Sunday, May 17, 2009
There's A Jew In My Basement
While Liesel is reading at the Mayor's house Ilsa, who is drunk is speaking, "There's a Jew in my basement." Liesel knows that Ilsa shouldn't be speaking of that in front of others even though Liesel also has a Jew in her basement. Whether it is true or not it allows us to wonder what really is going on in side that house. This is not the first time we have seen Ilsa act strangely. She didn't tell on Liesel when she stole the book instead Ilsa invited Liesel to go into her house and read in her library. This is strange because a mayor's wife inviting a young very poor girl into her house is not a typical move. Death give us the snippet of information to wonder about what is happening in the house. Perhaps Ilsa will become a bigger role when times get harder and when Liesel will need a friend. I was curious why Death would portray her as this or why this information is important. Since Death tends to give us information ahead then relate back to it I wondered if this could be a clue of what is to come. Are the Mayor and his Wife hiding a Jew in their basement? Could this be something that Liesel and Ilsa will relate on? Will they need each other in the future to help them figure out their problems with the Jews in their basements.
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I could be wrong, but the way I interpreted those lines was that Liesel heard the words in her head and wanted to tell them to Ilsa, a woman that she really trusted, but could not because of her promise to Papa. "She imagined herself walking over...whispering in the woman's ear: 'There's a Jew in my basement'" (246). I just thought that Liesel was itching to tell someone and the line kept being said in her head, screaming to come out.
ReplyDeleteOh I see what you mean but the text stated that,"Sitting on the floor of the mayor's roomful of books, Liesel heard those words." Which made me wonder if it had a deep significance.
ReplyDeleteI think both scenarios are possible, I just interpreted it that she heard the words in her own mind. When you are itching to say something, thoughts are amplified in your mind.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is possible that Death wants to give the reader a bit of a connection between Ilsa and Liesel. Since, as you said, it is not a typical move to invite a poor girl into a very rich family's mansion, maybe Death was trying to give us something that made them close and unique. Or, it could be that Ilsa really trusts Liesel not to tell anyone. However, I don't think this would be likely since Ilsa doesn't know much about Liesel's outside life.
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