The Book Thief by Markus Zusak: Super Smart Note

In “The book Thief” by Markus Zusak, Max Vandenburg is very mysterious character. He is a Jew; Jews are thought to be weak and to always stay in the dark shadows where they are unnoticeable, this is what people believed in the time of the Holocaust. However, not all Jews are the same; Max is different in many ways, he is not afraid to be who he is and he is very special, “Not many people who come from his neighborhood were fighters and if they were, they didn’t do it with their fists. In those days, they said the Jews preferred to simply stand and take things. Take the abuse quietly and then work their way back to the top. Obviously, every Jew is not the same. He was nearly two years old when his father died, shot to pieces in a grassy hill. When he was nine, his mother was completely broke. She sold the music studio that doubled as their apartment and they moved to his uncle’s house. There he grew up with his cousins who battered, annoyed and loved him. Fighting with the oldest one, Isaac, was the training ground for his fist fighting.” Max has had a very harsh past, with many difficulties and devastating events. This has probably made Max the fighter that he is today, since his father died when he was just a little boy that must have been very difficult also the fact that his mother went completely broke and they lost their home must have really affected him and led him to fight. The influence of his cousins made him a fighter as well, because they battered him and taught him how to be strong. His past makes me understand why he truly is who he is now. This is very important to the story because it helps me to figure out what kind of person Max is and why he is this way. This passage taught me that Max Vandenburg is a fighter, because of his cruel past and experiences.