Max's Spectrum of Characteristics.

Today in class we wrote about how Markus Zusak's language creates believability and intensity in the debilitated and diminished Max. I argued that the way Zusak personifies Max is by depicting each worn-down characteristic of Max as something we would not associate with the living, or at least thriving. Making Max's overall image a sad and heart wrenching one that we can clearly see in our minds as something so worn out and broken down that it has gotten to the Hubermann's basement only by giving up most of his livelihood. Like how his heart "seeps out of him", as if it can no longer function in his body anymore, because a heart is an organ fit for humans who can still feel the aches and joys of love...at least figuratively. But as I considered the booklet Max makes for Liesel it astonishes me how extensively human emotions of compassion and acceptance can be tested and still recover nearly fully. His book shows the quiet, suggestive hope that still burns inside of him, the only thing that has kep him going this far. It also shows the level of intelligence he has been able to maintain in his malnourished state. The fact that he can form conclusions over his most significant and similar experiences and create a coherent, positive story out of them proves to me that he is stronger and more logical than I had first expected. I now realize that Max is someone to pity, and yet someone to admire.