Standing Up for One's Beliefs in The Book Theif by Markus Zusak

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When standing up for what we believe in, sometimes, our voices are not heard and we are unable to make the difference we had hoped. In The Book Thief, Liesel and Hans both disagree with what Adolf Hitler is doing to the Jews. They have discussed in the privacy of their home what it is they feel is wrong and how they do not completely follow the Fuhrer and his ideas. The girl and her father never dare to talk about what they believe to those around them and are very careful not to let anything slip when they are in public. Both know that expressing their views on their country's leader could lead to capture, or even death. In Nazi Germany, the consequences were much steeper than they are in todays society. Today there are many issues, including: marriage equality, racial equality, and gender equality, which many people do not agree with, that they are fighting over, but these people are not making any progress towards fixing what they believe are the flaws.
In Markus Zusak’s novel, Liesel does not like Hitler because he took her mother away from her. She is allowed to talk to Hans about her hatred of the Fuhrer because he agrees with her views, but she can not discuss this with anyone else, including her best friend, because most people in her country love Hitler and will either have Liesel, or Hans and Rosa, taken away or will have Liesel killed. She lived in a time where talking against her government result in extremely dire consequences. Her father, whom she idolized and told everything to, slapped Liesel when she told him she hated Hitler after his birthday celebration. Hans did stand up for what he believed in when hate crimes against Jews started. He helped a Jew fix his door after it had been vandalized and it...

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...overnment to take action on what they are told are the problems. There is no longer severe punishment for discussing our beliefs in public, but nothing is being done about the problems we face. Similar to Liesel and Hans, we know where the problems lie and know what needs to be fixed, but our government does not address these issues. The only thing we can do now is to continue to help those that need help by doing what we can until the government steps in and make their struggles disappear.

Works Cited

Henderson, Nia-Malika. "Obama, Democrats Put Spotlight on Gender Pay Gap. Will It
Matter?" Washingtonpost.com. The Washington Post, 29 Jan. 2014. Web. 4 Feb.
2014.

Zusak, Markus. The Book Thief. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 2005.

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