The Book Theif Themes By: Zach Klaus

Theme #1 - Appearances don't show the reality (Deception)

"There were the erased pages of Mein Kampf, gagging, suffocating under the paint as they turned" (Zusak 237).

As Max erased the pages of Mien Kampf, a symbol of Hitler's rule conveying power and a facade of glory, he displayed the truth of Germany. With distribution to every German in Nazi territory Mien Kampf was meant to lead people into Hitlers will. Hitler's book glorified himself and his ideals. In reality however, it is easy to see the deception he created.

In this article, "Deceiving The Public," by the US Holocaust Memorial Museum we can learn how important it was for Hitler to use propaganda in order to deceive his people into believing in everything he said. With a fake image of wealth, power, and prosperity he was able to effectively control the citizens of Germany. Under this fake image the reality begins to show. The poverty, discrimination, and fear were examples of the true condition of Hitler's rule and will forever be known in those ways.

Theme #2 - The Evils of racism


Death questions the morality of the German people and how they've treated the Jewish population. He wonders with all that the Nazi sympathizers have done to the Jews, if they should not be treated the same. It is easy to see the evils created by Hitler and his Germany. Concentration camps were scattered throughout the territory, poverty rose, hate crimes become acceptable, and fear demolished hope. Nothing good comes from racism and history has proven this repeatedly.

In this TED Talk, "Fixing Racism," Gurdeep Parhar goes into subconscious biases, racial stereotyping, and how to fix the problem. He states that everyone experiences racism and it's negative effects. Gurdeep says to solve the problem you must recognise everyones differences, like skin color, but also find things that you share in common. If this had taken place before or even during Hitler's rule, arguably, the holocaust may have never occured. If German's had looked at eachothers as individuals just like themselves, their state of fear would've instead been a state of kindness. They would have cared for eachother just like how we should in today.

Theme #3 - Working class struggles

"It was my fault. Completely. I insulted the mayor's wife and told her top stop crying over her dead son. I called her pathetic. That was when they fired you." (Zusak 264).

During the war, money was extremely hard to come by. People tried anything they could just to keep their house and feed their families. Just like in the quote, Rosa was eventually fired from cleaning cloths for the mayor's family. As no one had wealth in Germany, it was nearly impossible to obtain and sustain a job out side of the war efforts. This left civilians to pick scraps and ruined the morality of many.

In this TED Talk, J.D. Vance goes into detail about American working class struggles and their effects. He explains why its hard to get jobs in areas and why some areas are stuggling the way they are. German went through the same things he talked about during world war two but nationaly and on a larger scale. Because highly educated people were moving out with the rising threat as well as the lack of opportunity in the average citizen.

Summative Theme: Appearances don't show the reality

This is a picture of me. On the outside, I may seem like a normal person but behind the facade I'm pretty cool.

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