Conformity and Rebellion

"The Book Thief" is a novel that is centered around conformity and rebellion. In World War II, Adolf Hitler used propaganda to convince people that what he believed and what he was doing was the right thing to do, and by his standards what he was doing was normal. Most humans strive to be consided normal and be accepted by everyone they meet and by conforming to Hitler's ideas and beliefs, the people considered themselves normal. By conforming to Hitler's ideas the people began to represent conformity as cruelty, because what Hitler was doing to people who were rebellious and did not meet his standards was cruel and inhumane. However, there were the rebellious characters in "The Book Thief", such as Liesal, Hans, and Rosa Humbermann, and Ilsa Hermann. Liesal, Hans, and Rosa, hid a Jew in their basement, even though they were aware that this could result in their death, and Hans took a whipping for hiding Max, but Hans was still glad that he did, because he knew what Hitler was doing was wrong. Hans and Liesel refused to be like all the others who conformed because they were not willing to be acknowlegded as weird, they were willing to take a stand for what they believed even if that ment risking their life to help someone who was friend. In this novel, rebellion represents the kindess and beauty that exists in our world. If there had not been people like Hans and Liesel in World War II and even in today's society there is no telling where society would be.