{"id":283,"date":"2011-04-07T07:00:43","date_gmt":"2011-04-07T14:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=283"},"modified":"2011-04-06T15:16:25","modified_gmt":"2011-04-06T22:16:25","slug":"mark-reads-the-book-thief-chapters-33-34","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2011\/04\/mark-reads-the-book-thief-chapters-33-34\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads ‘The Book Thief’: Chapters 33-34"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the thirty-third and thirty-fourth chapters of The Book Thief<\/em>, Max Vandenburg waltzes into the Hubermann house on Himmel Street and brings life-changing heartbreak to the entire family. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read The Book Thief<\/em>.<\/p>\n

All right, so this is just going to continue to get more and more depressing, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not prepared, obviously, but at least stating this at loud will help. Max\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s arrival has changed everything.<\/em> And I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m fully aware that that is a clich\u00c3\u00a9 statement and one I am prone to making in my Mark Does Stuff ventures, but seriously, I have never meant it more than now. This whole book has <\/em> to change now. Smartly, Markus Zusak is painfully aware of this and this chapter doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t disappoint in addressing this reality very well, despite how uncomfortable this all is.<\/p>\n

CH. 33: LIESEL\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S LECTURE<\/strong><\/p>\n

A small complaint about how Zusak frames the opening bit of chapter thirty-three:<\/p>\n

Exactly what kind of people Hans and Rosa Hubermann were was not the easiest problem to solve. Kind people? Ridiculously ignorant people? People of questionable sanity?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Well, ok, that last bit\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m always reluctant to make points about ableism in regards to mental health because my own problems aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t diagnosed and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to center the issue around myself. But that line struck me as a bit disappointing, only because people with mental health issues or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153questionable sanity\u00e2\u20ac\u009d are entirely capable of making good decisions, moral decisions, and doing wonderful things to people around them, so I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really like the implication that Hans and Rosa might be not \u00e2\u20ac\u0153sane\u00e2\u20ac\u009d because they are willingly choosing to help out Max Vandenburg. Though\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6these are Death\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s<\/em> words, and it might be an element of his character and not Zusak\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actual beliefs. And I get that. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just a very tiny moment in an otherwise amazing chapter that does everything else so wonderfully, but I thought I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d bring it up so we can discuss it. I think, in context, it might not be that problematic, but I am no expert on mental health and ableism. Thoughts?<\/p>\n
But as I said, Zusak does<\/em> get everything else right in this chapter, beautifully so. As uncomfortable and terrifying this situation is for Liesel, Hans, and Rosa, he never forgets to point out that out of everyone here, Max is truly the one who is the most oppressed, who has the most traumatic experience, and whose suffering is so much more frightening. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not to say that Zusak ignores the reality of the situation for the rest of the people in the house, because he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. And he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say that their experience here is totally disposable and useless, either. The threat of being found out is very, very real.<\/p>\n
When a Jew shows up at your place of residence in the early hours of the morning, in the very birthplace of Nazism, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re likely to experience extreme levels of discomfort. Anxiety, disbelief, paranoia. Each plays its part, and each leads to a sneaking suspicion that a less than heavenly consequence awaits. The fear is shiny. Ruthless in the eyes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
What I find so impressive about this is the way that Zusak crafts this section to show how Hitler\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tyranny creates a social environment where a person can be a mortal threat to happiness, life, and liberty simply be existing<\/em>. And while the Hubermanns treat Max with the most amazing sense of compassion and empathy, I appreciate that Zusak doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t necessarily say, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Hubermanns are perfect to all Jews forever,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or anything like that. If you read that section again and take out the phrase \u00e2\u20ac\u0153a Jew,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d it almost sounds like you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re reading about an inanimate object. A plague. A disease, a virus, a vicious outsider. And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s<\/em> what Hitler\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Germany did to the Jews. (Well, one<\/em> of those things, as the situation is certainly not that easy to simplify at all.) By treating them as a diseased and undesirable part of the population, by punishing anyone and everyone who treated the Jews as if they were anything else but<\/em> garbage, he helped create an environment where people could detach Jews from their humanity. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a terrifying, dehumanizing thing, by the very nature of the process. And we can see the same things being done around the world, even here in the United States, in modern times. To be a bit obvious, first of all, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to draw a parallel that suggests anything I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m about to say is <\/em>the Holocaust, because these examples all have a different political context and historical weight, and what happened to those exterminated and abused and terrorized at the hands of the NSDAP is not the same.<\/p>\n
