Book Thief Inhumanity
In the novel The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Death, the narrator, grumbles about the demands of his job in war-torn Germany; how souls and bodies multiply and how war became his new boss who asks for more. However, he admits that despite the bloody horrors of the war in 1942—there are moments of “strewn pieces of beauty [he] saw in that time as well" (232), and the book thief's life’s story is one of those.
Liesel Meminger’s (the book thief) life’s story symbolizes beauty in the midst of inhumanity through love, friendship, morality, and resilience. For instance, in "The Snowman" chapter, Liesel, with her little act of kindness brings down handfuls of snow for Max as a present and to give him a taste of the outside world. She wanted to give Max hope so bad that she gather more snow and builds a snowman. She wanted Max to find the will to keep going despite his horrible situation. Hans, and surprisingly, along with …show more content…
Through Death’s narration of Liesel’s life story, he tells us that sometimes there are beautiful stories like hers secluded amongst all of the destruction and grief he has witnessed. Death, in his final words to Liesel says, “I am haunted by humans.” I think these five words sum up the entire meaning of this book. As humans, yes, we are capable of so much brutality because the things we do to one another are terrifying. However, at the same time, there are humans like Liesel, Hans, and Rosa, who are exemplifying, taking huge risks where they have too much to lose and nothing to gain. Humanity is so complicated that an immortal being such as Death is still incapable of comprehending us. He is amazed by our ability to be ugly-destructive-evil-beings—and to be beautiful—loving-redemptive-souls, simultaneously. Such complexity confuses Death; as a result, he has no choice but to be haunted by
Liesel Meminger’s (the book thief) life’s story symbolizes beauty in the midst of inhumanity through love, friendship, morality, and resilience. For instance, in "The Snowman" chapter, Liesel, with her little act of kindness brings down handfuls of snow for Max as a present and to give him a taste of the outside world. She wanted to give Max hope so bad that she gather more snow and builds a snowman. She wanted Max to find the will to keep going despite his horrible situation. Hans, and surprisingly, along with …show more content…
Through Death’s narration of Liesel’s life story, he tells us that sometimes there are beautiful stories like hers secluded amongst all of the destruction and grief he has witnessed. Death, in his final words to Liesel says, “I am haunted by humans.” I think these five words sum up the entire meaning of this book. As humans, yes, we are capable of so much brutality because the things we do to one another are terrifying. However, at the same time, there are humans like Liesel, Hans, and Rosa, who are exemplifying, taking huge risks where they have too much to lose and nothing to gain. Humanity is so complicated that an immortal being such as Death is still incapable of comprehending us. He is amazed by our ability to be ugly-destructive-evil-beings—and to be beautiful—loving-redemptive-souls, simultaneously. Such complexity confuses Death; as a result, he has no choice but to be haunted by