How Does Zusak Use Internal Resistance

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Recommended: Racism in literature

Harper Lee’s novel, Go Set a Watchman, presents a southern society during the beginning of the civil rights era. Markus Zusak writes about a small town in Germany during WWII his novel The Book Thief. In each of their novels, Zusak and Lee present a society almost devoid of resistance due to the deep integration of prejudice and bigotry within their societies. While Lee’s novel focuses on an individual’s reconciliation with the society, Zusak focuses on an individual trying to overcome and grow out of that society. Despite their differing commentary on individuality, both Lee and Zusak show how complacency can lead societies and individuals into seemingly unaccountable atrocities. Lee and Zusak both use the popular opinion in their novels …show more content…

After her struggle with her father and those in Maycomb County, Jean Louise ended up changing none of them. Seeing this she decided that she does not “like the way these people do, and so [she has] no time for them” (Lee 267). She decided that she would not talk to the people she did not agree with. In the end though, she “stopped running” and “turned around” to face them again (Lee 266). This act of turning around was her acknowledgment of people with different opinions and values. Despite raising a cry against the inherent racism and bigotry she encountered in her town, Jean Louise ended up only changing herself. By focusing on changing herself and not necessarily trying to convince others of their wrongs, Jean Louise is mostly unsuccessful in changing her society for the better. Contrary to this, Liesel looks outward in her response to the bigotry she finds in her society. In a short story that closely mirrors her own world, Liesel is compared to a “word shaker” (Zusak 450). As the word shaker, she grows a giant tree of positive words among the trees of hateful words planted by those complacent to and in agreement with that society. Finally, her tree fell, in the forest of hateful words. Even though “it could never destroy” all of the hate, it left “a different-colored path” through it (Zusak 450). This story shows Liesel’s ability to impact those around her with her words. This outward approach to the problem allows Liesel to have more of an impact than Jean Louise did in her own society. While Jean Louise’s self-discovery was important for her, her intense inward focus acted antithetically to the larger injustices she encountered in her own society. Liesel was able to look beyond herself and combat the wrongs she encountered in her

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