The Book Thief

Welcome to our cyber literature circle: Post a total of 4 comments to include at least ONE category relevant connection--should include category (capitalize, bold, highlight or italicize), page, description of observation or question (what) & insight/ impact/link to argument (how/why) AND/OR at least ONE comment on another post. DO NOT repeat observations or connections, but OK to elaborate/connect to an observation or argument thread. Complete by midnite prior to due-date.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Cole Wilkes "Pages From the Basement"

Max, is a Jew *gasp*. In his small booklet he writes in the basement, he portrays himself as a bird. Why? The idea of Max being trapped in the basement is similar to the case of a bird being trapped in it's cage. But who's keeping him locked in that cage? Hitler. He is the so called 'keeper' who is unwilling to let Max go free. And until his death, he is forever caged by Hitler and the rest of the Third Reich over-bearing the Jewish faith. Zusak uses this idea of an innocent bird being locked away to convey pathos within the reader and therefore make Max a more likeable character.
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2 comments:

  1. Austin MercerOctober 27, 2011 at 6:04 AM

    I agree with what your saying here. The idea of Max being trapped as a bird, which is really a symbol of freedom, is very ironic. This "thing" that is shadowing over him, which seems to be Hitler, is described by Max as the "Standover Man". When you first see this you think of like his father or his guardian, but it is really the exact opposite. The "Standover Man" is Adolf Hitler, the man that is exterminating the Jewish race, Max's race. For Hitler to be such of a dominating object to Max, he uses the pages from Mein Kampf, Hitler's book about his struggles in jail, to write his story about the "Standover Man". All of this is very ironic because it seems like Max is trying to make a connection to Hitler, but in a very vague way.

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  2. Brandon SwordsOctober 27, 2011 at 6:07 AM

    I agree, Cole. The persecution of all Jews is conveyed on a much smaller scale in these few pages. His short story begins with pernicious seclusion, but over the course of the story, the mood changes drastically. Max meets someone who has things in common with him, which is incongruent with modern and post moderntexts; even more interesting, incongruities are a characterstic of modern and postmodern texts. This section of the novel seems to provide evidence of the argument- that people are capable of good and bad. At first, the standover man, an ominous oppressor, commits evil acts along with the boys who Max fought with, but when Max meets Liesel, she seems to be his only friend. This shows the contrast of good and bad amongst different people.

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