Preview

The Theme Individual Vs Society Is Shown In The Book Thief

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
359 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Theme Individual Vs Society Is Shown In The Book Thief
The theme Individual vs society is shown In the Book thief in many ways. In The Book Thief, there are many instances when the smaller, personal world of Liesel comes into contact with the larger German society of World War II and the Holocaust going on around them.

Books give Liesel as an individual a better world than the one she’s in. She has a better society when she’s in her own world. Reading books is something she can control has an individual. Liesel reads books so she can stop being bullied for having her own society then the bullies. Best way she can exert control on one society other than life.

When Max paints over Mein Kampf therefore he is constructing and creating beauty out of something destructive (the pearl analogy)- something that starts out as a mistake can be transformed into a valuable bead. Even something as heinous and unimaginably awful as the Holocaust can have some positive outcomes. In other words Max is constructing his own society by painting over the society of Hitler which everyone in Germany is forced to be in.

Hitler used Mein Kampf as propaganda in his own society to influence German’s perspective Jew’s. Hitler’s words uttered with conviction and power convinced thousands. There are multiple examples for the conflict of person vs society, one is between Max Vandenburg and Nazi Germany. Max Vandenburg is a Jew in Germany during the reign of the NAZI's, who are against Jews.

So Max is forced to hide in the Hubermann's basement in order to stay out of the concentration camps.

Then there is Hans Hubermann, he goes against the NAZI's principles by hiding Max Vandenberg in his basement and by giving bread to a Jewish person in a march even though he gets whipped for it.

The Jesse Owen incident for Rudy was a act of hero worship in his own society, for his father it is embarrassing. Liesel stealing not meant as an act of rebellion but a way of furthering her education.

Hans Jr said’s “ His eyes has been Fuhrered or in other

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Besides strengthening the bonds she had with Hans and Rudy, it had also helped form a friendship with the mayor’s wife. Starting out as an act of revenge and Liesel thinking that she was clever with her stealing, it was actually in fact Ilsa allowing her to steal the books. Eventually, Liesel figured this out, and through her gratefulness she was able to forgive and understand the woman she had once hated. Liesel’s book thievery in the library taught her about life and death, images of such appearing all throughout the book, including of Ilsa’s grief when she explained her son’s death: “The mayor's wife tightened. ‘I used to read in…

    • 688 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Because it is used to help her achieve being able to read, this book represents her academic growth. Liesel and her foster father, Hans, bond greatly over his help with her reading of this book. Because it brings her and Hans closer together, it symbolizes growth in their friendship, and a new beginning with her new family. Her first stolen book is used to teach her how to read and brings her more comfort with her new life. This causes it to symbolize her growth; a new beginning from a bitter…

    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The effectiveness of words is more impressive than we tend to understand. Words are just different combinations of the same letters, but without their existence, life would have no direction. We often take for granted our ability to share and comprehend ideas. Throughout The Book Thief, however, Liesel slowly realizes just how powerful her own words can be. Taking into consideration the stolen novels, the German autobiography, and the two stories written by Max, it is safe to say that each of these books contributes to the theme of The Book Thief.…

    • 420 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Stealing her first book opened Liesel up to a world filled with words and grammar. As she stared at The Grave Digger’s Handbook, “touching the print inside, she had no idea what it was saying.”(38). Because Liesel could not read or write, as a nine-year-old, she was forced to attend school with children who just started learning the alphabet. There was a stolen book hidden under Liesel’s bed and she didn’t know what any of the words said. That inspired her to have “sudden desire to read it that she didn’t even attempt to understand” (66). However, it was also ironic that she asked her foster father to teach her these skills, when he could not comprehend them himself. It all became beneficial for Liesel because his lack of ability “would cause less frustration in coping with the girl’s lack of ability” (65). Because Hans could not read acutely, he understood what she was going through, and he was patient. In a few years, she was able to pick up a book and read…

    • 438 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The reason why this is a great example is because Liesel was taught to read by Hans, when she had nightmares, and she is using her knowledge(power of words) To help the people around her, by calming them down. That is the beauty. On the other hand the ugliness is that bombs are dropping on a peaceful town, where innocent people live, and people have to fend for their lives, by going in basements to protect their neighbors and family. All because of WWII. A great example from the text is on part 7 page 382 and it states, “Out of respect, the adults kept everyone quiet, and Liesel finished chapter one of The Whistler.” This quote shows how Liesel has used reading to calm the people in the bomb shelter and because of that people paid their respects to her. This further more shows the beauty in ugliness, in The Book…

    • 664 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    9. Artistic representation of the ideas in Hitler’s book Mein Kampf – work, extreme nationalism, belief in corporative state socialism, a private army, a youth cult, the use of propaganda and the submission of all decisions to the supreme leader.…

    • 496 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    War is a foul and nauseating occurrence throughout history. Nevertheless, it is something that has happened more than once. There are numerous amount of people who have experienced the events of a war. Each person can have a different perspective and experiences. However, those people can be categorized as victims, perpetrators, or bystanders.…

    • 454 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Though Liesel had a very spontaneous attitude towards books, there were certainly points through the story where books were her only safe haven when she was going through the horrors of war, due to them bringing her a sense of peace and comfort. “There was a sudden desire to read it [The Grave Digger’s Handbook] that she didn't even attempt to understand. On some level, perhaps she wanted to make sure…

