Humanity In Markus Zusak's The Book Thief

758 Words4 Pages

“Your greatest test is when you are able to bless someone while you are going through your own storm” -Rafael Garcia. The author conveys a sense of compassion by creating a family out of a group of unsuspecting people. By grouping together a newly book loving orphan, a Jewish man, an artist, and a short-tempered woman; Markus Zusak gave the reader a different outlook on a variety of people coming together.
He showed this by the time period of the holocaust, others setting aside their differences and sympathy. Zusak, the author of The Book Thief, shares the idea that humanity can unite in a time of turmoil. The holocaust shows the concept of assisting others in times of crisis. For instance, during the summer of 1942, the Gies couple allows …show more content…

They said to his mother they would bring him home. “One night as I was sleeping, 2 Ukrainian guards came in and called me. I thought they were going to shoot me. Instead, they took me to the infirmary. In the infirmary, I was put in bandages up to my neck. It looked like I had been injured at work. I was taken to a horse and buggy and brought to a little village nearby. The two men, the doctor and the professor, were there waiting for me. They took off my bandages and gave me clothes. They gave me a ticket and put me on the train. I do not know how they did it. I had been in that slave labor camp 9 months. The other people never came home.” The two Ukrainian guards were forced to work with Nazi Germany. Instead, they agreed with two Jews to help Sher escape. Likewise, in The Book Thief, during the bonfire, Liesel had previously given Tommy Muller a hiding. However, when Tommy hurts his ankle, she helps him get to safety. “Sitting down, he held his ankle and found Liesel Meminger’s face… “And”... “I’m sorry-for, you know”.”(Zusak 113) Both Liesel and the two Ukrainian and Jewish men helped Tommy and Joseph in a time of danger. They did it because they believed that is what the right thing to

Open Document