Through Thick and Thin "The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb," a common proverb, suggests that a promise kept between two people is more important than genetic relations. However, relatives and family held great significance for Europe during World War II, where bloodlines and genetics were often the difference between life and death. Blood is a motif of war, and how fitting that The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, set in the bloodiest war in history, is not only a story of a girl living in Nazi Germany, but also a story about family and the difference between being of blood-relation and being together. Liesel Meminger, the protagonist, is a foster child who is taken from her old home to Himmel Street. Upon growing
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This is especially obvious in the conversations between Hans and his son, Hans Junior. Hans and his son are reported by Liesel to be arguing about politics on Christmas Eve (88). Additionally, Hans Junior, believing his father to be old fashioned and unpatriotic, often has frustration toward Hans and Hans 's apparent dislike of the Nazi Party (104). Then, Hans Junior goes one step more and leaves his parents ' house—and them—forever but not before calling his father a coward (105). Later in the book, Rosa learns from Michael Holtzapfel that Hans Junior was fighting in Russia (467). This goes to show that sometimes simple blood-relation means relatively little to actually being a …show more content…
Liesel 's foster parents are not lesser parents than her biological ones, and the story suggests that Hans and Rosa Hubermann may have been closer to Liesel than they were to their own biological offspring. Max 's family was strong and built on generations of traceable genetics. In the end, The Book Thief supports the proverb: the biological-blood factor of family is not as important as the experiences, struggles, promises, and, in some cases, secrets that are shared between people. Maybe the Nazis could have benefitted from learning that in their quest to create one, biologically-pure "German
This is especially obvious in the conversations between Hans and his son, Hans Junior. Hans and his son are reported by Liesel to be arguing about politics on Christmas Eve (88). Additionally, Hans Junior, believing his father to be old fashioned and unpatriotic, often has frustration toward Hans and Hans 's apparent dislike of the Nazi Party (104). Then, Hans Junior goes one step more and leaves his parents ' house—and them—forever but not before calling his father a coward (105). Later in the book, Rosa learns from Michael Holtzapfel that Hans Junior was fighting in Russia (467). This goes to show that sometimes simple blood-relation means relatively little to actually being a …show more content…
Liesel 's foster parents are not lesser parents than her biological ones, and the story suggests that Hans and Rosa Hubermann may have been closer to Liesel than they were to their own biological offspring. Max 's family was strong and built on generations of traceable genetics. In the end, The Book Thief supports the proverb: the biological-blood factor of family is not as important as the experiences, struggles, promises, and, in some cases, secrets that are shared between people. Maybe the Nazis could have benefitted from learning that in their quest to create one, biologically-pure "German