In The Book Thief, there is one primary antagonist in the story, who is also consequently the inciting force for the book. That man is Adolf Hitler, who stirred up Germany into the Second World War and formed the Nazi Party. Adolf Hitler is the main antagonist in the book, from his influence and power in Nazi Germany, as well for his contrasting ideals with Liesel Meminger. In addition, he was the dictator of Germany, and attempted to create the “Perfect” Aryan race. By this, it meant to send millions of minorities, like Jews and Communists, to their deaths. This is known as the Holocaust, which is remembered throughout the world, because almost everyone who died was innocent. His rule over Germany is also shown in “The Book Thief”, where everyone is afraid of going to a …show more content…
An example of this in The Book Thief is Hans Junior, the son of Liesel’s father, and a member of the Nazi Party. He firmly believes that Hitler’s rule will lead to a better place for Germany, and is always encouraging literature that contain Nazi propaganda. This is shown as Hans Jr. suggests after seeing that Liesel was reading a book that wasn’t popular literature that encouraged Nazism, “What trash is this girl reading? She should be reading Mein Kampf.” (94) This shows the influence from Hitler in everyday lives, with people being brainwashed into believing that he will create a utopia for the Aryan race, as well as those same people trying to get others on the corrupted path of Nazism. In addition, the Hitler Youth program, which was taught by other Nazis, talked about how meritorious the Fürher was by what he did, in addition to showing passages showing his justifications. This alone can prove the evils in Hitler and how he deceived the population through it. In short, Hitler is the antagonist not just because of what he can do, but what he can make others
“The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak is narrated by death and begins when Liesel’s brother dies on a train with her and her mother. At her brother’s burial, she steals her first book, “The Grave Digger’s Handbook” and soon after is separated from her mother and sent to live with foster parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann, in Molching, where the majority of the book takes place. At school, Liesel is teased because she can’t read so Hans teaches her to read when she wakes up from her frequent nightmares about her brother’s death. Hans is a painter and an accordion player and also plays the accordion for her after her nightmares. Liesel grows very close with Hans and also becomes close friends with her neighbor Rudy Steiner who constantly asks her to
At a time of loss, the German people needed a reason to rebuild their spirits. The Jews became a national target even though Hitler’s theory could not be proven. Even as a Jew, he accused the Jews people for Germany’s defeat in order to rally the people against a group of people Hitler despised. The story-telling of the Jews’ wickedness distracts the Germans from realizing the terror Holocaust. Millions of Jewish people died because Hitler said they caused the downfall of Germany. Innocent lives were taken. The death of millions mark the rise of Hitler. He sets the stage for the largest massacre in
In the novel The Book Thief by Markus Zusak the narrator is Death, who shows itself as sympathetic and sensitive towards the suffering of the world and the cruel human nature, through its eyes, we can get to know the heartbreaking story of Liesel Meminger an ordinary, but very lucky nine-year old German girl; living in the midst of World War II in Germany. In this book the author provides a different insight and observation about humanity during this time period from a German view and not an Allied perspective, as we are used to.
In this essay I will talk about The Book Thief Characters. The characters are Liesel, Rudy, And Max. I Will talk about how they are Influenced by society in This Book/Movie. I am going to three Paragraphs about these three characters. This essay is going to be a Compare and Contrast Essay.
Adolf Hitler, born in 1889, is an Austrian born man who is known for his instigation and participation in the Nazi Political movement, or genocide, known as the Holocaust. Throughout his later life, Hitler spent the majority of his time organizing discriminatory laws that prevented Jewish citizens’ basic rights and ultimately their demise. However, before he advanced such laws and politics, he served as the Head of State, Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, until he became the Fuhrer of Germany’s Third Reich which began in 1933 and ended in 1945 (Jewish Virtual Library). His actions were fueled by an unrelenting and strict hate for the Jewish community, better known as anti-Semitism, much like the vast majority of Eastern countries. Both
In The Book Thief, author Markus Zusak communicates an over-arching topic. This topic is; all objects convey dark tones. The idea is transmitted into the writing subtly throughout the excerpt, as well as the story.
