Leaving Max behind...

Zusak described in the section The Sound of Sirens, that there are going to be bombs in Liesel’s area. When it was time to go to Fiedler’s shelter Liesel and her family had to leave Max behind in the basement hoping everything would be okay. While Liesel in Fiedler’s shelter asked her father a quick question, “Are you thinking about him, too?” (Zusak 376). Bringing Max to Fiedler’s shelter was not an option, because there were people in the shelter “Twenty-two people crammed themselves into Fiedler’s shelter…” (Zusak 373). Luckily when it was time to go back home Max was there. Max broke down and told the Hubermanns that he had went upstairs and looked outside. No was anger at him for that.

            When I was growing up I always felt unfair with my little siblings, because my parents always told me that they are younger so give it to them. In our family we believed the oldest sibling always have to give whatever the little siblings wants. So slowly I gave up fighting with my siblings for anything. Now I am older I understand why my parents did that because it showed me not to be selfish. Now I have my own child if I do have another child I would something like that, but I think I would do things a little different. I do not want my first child to feel unimportant, because that was how I felt when I was younger.

Works Cited:
Zusak, Markus. The Book Thief.  NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. Print.

Death's diary

In this section of the book, Zusak gives us an excerpt from Death's Diary.  In his diary, Death stated, “the sky was the color of Jews” (Zusak 349). Death was seeing so many dead bodies at this time that he felt like they were taking up the entire sky. When Death described the Jews dying in the camps he compared it to having a new meal each minute.  “They just kept feeding me. Minute after minute. Shower after shower" (Zusak 349). The Nazis kept feeding Death the bodies of the people they killed at the concentration camps day after day. 

The way Death described the deaths that took place in the gas chambers gave me the creeps.  Death writes about how the people in the gas chambers were so desperate to get out alive, that their fingernails were "nailed into" the wood of the chambers as they spent their last moments trying to scratch their way out (Zusak 349). Death felt like he was saving the people in the camps, because he was putting them out of their misery. If I was in those camps, I think I would try to kill myself so I wouldn't have to deal with the pain. Death felt that ending the humans lives was preferable to keeping them alive in the camps, because Death saw another, more peaceful life after their deaths. He said, “Please believe me when I tell you that I picked up each soul that day as if it were newly born” (Zusak 350).  I agree with Death's feeling that there is a new beginning when we die, because I believe in reincarnation. 

Works Cited:
Zusak, Markus. The Book Thief.  NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. Print.

Loyalty

In this section of the book, Liesel is carrying around a book called The Whistler.  This book is significant because the mayor's wife tried to give it to Liesel as a gift, but she was too ashamed to take it because she knew she had been stealing from the mayor's library.  Liesel loves books very much, so it was hard for her to turn down that gift.  She wanted the book so badly, that later on, she and Rudy returned to the mayor’s house to steal the book. 

The next week, Rudy and Liesel were walking through town and Liesel was carrying her book as usual.  A group of older kids saw them walking and started bullying Rudy and Liesel. One of them, Viktor Chemmel, had beaten Rudy up before, but Rudy was not afraid of him. Viktor Chemmel snatched the book from Liesel. Rudy showed his loyalty to Liesel by challenging Viktor who said, “What are we reading?"  Rudy replied, "This is between us" and tried to reason with Viktor (Zusak 301).  Unfortunately, Viktor didn't listen to Rudy and instead he spun the book down into the stream. Rudy "peeled off his coat and jumped in, wading to the middle of the river” (Zusak 302). Rudy rescued the book and returned it immediately to Liesel and asked for a kiss from her as usual.  This section of the book shows us that Rudy is a very loyal friend, whose friendship with Liesel is becoming stronger as they get older.

I have always felt being loyal to a friend or a family is very important. When I was younger, I heard one of my friends was in trouble. I had no way to get there, so I decided to walk. I did not care how long it would take me. All that came to my mind was that she was in trouble and that she needed me. I once told her I would always be there for her no matter what it takes. It was a promise that I kept.

Work Cited:
Zusak, Markus.  The Book Thief.  NY:  Alfred A. Knopf, 2005.  Print.

What frightened Liesel?

"Originally, Max had intended to write his own story."(Zusak 277) Max wanted to write about everything that was going on with his life, but then it turned out to be different. Max drew a sketch of Hilter standing above everyone. "She could barely make out the sound of his breath, coasting in and out of, as she opened the book and glimpsed a few random pages…"(Zusak 278) Max wanted to give it to Liesel when she is old enough. What frightened Liesel the most was a picture of a guy and a little girl on top of mountains of dead bodies. I think it frightened Liesel, because she was very young at the time and there were dead bodies in the picture.

            My life was not crazy or dramatic when I was younger. It was pretty simple. I had to go school, get good grades, and take care of my little siblings. Even though I did learn one big thing about my family is that we have a gambling problem. My parents got really into it, where they went overboard. I am not saying we were rich, but we were in a good stage. They sold everything until there was nothing else to sell. We went to 3 cars and a house into one van and in apartments.  My siblings and I made a promise to ourselves that we would never be so addicted like our parents.