Analysis of the Book Thief by Markus Zusak - Assignment Example

The Book Thief Outline i Book Summary ii Annotated Bibliography of Gergen, K. J. (1991).The saturated self iii Annotated bibliography of Abelson, R. (1998). Perceptions of the collective other iv.) The Book Thief by Markus Zusak Book Summary The book by Markus Zusak is ambitious and brilliant. The young novel is also startling. However, the first amazing fact is that the novel is five hundred and fifty-two pages. This is surprising because it is an enormous venture to write an entertaining five hundred pages. The story is long, painfully sad, and well structured. The story is scary because death itself narrates the Germany ordeal. Death provides the story of Liesel Meminger. The bigger percentage of the book occurs in the town of Molching, a fictional town in Germany appearing near Munich. The story ruins for five years starting in nineteen thirty-nine and nineteen forty-three, which coincides with the Second World War. Death starts narrating the story of Liesel Meminger from her childhood at the age of nine. This was the same time Meminger was pondering the immediate loss of her brother besides separation from her mother. Gergen, K. J. (1991).The saturated self: Dilemmas of identity in contemporary life. New York: Basic Books Gergen defines dehumanization as a psychological procedure viewed by opponents as inferior compared to human beings and in the process, they do not deserve moral consideration. In this aspect, he picks Tutsis in the context of Hutus, a community found in Rwanda as well as the Nazi’s view of Jews in Germany. Persistent conflict and strenuous relationships make it complicated for people and agents engaged in the tussle to appreciate them share the same human community with those aggrieved. These types of conflicts result in emotions of high degree hatred besides alienation. Gergen posits that as the intensity of the conflict increases, it increases the psychological distance between the warring groups. The product of such protracted conflicts is moral exclusion. One community considers those they exclude as evil, inferior, or criminals. However, from a different perspective, Gergen avers that the typical thinking of people is that everybody has basic human rights, which do not warrant violation. In this case, it is not appropriate to rape, murder, and torture innocent people. The international requires people to treat each other fairly and justly in addition to handling each other with respect and dignity. This represents the humanity aspect (Gergen, 1991, 71). Humanity dictates that people get their basic needs to allow them enjoy their freedom, which provides room for them to make autonomous decisions. It is a principle of humanity of people to negotiate a truce during times of war because it helps to protect the lives of innocent people on each of the opposing sides. After the war, the criminal justice system should accord a fair trial to those considered to bear the greatest responsibility of crimes against humanity. During trial, none of them should receive unusual and cruel punishment. Gergen presents the third angle of analysis while analyzing humanity and dehumanization. Abelson, R. (1998). Perceptions of the collective other. Personality and Social Psychology Review, Abelson delves into the review of dehumanization. According to him, the idea of dehumanization does not have a systematic theoretical foundation. The same applies to the study that investigates the theoretical basis, which deserves integration. He takes the initiative to review various theories of dehumanization and proceeds to develop a new framework. Abelson feels that understanding the ways of employing the concept of dehumanization comes before attempting an integrative structure of dehumanization. The scholar identifies that dehumanization appears mainly when people address race, ethnicity, and related disciplines including genocide and immigration (Abelson, 1998, 52). This paradigmatic circumstance defines the primary means through which communities dehumanize others. Abelson compares the act of dehumanization among people to the behavior of animals. The author mentions that during racist descriptions, people compare Africans to apes and this provides the avenue with which to deny them membership into the family of humanity. In this case, they do not consider Africans in the same species with other races. Other people compare other groups to parasites, dogs, rats, pigs, and insects as well. The second category offered by Abelson is visual descriptions, which contain physical features that make ethnic groups appear like animals. From the same description, they make adults look like children. Among other characteristics, they shame the society, lack rationality, and inferior to other ethnic groups. Abelson writes in his work that scholars assess dehumanization in terms of genocidal conflicts. Just like other scholars such as Gergen, he identifies means through which the Jews in Germany, Tutsis in Rwanda, as well as Bosnians in the Balkan wars appeared on the chopping board of dehumanization during respective wars. Such metaphors of animals appear in the images of immigrants. People in particular quotas in the world consider the immigrants pollutants threatening the social order. Abelson further delves into analyzing dehumanization in gender and pornography. He posits that it is common in the representations of women in pornography. The same feature is common in medical literature. