Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Has Rudy changed?
While reading the incident of "The Floating Book (Part 2)", it got me thinking about Rudy's character. After reading and analyzing what I had read, I realized that despite my first impressions of Rudy being a selfish and extremely childish type of boy, as his greed certainly shows through in his "acts of stupidy" (p.293), he may have actually become a rather mature and almost selfless type of a character. As I realize that he's fallen in love Liesel, the act of standing up to Viktor Chemmel to protect Liesel's book seemed heroic in a strange kind of way, because not only was he brave enough to handle this bully, for lack of a better word, on his own, but he further endangered himself by reminding Viktor that it was Rudy himself that he didn't like, and that he should simply back off of Liesel. The bravery and selflessness on Rudy's part was a complete shock to me and it made me wonder, did he do this for himself, or has he truly matured? I question his character here, because Death says afterwards, "this moment was his only chance to revel in some victory," (p. 303) and of course, after saving it, he requested the usual, a kiss from Liesel. Did he simply defend her and rescue the book to be granted a victory after so many losses or so he could finally win a kiss from Liesel? Or has he truly undergone a change of character?
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I don't think Rudy has changed throughout the novel. He is a really good friend and I think that he has more chances to show it as the novel progresses.
ReplyDeleteI do agree though on the fact that wanting a kiss from Liesel might be more of him teasing her than actually desperately wanting one.
I agree with Katia, I don't think Rudy has changed much. It appeared to me as if Rudy has always been a kind person, and like Katia says, he just didn't have the right opportunity to showcase it.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of it comes from his desire for constant attention. That might have thrown off some people's opinions about Rudy, mistaking his cry for attention as selfishness and childish-like behavior.
I do recall it saying in the book that Rudy really loved Liesel, and kissing her was just something extra. After all, he dies without kissing Liesel. But, I do slightly agree with you, in saying that Rudy had other motives behind his actions (defending Liesel and saving her book). He probably did both out of the kindness of his heart, but realized afterwards he had something to gain from doing so.