Part Eight
Quotations
"Together they would watch everything so carefully planned collapse, and they would all smile at the beauty of destruction."
--Death, Part Eight (408)
--Death, Part Eight (408)
This quote reminds me of the downfall of Hitler, were his whole Nazi empire collapsed on itself and in doing so lead to Hitler's death and the end of the devastating world war.
"How things had changed, from fruit stealer to bread giver. . . She heard his stomach growl--and he was giving people bread."
- --Death, Part Eight (440)
This quote explains the change in Rudy throughout the story. He goes from a mischievous little boy to a giving and generous young man.
"For it was death in a foreign country during the war. For others it was poverty and guilt when the war was over, when six million discoveries were made throughtout Europe." --Death, Part Eight (416)
When this quote talks about "discoveries" it's referring to the 6 million Jews that died at the hands of Germany. The guilt felt because of this would be tremendous and I couldn't think of how some would cope. All of this happened in WWII and it was a not a pretty sight.
Images
This image reminds me of Hans at his job as an LSE. He had to go out while the air raids were going on as to go and look for people and dead bodies. This picture makes me think of the good things that come out of Han's work, like finding survivors like this cat.
This pile of beer bottles is what I see after Hans' drinking incident. He got drunk out of his mind since he knew he was leaving for war the next day. He wanted to drink his worry and fear away so he didn't have to deal with it.
Connections and Historical Context
We find out that Hans is assigned to be an Air Raid Special Unit when he was sent out to war, which this is a this a job from the branch of German warfare called The Luftwaffe.
Throughout all of Germany, drafts were being enforced to provide men for the dwindling German army.
Questions
Why was Rudy not picked to be apart of this elite group of German soldiers?
Why do you think Liesel couldn't stop thinking of Rudy's naked body?
What might be Liesel's reason to hold off from kissing Rudy?
Why do you think the NSDAP approved Hans Hubermann's application?
My Thoughts and Response
This Part of the novel was great and enjoyable, but it started me off in a state of confusion due to the unexpected situation happening in the Steiner household. I was somewhat unknown to what was happening in the household until I heard what was going on ,but before that I didn't know of a single reason for Rudy and the Steiners to be unexpectedly visited. When I found out the true reason, I was both sad and glad for Rudy not going to the German school since for one he can stay with his family and Liesel. At the same time we all know that he dies and if he did go to that school he might of had a chance at life.
One section in this part that I found to be most sorrowful was Han's draft into the German army. One of the people I think to be most affected by this was Rosa. During Han's leave, Rosa was completely blank and seemed to be deep in thought all the time when Hans was gone. She held onto Hans's accordion nearly every night that he was gone to keep the bond between them even though they were far separated from each other. It was also sad to hear that Rudy was going to lose his father to war as well, but that isn't as important this part as it is in an upcoming part.
We then read about Rudy and Liesel's escapade where they threw bread into the streets for an oncoming parade of Jews. I thought this act was done with great thought and good intentions. This deed also showed great change in Rudy's overall behavior and view of the world, knowing that he did the right thing in world that sees these doings as wrong. I felt happy for Rudy and his new view on live as well as his new hatred for the German leader Hitler. Overall, this part was a great read and made me want to read the next part with haste.
One section in this part that I found to be most sorrowful was Han's draft into the German army. One of the people I think to be most affected by this was Rosa. During Han's leave, Rosa was completely blank and seemed to be deep in thought all the time when Hans was gone. She held onto Hans's accordion nearly every night that he was gone to keep the bond between them even though they were far separated from each other. It was also sad to hear that Rudy was going to lose his father to war as well, but that isn't as important this part as it is in an upcoming part.
We then read about Rudy and Liesel's escapade where they threw bread into the streets for an oncoming parade of Jews. I thought this act was done with great thought and good intentions. This deed also showed great change in Rudy's overall behavior and view of the world, knowing that he did the right thing in world that sees these doings as wrong. I felt happy for Rudy and his new view on live as well as his new hatred for the German leader Hitler. Overall, this part was a great read and made me want to read the next part with haste.