But look at how the same technique of separating people from their humanity (or their womanhood or their faith or their heritage, etc) can be used to turn a nation against a group. I can name a very specific one that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s affected me: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153illegal\u00e2\u20ac\u009d immigration. I mentioned on Tumblr not too long ago that people in college literally believed I stole the spot of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153well-deserving\u00e2\u20ac\u009d white people because I got into school based on \u00e2\u20ac\u0153reverse racist\u00e2\u20ac\u009d policies. And while it was spelled out directly that they thought I was an \u00e2\u20ac\u0153illegal\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (at least not that time), that imperialist, racist dialogue is all-too-familiar for me. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m Latino and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been used against me since I was in elementary school. Apparently I have to work harder<\/em> than white folk in order to prove that I deserve a spot in certain parts of society!<\/p>\n
But I digress, as I could spend thousands of words talking about dehumanization. The point being\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.Zusak gets this. He gets how even the most well-meaning people can sometimes slip up if they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re sold a particular idea about a group of marginalized people. And there are no more well-meaning people than the Hubermann\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s here, so this is not a criticism of them at all. I just found it very fascinating and appropriate that the description of their situation briefly reflected the world they lived in.<\/p>\n
Anyway, back to The Book Thief. <\/em>The day after Max arrives, Liesel knows that the dynamic of her household is going to change dramatically, and the first sign of that is when she awakes the following morning and her father tells her she is not going to school that day.<\/p>\n
Mama announced the day\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s priority. She sat at the table and said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Now listen, Liesel. Papa\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to tell you something today.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d This was serious\u00e2\u20ac\u201dshe didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even say Saumensch<\/em>. It was a personal feat of abstinence. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll talk to you and you have to listen. Is that clear?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
The girl was still swallowing.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Is that clear, Saumensch<\/em>?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
That was better.<\/p>\n
The girl nodded.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I find Rosa\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s transformation to be the most fascinating to me. It starts off small, like this moment here where she doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t leap to insult Liesel as she normally does. But that transformation will most likely grow in ways we haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seen before, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m intrigued to find out why this<\/em> is what changes Rosa\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s temperament. CAN WE PLEASE HAVE A ROSA FLASHBACK, ZUSAK. THANK YOU<\/p>\n
In the basement later that day, Hans begins his attempt to explain the severity of the situation. Alone with Liesel, he paces the floor, back and forth, choosing his words carefully:<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Listen,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said quietly, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I was never sure if any of this would happen, so I never told you. About me. About the man upstairs.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He walked from one end of the basement to the other, the lamplight magnifying his shadow. It turned him into a giant on the wall, walking back and forth.<\/p>\n
When he stopped pacing, his shadow loomed behind him, watching. Someone was always watching.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You know my accordion?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said, and there the story began.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
We know the story and I was actually thinking how this might have been an amazing time for Zusak to have revealed it to both Liesel and the reader, but I think he was smart for giving us this flashback so much earlier, so that Max\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s arrival also brings a heavy dose of dread as well. Additionally, Zusak is expanding out from focusing entirely on Liesel, showing us this story is not solely about her either. We don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need to experience this book through her eyes only<\/em>, so I love what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s done here.<\/p>\n
Hans takes Liesel back to the night of the F\u00c3\u00bchrer<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s birthday, when Liesel promised that one day she would need to keep a secret, and he lays it all out for her: this is that secret she must keep.<\/p>\n
Between the hand-holding shadows, the painted words were scattered about, perched on their shoulders, resting on their heads, and hanging from their arms. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Liesel, if you tell anyone about the man up there, we will all be in big trouble.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He walked the fine line of scaring her into oblivion and soothing her enough to keep her calm. He fed her the sentences and watched with his metallic eyes. Desperation and placidity. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153At the very least, Mama and I will be taken away.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Hans was clearly worried that he was on the verge of frightening her too much, but he calculated the risk, preferring to err on the side of too much fear rather than not enough. The girl\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s compliance had to be an absolute, immutable fact.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
