jew and he knows that they are humans too. One part in the book he gives a piece of bread to a Jew walking through the town as they are being lead to their death and he gets caught by a Nazi soldier. Ever since that day he is constantly afraid about the Nazi’s coming and taking him away from his family and being imprisoned. After this incident everyone treats Hans badly and ridicules him as a Jew lover. Liesel agrees with her adopted father in the fact that she realizes that the Jews are being treated unfairly and that all the things Hitler is doing are wrong. The Jewish stores constantly get their windows smashed along with slangs and swastika’s drawn on their doors and walls. Hans constantly paints over the vandalized buildings hoping that the Jews will be treated fairly one day.

Book Thief Movie Trailer

The Book Thief is being made into a movie, it is still in the makings and has not come out yet but this is a link to the preview.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ9vS212zU4&feature=related

Sydney

Those Who Hate and Those Who Protect

In The Book Thief, all the characters are, in one way or another; witnesses to the Antisemitism that has taken a hold of Germany. On one side there’s those who are in agreement with Hitler and believe that the Jews should be exterminated. On the other side there are those who are mortified by this horrific injustice. Although the main conflict in the book involves the moral issues with Antisemitism, none of the main characters actually take part in it. Only the side characters are ever shown to be Nazis. For example, Hans’ son, Hans Junior is a wholehearted Nazi and is disgusted by his father’s dislike of them. This vast difference in opinion, concerning injustice, between parent and child is also found in A Thousand Splendid Suns. In that book, the main character, Mariam, disagrees with her father. Mariam’s father is embarrassed of being seen with Mariam because her mother was his employee, while Mariam believes that no matter who her mom is, they can have a normal father-and-daughter relationship. Hans is a kind person and he can’t stand and watch what is happening in Nazi Germany. Hans even goes as far as to help, not one but two, Jews, even though he knows of the consequences. After helping out the second Jewish man, Hans realizes what he’s done, and says, “I am stupid…And kind. Which makes me the biggest idiot in the world. The thing is I want them to come for me. Anything’s better than this waiting.” (Zusak, 402). The quote shows how Hans’ kindness has become a double-edged sword. Hans knows that to protect his family, he has to conform to the Nazis, but his character won’t allow him to just sit and watch the cruel treatment of the Jews. Hans and his family, Rosa and Liesel, helped show the readers that not all humans in Nazi Germany were murderers.