    • 784 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    No one believed she was smart enough to read, and instead of being placed in her age appropriate classes, she was out with the kids at her reading level. For her it was humiliating, but it only gave her the fuel she needed to keep moving forward. Desperate for help, she confronted her uneducated step father Hans for help. Hans himself cannot read that well, but she knows any help is better than none. Hans, referred to as Papa by Liesel, began to teach Liesel basic reading skills every night. They had a tradition, “unofficially…called the midnight class, even though it commenced around two in the morning”. Now Liesel knew how to read. She had an unlimited amount of knowledge available to her through literature. But, she herself could not take down Hitler. That does not mean that she could not fight back though. When the Nazi’s bombed her street, most people stood in the bomb shelter terrified. Yet, Liesel instead took out a book and began to read. Everyone soon began to congregate around her and listen. The fear of what was going on around them subsided, and at the moment they had won. Though Hitler was still attack them, he no longer had control over them, they were not scared. It was at this moment that Liesel realized the true power of literature, and the book she held between her fingers transformed into the sword she would use to fight her way out of Nazi Germany.…

    • 554 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Liesel realizes how words can be good and evil. She learns that words and reading can bring families and communities together. When she is reading at the shelter, “Young kids [are] soothed by her voice, and everyone else saw visions of the whistler running from the crime scene... they [are] distracted now, by the girl with the book” (Zusak 381-382). When she reads at the shelter during the bomb raid, it gives the audience a sense of comfort and distraction. Because of her reading in the shelter, Frau Holtzapfel stops her grudge with the Hubermanns, and asks Liesel to read for her. Liesel realizes that words also have a good side, where the words have the power to bring people together. Liesel also comprehends that Adolf Hitler uses words to manipulate German citizens to carry out horrific facts, which cause a lot of deaths and suffering. So Liesel decides to create her own novel, so she can spread the good in words. Her last line ends with, “I have hated words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right” (Zusak 528). This shows how the power of words has impacted Liesel in good and bad ways. She shows that she wants to use the words for good, rather than evil. The fact that Liesel was illiterate and now she is writing a book to spread awareness is very impressive. In…

    • 1233 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Diction In The Book Thief

    • 652 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In The Book Thief, by Marcus Zusak, the narrator, Death, tells the life story of a young girl named Liesel Meminger during World War II. He explains the events and challenges Liesel experiences due to Hitler’s words and influence. In this passage, the author uses diction, imagery, and details to help the reader imagine and have a deeper understanding of the events taking place and the character’s thoughts and feelings.…

    • 652 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Book Thief

    • 659 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Liesel has a great passion for books and it is first shown when her brother dies and she steals her first book The Gravedigger’s Handbook. The second time Liesel steals a book, she is seen by Ilsa who is one of the clients of Liesel's mother Rosa Hubermann. Liesel faces an argument with Ilsa and this is how she used the power of words: “It’s about time,” she informed her, “that you do your own stinking washing anyway. It’s about time you faced the fact that your son is dead. He got killed! He got strangled and cut up more than twenty years ago! Or did he freeze to death? Either way, he’s dead! He’s dead…

    • 659 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The act of theft is predominantly considered worldwide to be one of the most corrupt acts one can commit, it is even written in the Bible as the eighth commandment that one “shall not steal”. So it is particularly interesting when the act of theft is not used in a narrative not to show how iniquitous the villain is but rather to make a point about the protagonist of the story. Such is the case for Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief. In the book thief Zusak uses the motif of thievery to as an act of empowerment for Liesel. It is representative of how Lisel is trying to take control back of her life in a time where she feels she has lost all control of the world around her. The act of stealing books is also significant as this can represent her taking knowledge back from her oppressors who wish to destroy it. The act of stealing is never in the novel portrayed as a crime of any sort, rather the act of theft flourishes into an act of liberation for Liesel.…

    • 874 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, has caused me to have multiple reactions, to the story, characters, and themes. They have made me feel mad, sad, upset, happy, but most of all surprised; throughout the recent readings every night more gets added to the story and more just surprises me. What completely shocked/surprised me was when Liesel fought back against Ludwig Schmeikl and what followed afterwards. However, there has been far more things than just that, that have surprised me. A couple include Liesel receiving two books for christmas, Hans Junior leaving, and how Rudy has reacted to Liesel throughout the entire passage,…

    • 610 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When everyone starts to hear Liesel, read the Whistler out loud, everyone starts to calm down .The children in the basement stop crying, the basement is in silent, and Liesel continues to read. She does not stop reading, as her voice soothes them, and as well as she does not wish to see the scared faces hanging on her words. Therefore, proving my claim that literature, words are the greatest weapon of all, that have the ability to make a situation right. Furthermore, this quotation displays that although Liesel was reading for herself, for her benefit, in the beginning, she now begins to realize that words also indeed have the power to manipulate a person to help them. She soothes the neighbors in the basement by reading out a story, and for the first time, she learns that words can be used to do good as well. Even though Hitler used the words to negatively manipulate people, Liesel uses them for good purposes. Liesel continues to read, as she realizes that people hearing the Whistler, have made them forgot about their worries. The reason everyone quiets down to hear her story is because her voices caried away their foreboding worries of being killed by the bomb. Liesel’s actions of using the words positively emphasize how a good hearted person she is. This quote is important to the plot, as it makes the character of book thief realize a very important thing. Hitler used the power of words to manipulate people for his own use/benefit, while she used the power of words for other’s benefit. In addition, The Hitler used the power of words to make people agitated and wrathful, while she used it to soothe and pacify others. Once again, proven that literature is a great weapon as it had helped the citizens survive in the basement during the times of horrors. In addition, this…

    • 1692 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays