Rosa's Opinion of Hans

Through page 475 of TBT, Rosa's view of Hans changes, or at least it appears to. On page 43, Rosa shows her disappointment in Hans by saying: "If your [Liesel's] papa was any good, I wouldn't have to do this. A painter! Why marry that Arschloch?" From this quotes, I got the idea that Rosa does not hold a large amount of respect for Hans and thinks that he doesn't work hard at all. Slowly, after the Hubermanns find out about about Hans being called to participate in the war, Rosa's feelings get softer for Hans. I think that Rosa is frightened for Hans's future. She doesn't want him to get hurt or die in the war. Because of this, she decides to go easier on Hans. You can tell this because, after Papa has become drunk and gotten a hangover the next day, Rosa isn't mad at him, and just throws a bucket of water on him to wake him up. She even says on page 422, "It's lucky you're going to war. Otherwise, I'd kill you myself, you know that, don't you?" Then, on page 429, we receive the image of Rosa holding the accordion in the middle of the night. This shows how much Rosa misses Hans, despite all of the wrongdoings and faults she has accused him of. Rosa realizes that his support and optimism in the family will be missed.

I don't get a clear sense that Rosa admires Hans for the first 400+ pages. However, when Hans is called into duty, we finally get to view Rosa's strongest feelings for him. I am curious if Rosa actually meant all of her accusations and insults towards Hans. Since her views change from thinking that he doesn't work hard enough to the thoughts the she misses his accordion playing, it is hard to tell what her actual view of Hans is. Perhaps she is just being herself, since she tends to insult everybody. But her views that he doesn't work hard seem to be a little too strong to be overlooked.