Leonard Cohen once said, “any startling piece of work has a subversive element in it”. When people create art, they have a reason. There is a meaning behind every song, book, and art piece. Artists will create these works of art to be subversive, to send a message or use them to go against what society or authority figures think they are capable of doing. In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Hans and Liesel are subversive towards the Nazis. Liesel uses her books to be disloyal and Hans uses his accordion to go against Hitler. Hans’ accordion symbolizes his undermining attitude because of where he got it, and when he plays it. Liesel’s books symbolize her negative attitude towards the Nazis attitude because it goes against what they think of
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The Nazis expect women to follow blindly but Liesel becomes her own person and enjoys reading and writing. She is “discovering the power of words” as a girl in Nazi Germany (147). Words can have a powerful effect on people and give them different ideals or values. That is how Hitler rose to power and that is why the Nazis try to control what people read. Liesel steals a book from a book burning and she knows she is not supposed to read it because it was meant to be burned. Liesel still takes possession of the book and reads it secretly. She also enjoys that the library in the mayor’s house “belong[s] to the woman” because she “thought it was the mayor’s room” (461). Liesel gets most of her books from the library in the mayor’s house. Even though she thought the library belonged to the mayor, who is a loyal Nazi, she still stole books from the library she believed to be his. The Nazis don’t want women to get ideas that would cause them to go astray and go against them but Liesel reads and gets different values that go against the Nazis. Additionally, Liesel’s books also link her to Max. Liesel begins to talk to Max when she finds “the courage to ask her question” about Mein Kampf (217). He tells her that it saved his life and he begins to tell her about his life before he came to Himmel street. Liesel and Max are “held together by the quiet gathering of words” (248). If Max and Liesel had not bonded the way they do, Liesel would not have looked for Max in the parades of Jews. While Liesel looks for Max she thinks about the books he gave her, The Word Shaker and The Standover Man. She tries to match the faces of the parading Jews “to the Jew who wrote The Word Shaker”(309). It proves that, because Liesel is interested in books, she begins to learn about Max and they begin to care for each other. So, Max gives her books that he writes for her. It goes against the Nazis because Liesel cares about a Jewish
The Nazis expect women to follow blindly but Liesel becomes her own person and enjoys reading and writing. She is “discovering the power of words” as a girl in Nazi Germany (147). Words can have a powerful effect on people and give them different ideals or values. That is how Hitler rose to power and that is why the Nazis try to control what people read. Liesel steals a book from a book burning and she knows she is not supposed to read it because it was meant to be burned. Liesel still takes possession of the book and reads it secretly. She also enjoys that the library in the mayor’s house “belong[s] to the woman” because she “thought it was the mayor’s room” (461). Liesel gets most of her books from the library in the mayor’s house. Even though she thought the library belonged to the mayor, who is a loyal Nazi, she still stole books from the library she believed to be his. The Nazis don’t want women to get ideas that would cause them to go astray and go against them but Liesel reads and gets different values that go against the Nazis. Additionally, Liesel’s books also link her to Max. Liesel begins to talk to Max when she finds “the courage to ask her question” about Mein Kampf (217). He tells her that it saved his life and he begins to tell her about his life before he came to Himmel street. Liesel and Max are “held together by the quiet gathering of words” (248). If Max and Liesel had not bonded the way they do, Liesel would not have looked for Max in the parades of Jews. While Liesel looks for Max she thinks about the books he gave her, The Word Shaker and The Standover Man. She tries to match the faces of the parading Jews “to the Jew who wrote The Word Shaker”(309). It proves that, because Liesel is interested in books, she begins to learn about Max and they begin to care for each other. So, Max gives her books that he writes for her. It goes against the Nazis because Liesel cares about a Jewish