As terrifying as this is, Hans is aware of how all of this can crumble in a second, with one word spoken to the wrong person at the wrong time. So, to communicate this, Hans goes directly to what he knows will have an affect on Liesel: he tells her he will destroy her books. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an act that, for Liesel, is utterly inconceivable. As Death says:<\/p>\n
The shock made a hole in her, very neat, very precise.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
But Hans knows that Liesel loves more than just her books, so he has to explain the irreversible damage that will arrive on the doorstep if she tells anyone<\/em> about Max Vandenburg.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll take you away from me. Do you want that?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
She was crying now, in earnest. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Nein<\/em>.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Good.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d His grip on her hand tightened. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll drag that man up there away, and maybe Mama and me, too\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand we will never, ever come back.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
And that did it.<\/p>\n
The girl began to sob so uncontrollably that Papa was dying to pull her into him and hug her tight. He didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. Instead, he squatted down and watched her directly in the eyes. He unleashed his quietest words so far. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Verstehst du mich?<\/em> Do you understand me?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Did you hear the sound of MY HEART SHATTERING INTO A BILLION PIECES. Good god, this is so intense. But Hans has to do it! He seriously needs to impart on Liesel just how ridiculous this situation is, that there is no room for an exception or a misstep or a mistake. She can tell no one.<\/em> Despite that Liesel really does understand what her father says to her and that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s relieved that the hardest part for her is over, she gets the sense that things aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to be the same in her house again.<\/p>\n
Everything was good.<\/p>\n
But it was awful, too.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
God, shit is getting so real.<\/p>\n
CH. 34: THE SLEEPER<\/strong><\/p>\n
We switch the narrative away from focusing on the dire need to address the obvious reality of Max\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s stay at the Hubermann household to Max and Liesel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s interaction. And despite that Max is asleep for three days and we are still seeing everything through Liesel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s eyes, the focus never strays too far from what Max has gone through. Liesel is fascinated by Max, initially because he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s new to the house and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sleeping in her room. And he does so for three days, largely in total silence.<\/p>\n
Sometimes, close to the end of the marathon of sleep, he spoke.<\/p>\n
There was a recital of murmured names. A checklist.<\/p>\n
Isaac. Aunt Ruth. Sarah. Mama. Walter. Hitler.<\/p>\n
Family, friend, enemy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
As soon as I read this part, I thought about how there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a man in Liesel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s room who is tormented by his past, such in a way that it affects his sleep. Hey, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like Liesel! I thought to myself, and while I appreciated the parallel and thought I was being all clever and shit, Zusak immediately proves he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s way ahead of me.<\/p>\n
Liesel, in the act of watching, was already noticing the similarities between this stranger and herself. They both arrived in a state of agitation on Himmel Street. They both nightmared.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Well, drat! There goes my huge piece about the parallel between these two characters. I am shaking my fist at you, Zusak!<\/p>\n
The time comes when Max inevitably has to wake up, and when he does, Liesel happens to be right next to him, and in a panic of disorientation, he reaches out to her before she can back away, grabbing her arm, pleading with her for no discernible reason.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Please.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
His voice also held on, as if possessing fingernails. He pressed it into her flesh. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Papa!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Loud.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Please!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Soft.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what this moment means. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have any clever insight. I can only imagine that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a subtext here, that maybe Max is begging Liesel not to tell anyone about him, or maybe he is begging for company or affection, or maybe he is just confused. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Hans who diffuses this situation, though.<\/p>\n
When Papa came in, he first stood in the doorway and witnessed Max Vandenburg\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gripping fingers and his desperate face. Both held on to Liesel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s arm. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I see you two have met,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<\/p>\n
Max\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fingers started cooling.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
So now the real question is: How is Liesel going to deal with having Max Vandenburg in her life?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the thirty-third and thirty-fourth chapters of The Book Thief, Max Vandenburg waltzes into the Hubermann house on Himmel Street and brings life-changing heartbreak to the entire family. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read The Book Thief.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[23,46,45,44],"class_list":["post-283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-book-thief","tag-mark-reads","tag-mark-reads-the-book-thief","tag-markus-zusak","tag-the-book-thief-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}