They were given a scapegoat and something to believe in during a time of pain. Adolf Hitler, the leader of Nazi Germany, acquired his power through diplomacy and his words drove him to the top and brainwashed the German people into believing in a senseless war. Liesel, the protagonist of The Book Thief, has reoccurring night terrors that show the real meaning of pain because of the war. And Brigitte Eicke, a teenager in Germany during the war, shows how exactly it affected her life on a day-to-day basis and how much she was influenced by the Nazis. During World War II, death lingered in the air and the world was going through hard times, a country had been brainwashed to believe lies and the world had not seen the true horrors of war yet.
Human nature has many elements that reveal the growth and personality of a person. In Markus Zusak’s “The Book Thief”, the author successfully portrays various aspects of human nature through Hans’ conflicts that originate from the tough reality that he lives in. Elements of human nature can be seen as a result of Hans’ constant struggles with guilt, kindness, and love.
Throughout life many people face difficulties. Depending on the person’s strength some will get through tough times, but some will fail to overcome them. Two books where characters have to face many challenges include: Their Eyes Were Watching God and The Book Thief. These two stories deal with people overcoming the difficulties faced throughout everyday life. Some difficulties include racism, religious discrimination, and dealing with others’ cruelness or kindness. Examples from these books prove that the characters have challenges throughout the stories to overcome. In the face of adversity what causes some individuals to fail while others prevail?
Leni Riefenstahl’s film Triumph of the Will shows this view perfectly. At the start of the film, Hitler descends from the clouds in his airplane in the same way a god would come down from the heavens to bless his people. The crowds await him with as much enthusiasm as they could muster; they lined the streets cheering and playing music in a parade in Hitler’s honor. This was not always the people’s view of Hitler; he was originally seen as a revolutionary calling for the end of the Weimar Republic. Over time, Hitler created the image of the “fearless leader and tireless crusader who scorned compromise in the battle for the soul of Germany” (Carr 33). Carr describes Hitler as “a man in whom they could believe. In his presence they could suspend all rational judgement, and wallow in the ecstasy of complete dependence on a messianic figure” (9). Hitler asked his audiences to “reject the reality of the external world, disregard the proof of their own eyes and immerse themselves totally in a dream world which would one day become reality through their faith in him and their own will to victory” (Carr
Adolf Hitler, the leader of Germany during World War II and the Holocaust, was the mastermind behind this tragic event. He, at one time, actually attempted to overthrow the German government. This resulted in him being arrested. He was supposed to serve five years in prison, but ended up only spending about nine months in prison. While he was in jail he wrote an autobiography called Mein Kampf ("My Struggles"), about the struggles he faced in his lifetime. The book became widely popular and sold millions of copies worldwide. Once he was released from jail, he was actually accepted into the German government as Chancellor. With his place in the government he was able to change the law in a way that made him a self-appointed dictator. We learn about these events because it's important to know how it all started and how certain events lead to others, all leading up to the main event; The Holocaust.
If you were a German citizen during World War II, do you think you would be a Nazi? Most people would say no even though, in actuality, most people would be. It is because people need to succumb to societal expectations to survive in a society such as that of Germany during WWII and in the book, The Book Thief, this theme of individual versus society is explored with people complying and fighting social expectations. Sometimes people side with the Nazi Party out of fear of being targeted and other times fight against Nazi Party because of love for their family and fellow man with usually terrible consequences. In The Book Thief, the theme of the individual versus society is shown many times with characters conforming and defying social expectations.
Much of The Book Thief revolved around a common German family hiding a Jew. During the Holocaust and the book, Jews and other people seen as insignificant were imprisoned in concentration camps. Max, the Jew that the Hubermanns were hiding, could cause them to get into deep trouble. However, they still hid him. The Hubermanns lived in a town close to a concentration camp and often saw marches of prisoners through town. Even with a potential prisoner living in their residence, the Hubermanns, along with most everyone else in Molching, were unaware of the events that actually happened in the concentration camp and marches.
Adolf Hitler was a Nazi German leader who attempted genocide and was part of one of the worst wars in history, WWII. Hitler took up the role of initiating the holocaust
Death states that, “I’m always finding humans at their best and worst. I see their ugly and their beauty, and I wonder how the same thing can be both” (Zusak 491). This book shows us human doing things that weren’t even imaginable before this point. Many people give into ideas that were lies. But, we also watch a few people go out of their way and sacrifice everything for a man they barely even know. They do everything they can to keep him safe and alive. They work harder, the get another job, and they even steal. In Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, death examines the ugliness and the beauty of humans.