“I wanted to tell the book thief many things, about beauty
and brutality. But what could I tell her
about those things that she didn’t already know? I wanted to explain that I am
constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race – that rarely do I
ever simply estimate it. I wanted to
ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words and
stories so damning and brilliant…I am haunted by humans.”
After reading The Book
Thief by Markus Zusak twice now I am so struck with not only the creative
narration, but the brilliant characterization and the truly haunting picture it
paints of humanity. War brings out both
the worst and the best in humanity, though most would say it brings out more of
the worst than the best. A German town
with a Nazi mayor certainly doesn’t sound like a stage set for goodness and
mercy, but that’s exactly what readers find in Molching, Zusak’s fictional town
based on Olching, Germany. The
Hubermanns have lost their to two children to the terrors of adulthood and have
conflict with their grown son who is a Nazi Party member and off fighting in
Stalingrad. The Hans and Rosa originally
take in their foster daughter, Liesel, solely for the income allowance it will
give them during the lean time of rationing and lessened work
opportunities. Rosa is harsh at best,
but she is also loving to the core and she instills in Liesel a
self-sufficiency and respect that is critical to her survival as a young German
girl who has been orphaned and faces persecution due to her Communist parentage
and illiteracy. Hans is more overtly
loving from the first moments, and his lesson ifor Lieel is to always honor
your commitments and stand up for what you believe is right. Rudy, Liesel’s best friend, shows her loyalty
and love and how to live life to the fullest despite the world falling apart
around them. Finally, the mayor’s wife,
Ilsa Hermann, exemplifies what can happen when the values you’ve been made to
cling to are called into question by none other than a young child and the
lessons that can be learned even in adulthood that go against previous indoctrination.
The choice of Death as a narrator is unique and probably
makes the greatest statement of the whole novel. Perhaps the best message is that we should
all live our lives in such a way that Death takes a break from his duties, that
he becomes so enthralled with life, that he is forevermore haunted by humans.
