Tuesday, May 12, 2009
I thought it was strange that the Hubermann's let Max Vandenburg, a Jew, stay with them in their house. At the time, it was dangerous enough to be hiding a Jew in your house in the first place, but I felt that the Hubermann's were in no position for that type of generosity, because since Hans had already decided not to join the Nazi party, he was already under a certain degree of suspiscion. However, on the other hand, I know he has a sense of loyalty towards Max Vandenburg because his father saved Han's life, but the father, the one who actually helped Hans, is dead, so there's really no favor that Hans is doing for Max's father. In reality, it's only for Max. Also, if Hans happened to have gotten caught hiding a Jew, he and Rosa would be taken away from Liesel, so by taking on this responsibility, the Hubermann's are also endangering Liesel. The risk of finding out about Max hiding in their house is very high, and the risk seems so great. Even though Hans owes Max's father, who is now dead, he's only helping one of the many people from the Vandenburg family, so it's not much, it's only one person. I almost start to believe that maybe the risk that the Hubermann's are taking may not be worth it after all.
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I believe that Hans feels like he is greatly in debt to Max's father for saving his life. Hans seems to be a person who keeps to his promise and he feels that it is his responsiblity to look out for Max, as Max's father looked out for Hans. Also, Hans is guiltly that he is living while Max's dad is dead.
ReplyDeleteHans takes certain precautions to protect his family as well as Max. They may seem very little, but it was the most he could do in his power. I think that he is aware that he may be endangering the rest of his family, but feels that his responsibilty to take care of Max is more important.
I agree with Kristen, but to add on, I think the fact that Hans is keeping Max safe and looking out for him is doing Erik a favor in a sense.
ReplyDeleteI would have to disagree with you on the fact that its not worth it to help out Max. As Kristen said, Hans feels that he needs to help Max due to the fact that his father saved his life. Even though the Hubermans are only helping out one person it is still better than not helping anyone out at all.
ReplyDeleteI also think that if someone who didn't have a connection to Hans asked for help, Hans would probably try to help them out as best as possible. He seems to be the type of person who wants to help.
I agree with the fact that Hans definitely owes something to Erik who lost his own life for him, but what I was trying to say was that the fact that he already has a responsibility to take care of Liesel first is what may possibly cancel that out. He took that job, probably not ever expecting this one, and he has to fulfill that job before the new one that he's taken on, becuase if he's caught, he can no longer take care of Liesel. So I believe that his priority should be her, not Max. Also, I disagree with the fact that if he didn't know someone who was a Jew and they asked him to hide out in his house, that he would say yes, because despite his own kind and compassionate characteristic, think about Rosa, because she is the rational one in the household, and even Hans is probably smart enough to realize that with the government already on his tail, taking in a Jew with such a high risk of being found out would be extremely dangerous not only for himself, but the rest of the family, too.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard, isn't it, to weigh two "right"s in time of war? You've all done a great job of exploring the dangers that Hans is undertaking, and the issues he has obviously had to face in advance of this decision.
ReplyDeleteChristina- I think it is appropriate (to Hans) and worth it to protect Max. I do realize Liesel is priority to Hans, but in a way, Hans's own life was priority, if not important, to Erik. On different personal levels to Hans, Liesel and Max seem priority, Max as Hans repaying his debt to Erik. I think Hans can multi-task with his "jobs", as you say, because if he doesn't, he will not get to his duty to protect Max. If you, Christina, propose to "work" the "jobs" one at a time, won't Hans be a little old, if not, dead when he has finished caring for Liesel and therefore, not be able to protect Max?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think you are asking how protecting Max is repaying Erik. To Erik as a father, his son is the most important of all things to him. It is a totally legit reason for Hans to repay Erik by taking care of his son, Max.
Do realize that by having the Hubbermans take Max in, Zusak is adding tension and depth to the novel. While it does add to the story line emotionally, such development in the plot is necessary to the novel as a whole.
ReplyDeleteKristen T.: I never said that Hans should work said jobs one at a time. I said that he has already taken responsibility for Liesel before taking Max in, and it's dangerous to attempt to keep both safe at the same time, so I was proposing that Hans should make a choice, because by choosing to take Max in, he is as I said before, endangering her. By not taking Max in, he is putting him in a position of extreme danger as well. My point was that for Hans, it isn't, but is close to a lose-lose situation.
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