Which Character In The Book Thief Is Most Affected By The War, And How? (Essay Sample)

WHICH CHARACTER IN THE BOOK THIEF IS MOST AFFECTED BY THE WAR, AND HOW?
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October 1, 2017
The Book Thief, by Marcus Zusak, brings out various themes such as love, death, suffering, morality and war; however, the latter is prominently ubiquitous throughout the book −− and at the same time propounded from varying points of views by different characters. Death, one of the major characters in the book, narrates events surrounding other characters and how they advance the aforementioned themes. War has not only brought suffering, pain and in some cases death, but also shaped the general course of events in the book. In addition, war is undoubtedly an overwhelming leitmotif which each character faces and embraces differently. Finding a general consensus on who suffers the most due to war is hugely a matter of personal opinion; nonetheless, several characters can be briefly analyzed to justify the eventual answer to this question.[Marcus Zusak, The Book Thief (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006), 1-552] [Ibid 174]
Throughout the novel, Liesel Meminger evolves from a young, naïve and helpless girl into a strong, critical thinker and morally conscious young woman; conversely, it is clear that the war affected her tremendously. Liesel experiences various forms of losses and sufferings due to vagaries of war. Numerous people who are close to her die either directly or indirectly. From the narration of Death in Part Ten Himmel Street gets bombed. This causes deaths of many people such as Rudy, Mama, Papa, Holtzapfel, Diller and Tommy. In a rare twist of events, Liesel survives; but the deaths of her close friends and family members bring her pain. Max Vandenburg; who has built a close friendship with Liesel is captured on his way to Stuttgart and subsequently taken to Dachau camp with other Jews. From the narration of Death, seeing Max and other Jews being mistreated made Liesel sad and bitter towards the prevailing situation.[Ibid 20] [Ibid 31]
As mentioned above, Max Vandenburg; just like other Jews, has to hides from the NAZIs. It is stated that he had to leave his family in order to save himself. This act makes him feel guilty. In addition, Max feels burdened by the fact that hiding in Hubermanns’ house endangers the latter’s lives. His sufferings is also manifested later when he is captured by the NAZIs on his way to Stuttgart and marched to the Dachau camp. Primarily, the fact that he is a Jew during this era is entirely attributable to his pain and sufferings.[Ibid 185] [Ibid 194] [Ibid 198] [Ibid 390]
Other characters such as Ruby, Papa and Mama face the ultimate wra...