Sunday, March 8, 2009
Discussion 2- Setting
The Book Thief is based in Nazi Germany in 1939. Most of the book takes place on Himmel Street so far, where Liesel enjoys playing soccer with the neighborhood kids. Himmel Street is in a neighborhood that is poor and seems kind of like a dark place in the book. It is very different to read a book that takes place in Nazi Germany but not in a concentration camp, but a normal German neighborhood. One of Liesel's best friends gives her a little bit of a tour of the town on their way to school. He points out some shops that were abandoned but still had yellow stars and anti- Jewish slurs and the road of yellow stars. Also on their way to school, troops in training passed them marching. The whole setting of the town and Liesel's neighborhood is very cold and dark feeling but I guess that it to be assumed during the Holocaust. The setting will continue to change and more shops will be abandoned. I can't wait to keep reading and see how the setting affects the plot of the story.
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I also like how the novel does not take place in a concentration camp. I have always been interested in the Holocaust and the plight of Jewish people during that time, but I have never really focused on the effects of the Holocaust and WWII on other people in Nazi Germany. I like how the book gives another perspective.
ReplyDeleteI like how you pointed out that the soldiers were marching through on Leisel's first day of school. That made me think of the parade of Jewish people heading to Dachau later in the book. If people like soldiers and prisoners are always marching through the town, how could it be a happy place to live?
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Tess. I've heard so much about the impact that the Holocaust had on the Jews, but practically nothing about the impact the Holocaust had on the non-Jews that tried to save the Jewish people. I think this makes the book that much more interesting and i think that's why i like it so much.
ReplyDeleteI definetely agree that it is much more interesting to know what life was like in outside of concentration camps. The town being poor adds even more. The cold and dark feeling is there, but there are happy moments. Like when Liesel gets more books and her adventures with Rudy. The fear of the Nazis taking away the Hubermanns is a constant feeling, though.
ReplyDeleteI said the same thing. It's intersting how it takes place in a different setting, not the concentration camps. It gives you a different perspective during World War II.
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