Theme Of Guilt In The Book Thief

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Guilt is a powerful emotion; it causes grief and widespread depression. Liesel Meminger, Hans Hubermann, and Max Vanderburg are only a few of the characters who are greatly affected by the power of this emotion. Some of them were affected through thievery, loss, and betrayal, but the main aspect they had in common is that guilt had altered their lives and their personalities. Max experiences this powerful emotion through betrayal. He abandons his family to escape captivity. Since we see guilt driving people to take drastic decisions in life, we know that guilt is powerful, but why does Zusak include an emotion so powerful in this novel? What purpose does the guilt serve to these characters? We see Max experiencing guilt through his frequent …show more content…
The majority of his guilt builds around Erik’s death. Hans’s guilt results from the way he survived during the first World War. Erik volunteers Hans to write a letter, thus sending his comrades to battle, while leaving Hans behind. Hans feels guilty because he thinks that Erik should have lived because he saved Hans’s life. While guilt builds up in Hans, he is seen channeling his guilt by caring for and helping Liesel, along with providing a shelter for Erik’s son, Max. Again we see guilt causing people to take life-changing decision, like hiding a Jew, but why does guilt have such a strong role in this novel? Or is this guilt benefiting those who face it? Although Max has found a way to survive, he is constantly battling the forces of guilt and shame. Max’s quote, “Living was living. The price was guilt and shame” portrays Max’s opinion on living and on whether he deserves to live or not (208). Max believes that he does not deserve to live because all life has brought him is guilt and shame. Maybe Max faces guilt because he is putting Liesel’s family at risk, and he experiences shame because he is depending on another family due to his
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