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak Markus Zusak describes humanity and dehumanization in his novel, The Book Thief. His choice of using Death to narrate the story of Liesel creates the scary aspect of dehumanization. Liesel goes through the ordeal in the hands of the Nazis in Germany that coincides with World War II. Liesel doubling as the main character in the novel appreciates the impacts of living in Nazi Germany during the celebrations organized during the birthday of Adolph Hitler. The ceremony accompanied a book burning display. This was the twentieth day of April in nineteen forty. Nazis ban book at the time Liesel has great interest in reading and finds great value in books. When she realizes that, this was a celebration to mark the birthday of Hitler. Hitler becomes her sworn enemy. The moment enmity strikes, then dehumanization begins. Important in this case, is that it was a dangerous undertaking for a girl in the Nazi Germany. Keeping a Jew in your compound during the Second World War in Germany was a brave and frightening action but a grave mistake at the same time. Zusak writes about this level of hatred that a person doing this abominable act lived in paranoia. This what befell Max because people he loved. They put his life in danger. Death provides the story of Liesel Meminger. The bigger percentage of the book occurs in the town of Molching, a fictional town in Germany appearing near Munich. The story ruins for five years starting in nineteen thirty-nine and nineteen forty-three, which coincides with the Second World War. Death starts narrating the story of Liesel Meminger from her childhood at the age of nine (Klise, and Klise, 2009, 31). This was the same time Meminger was pondering the immediate loss of her brother besides separation from her mother. These occurrences leave Liesel with only one option and that is moving in to stay with Rosa Huberman and Hans in Molching. Her inability to read makes her a laughing stock in school. Hans the painter steps in two help her learn reading during midnight lessons. Max engaged in a complicated relationship because while he became a darling of the residents in Huberman, his life was in danger. The author pens down that the month of October in nineteen forty-two changed the flow of events completely for Liesel. During this month, the Parade of Jews moves along the streets of Molching. The fear in Hans regarding the possibility of Nazi guard searching his house for Max demonstrates the degree of dehumanization in Germany at the time. The whipping of Jewish prisoners by Nazi guards sends shivers among most people including Hans. Although, he escapes unscathed because guards do not search his house, Hans lives in constant fear. The appearance of the Gestapo that constituted the secret Nazi police throws Hans into the unsure position. According to him, the police were after him when actually they wanted Rudy. Force rules the air when the family trades to save Rudy from joining the special training institution (Zusak, and Trudy, 2013, 55). This came on the foothill of Rudy being a great athlete and student. The survival of Rudy meant that his father joined the military by force to serve the Nazi regime. These occurrences leave Liesel with only one option and that is moving in to stay with Rosa Huberman and Hans in Molching. Her inability to read makes her a laughing stock in school. Hans the painter steps in two help her learn reading during midnight lessons. The first few days at Himmel Street become crucial in helping Liesel forget the double tragedy of separating from her mother and the death of her brother. Among other things, she helps Rosa collect washing from various wealthy residents. It is painful to see how people do not consider each other human in the Nazi regime. The occurrences leave Liesel with only one option and that is moving in to stay with Rosa Huberman and Hans in Molching. Her inability to read makes her a laughing stock in school. Hans the painter steps in two help her learn reading during midnight lessons. The first few days at Himmel Street become crucial in helping Liesel forget the double tragedy of separating from her mother and the death of her brother. Among other things, she helps Rosa collect washing from various wealthy residents. Shortly later, the presence of the Nazi party becomes felt all over Molching. Among the consequences of this presence, include the destruction of Jewish yellow stars and shops as well as Rudy and Liesel joining the Hitler Youth and German Girls, in the same procedure. The yellow paintings are on the doors and windows of Jewish houses and shops. This marks the beginning of troubles that Liesel goes through and at the end, Death; the narrator concludes the story by telling the audience about the death of Liesel Meminger. This is in addition to her life in Sydney along with her husband, several grandchildren, and three children. Death goes to collect Liesel and takes the masculine stature because it is referred using the male pronoun. During this exercise, he puts her down to allow them walk together for some time. When Death shows Liesel the Book Thief, his aim is to ask many questions about people. However, Liesel cannot comprehend any of them. Works Cited Abelson, Richard. Perceptions of the collective other. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 1998. Print. Gergen, John. The saturated self: Dilemmas of identity in contemporary life. New York: Basic Books, 1991. Print. Klise, Kate, and M S. Klise. Over My Dead Body. Boston: Harcourt, 2009. Print. Zusak, Markus, and Trudy White. The Book Thief. , 2013. Print. Read More