Sunday, May 17, 2009

Guilt

Guilt seems to be a big theme in the novel. It shows in several different characters. (This is not in chronological order...I'm too tired to sort this out...) Hans Hubermann feels guilty when his life was saved in place of Erik Vandenburg in France during World War I (178). Death feels guilty for taking Rudy's life (or ar least to me it seems so...) on page 241. Max feels guilty for having the Hubermanns take care of him. He says, "Living was living. The price was guilt and shame." (p. 208) Earlier, Liesel feels guilty and apologizes to Ludvig Schmeikl for beating him up on page 113. I'm kind of surprised, though, that Death feels guilty for taking lives (I could be wrong with him feeling guilty) since Death's job is to take lives...
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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousMay 18, 2009 at 7:16 PM

    DEATH'S JOB IS NOT TO TAKE THE LIVES OF PEOPLE!!!!!! It is to collect their souls and it is a misconception that Death kills people.

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  2. AntonioMay 18, 2009 at 7:51 PM

    I wouldn't say that Death feels guilty about taking people's souls he is more along the lines of unwilling to harvest the souls but he can't do anything about it. But he does feel a little remorse about taking people's souls "On many counts, taking a boy like Rudy was robbery-so much life, so much to live for... you see? Even death has a heart."

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  3. MorkovineMay 18, 2009 at 9:33 PM

    I think that death feels guilty to take Rudy's soul because Rudy is so close to Liesel, and as we read earlier and discussed in class, Death is very interested in Liesel. Therefore taking someone away that close to Liesel is hard for Death.

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