During the socratic seminar, many topics of controversy were talked about. After this discussion, my understanding of The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, reaches a new level of perception. There were many parts of the discussion where ideas that never entered my mind were brought up by a classmate. One of the first things discussed during this seminar was if Liesel’s stealings were ok or not and if she could be classified as a thief. A few of my classmates believed that Liesel was not a thief due to the fact that, “She was only taking things that no one wanted so she can't be called a thief”. I belonged to the opposite side of the argument; I believed that stealing was stealing and to be a thief means you have stolen from someone or something.
…show more content…
It was unanimously decided that Hans was a brave character because he stood up for his morals and what he believed in. Although he knew he would face big consequences for his actions that went against the cultural norm in Nazi Germany, he did what he knew was right. The next part of the conversation with whether some characters were brave or cowardly focused on Max. The class was divided on this question and both sides had convincing evidence supporting their claim. One party would say he was cowardly for leaving his family to save himself from getting caught. The other side would argue that he was brave because he saw the tough and dangerous journey ahead and went and took it. The last large chunk of the discussion was about how characters interacted with their past. Different characters had very contrasting ways of connecting to their history. I said that while Liesel dealt with her past, the mayor’s wife let her own past deal with her. What I mean by this is that Liesel used her past as leverage to push her further than she ever would have gotten. She learned multiple new lessons that she wouldn't have if she didn’t use her memories to motivate her. On the other hand, the mayor’s wife let her past suck her in and she never really moved on from one big memory, her son’s death. She spent every day after that as a miserable lady who couldn't really do anything to get going. I learned from this that you should only use mistakes and your past to help you go further than you ever had
It was unanimously decided that Hans was a brave character because he stood up for his morals and what he believed in. Although he knew he would face big consequences for his actions that went against the cultural norm in Nazi Germany, he did what he knew was right. The next part of the conversation with whether some characters were brave or cowardly focused on Max. The class was divided on this question and both sides had convincing evidence supporting their claim. One party would say he was cowardly for leaving his family to save himself from getting caught. The other side would argue that he was brave because he saw the tough and dangerous journey ahead and went and took it. The last large chunk of the discussion was about how characters interacted with their past. Different characters had very contrasting ways of connecting to their history. I said that while Liesel dealt with her past, the mayor’s wife let her own past deal with her. What I mean by this is that Liesel used her past as leverage to push her further than she ever would have gotten. She learned multiple new lessons that she wouldn't have if she didn’t use her memories to motivate her. On the other hand, the mayor’s wife let her past suck her in and she never really moved on from one big memory, her son’s death. She spent every day after that as a miserable lady who couldn't really do anything to get going. I learned from this that you should only use mistakes and your past to help you go further than you ever had