Sunday, March 8, 2009

D2-Setting

I think that the setting is a very inventive way to look at Nazi Germany.  There have been hundreds of books from the Jewish perspective, but I have yet to see on from the perspective of a normal German neighborhood.  The narration of Death gives the setting a look of dreariness and foggy streets and such.  I can't help but picture Himmel street as a filthy, sad place to live.  Also, I think it would be difficult to come up with a more dangerous place to steal things, books in this case.  I feel like the punishment for stealing, even if you weren't Jewish, would be ridiculously harsh and unavoidable.  That is one of the many reasons that this story is set in Nazi Germany.  Also, the "Road of Yellow Stars" leads to Liesel seeing the hate and cruelty in the world as well as when she begins to learn more about Hitler.  She sees the boarded up houses where Jews used to live and their old businesses, now completely destroyed.  She also sees the support Hitler is getting form the people in her town, and all the anti-Semitic propaganda in the shops in town.  This shows Leisel the horror of the Nazi regime and I expect she will end up rebelling, in secret, by the end of the book.
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7 comments:

  1. EmilyMarch 8, 2009 at 12:04 PM

    I also think Liesel is now starting to realize the cruelty of Hitler and the Nazi's. She begins to see how the Jewish people are treated like for instance, their boarded houses and their businesses destroyed. I agree that Death adds to the setting by creating a look of a bleak street and a "filthy, sad place to live".

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  2. TessMarch 8, 2009 at 12:27 PM

    I agree that it is interesting to see from the perspective of a normal German neighborhood. There are many books written from a Jewish perspective in Nazi Germany, and its nice to hear from the perspective of ordinary German people who suffered in Nazi Germany.

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  3. vicMarch 8, 2009 at 1:37 PM

    I also agree that the perspective of a normal German neighborhood is very interesting. I also think that Death's perspective of the neighborhood adds lust and danger to the book in general.

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  4. KatharineMarch 8, 2009 at 1:50 PM

    I agree, Emily. I think that Leisel is starting to see what is going on around her. I think that Death's perspective does add something to the plot, too.

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  5. ElizaMarch 8, 2009 at 2:55 PM

    I agree with you about how there aren't too many books from the average German perspective. When I think of Nazi Germany, I tend to think that everyone in it was hateful, except the ones who were being persecuted. This book shows that a lot of innocent Germans were affected as well.

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  6. Nick BlogMarch 8, 2009 at 5:37 PM

    I agree on how it is more intersting when we read a book, not based in the concentrtion camps, but just an average German citizen. It really gives us insight to what their lives were actually like.

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  7. BrookeMarch 8, 2009 at 9:18 PM

    I like that the perspective is different. About the anti-Semitic propaganda, I think it's interesting how little Liesel is biased against Jews. It seems that even when they take in Max Liesel doesn't resent Max at all. I also think it's a good idea for Hans to keep Mein Kampf from Liesel because she doesn't need one more source of propaganda polluting her mind.

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