Part Six
Quotations
"You want to know what I truly look like? I'll help you out. Find yourself a mirror while I continue." --Death, Part Six (307)
This quote tells me that Death is as close to us in life then life itself. By Death saying this, it shows that death is a part of everyone's life and will always be waiting for you at the end of your life.
"'Can we keep it, Papa?' 'No . . . We cannot keep it' 'Why not?'"--A Little Girl and Her Father from Cologne, Part Six (338)
This quote goes to show that not even the innocence of this little girl is touched by the gruesome acts of devastation happening across the world.
"Please believe me when I tell you that I picked up each soul that day as if it were newly born. I even kissed a few weary, poisoned cheeks. I listened to their last, gasping cries. Their vanishing words… I watched the sky as it turned from silver to gray to the color of rain. Even the clouds were trying to get away."-- Death, Part Six (350)
This quote to me shows just how horrific and terrible the mass killing of the Jewish people. Zusak goes into vivid detail of the events that unfolded in those concentration camps and even personifies the clouds to add another level of intensity to the situation.
Images
This image of a snowman reminds me of the snowman that Max and the Hubermann's built down in the basement. It was a short time of pure happiness and joy in this broken family, and it allowed them to escape from the outside terrors of the world.
This image of a deflated soccer ball reminds me of Liesel's first gift to Max when he was extremely sick. This first gift led to series of 13 total gifts that ranged from a soccer ball like this, to a cloud imagined in the eyes of a girl.
Connections and Historical Context
Air raid shelters are talked about in Part 6 and they played a major role in protecting the people on Himmel Street
In Part 6, Death talks about the bombing of Cologne that occurred on May 30th, 1942.
Questions
What might be the true reasoning behind Max's sickness?
Why does Death tell us the story of the falling gas tanks?
What might have happened if the NSDAP inspector found Max in the basement during the inspection?
What does death telling of one of his Auschwitz visits due to the reader's emotions at the end of part 6?
My Thoughts and Response
Part Six was a joyride of emotions that threw me any loops and twists that I thoroughly enjoyed. It starts off with Christmas at home and Liesel has the clever idea to start bringing snow down to the basement so Max can have some sort of link to the outside world for once. This soon leds to Max getting very sick which to me made me very sad for Max and I hoped that he would recover. Liesel starts giving him small gifts to try and make Max wake up from this sickness, but also is determined to finish The Whistler for him. This made me think that Liesel was trying to do all she could to try and get Max better, even though it probably was some sort of deep psychological issue spinning around Max's head.
The story then steepily intensifies when an inspector comes by to check the Hubermann's basement to see if it's a suitable air raid shelter. The minutes seem to last forever as the Hubermann's wait in a state of fear and anxiety for the inspector to be through with the inspection and Max to not get caught. I felt extremely worried for family at the time in the story and I really hoped that Max wouldn't get caught.
Overall, I like this part of the book and all of its ups and downs. Max's sickness got me really worried, but then everything turned around when he woke back up.
The story then steepily intensifies when an inspector comes by to check the Hubermann's basement to see if it's a suitable air raid shelter. The minutes seem to last forever as the Hubermann's wait in a state of fear and anxiety for the inspector to be through with the inspection and Max to not get caught. I felt extremely worried for family at the time in the story and I really hoped that Max wouldn't get caught.
Overall, I like this part of the book and all of its ups and downs. Max's sickness got me really worried, but then everything turned around when he woke back up.