Chapter Four

"Hans looked at the knuckles of his right hand and swallowed. He could already taste the error of his mistake." (Pg 182)

Quote Analysis: This quote is describing the scene in which Hans Hubberman continues to punch the door and window of the NSDAP. One of the greatest Nazi' watched as he finished this act of vandalism. This is ironic to me considering that just a little before this violence he was righting a wrong. He was erasing the vandalism done to a Jewish store keeper. I wonder if at times Hans temper, which he hides well, sometimes makes him believe he is above the law. He knows that it is wrong to treat the Jews in the fashion that the Nazi regime does, however he goes and treats the Nazi headquarters with that same lack of respect. I am in no way saying that the Nazi regime deserves respect, I just see this as extremely ironic. Another event that causes me to wonder how the novel would have progressed if Hans Hubbermans membership to the Nazi regime had not been denied. Would he have helped the Jews? Would his promise to Erik Vandenburg been broken? Would he have secretly harbored a Jew? I think that all these events would have been erased and his families lives not threatened. If Hans Hubberman had gone with the flow of Germany and applied for memebership sooner and been granted membership I do not believe that he would have punched that door or that window. I do not believe Max would be living in their basement. I do not believe that his first mistake was in that public act of violence but in his procrastination; if he had been part of the Nazi regime the Hubbermans lives would have been safe instead of thrown into the sticky situation people who hide Jews.

Compare/Contrast: Hans Hubberman and his public protest which I quoted above makes me wonder how similar Liesel is to him. It makes me wonder if Hans is frightened by their similarities and Liesels tendency to follow in his reckless behavior. On page 115 Liesel boldly states," I hate the Fuhrer....I hate him." Her bold defiance of the government scares Hans enough to slap Liesel. Is this act of tough love to protect her from becoming him? Hans does not want Liesel to behave in his reckless behavior. Both of these statements are dangerous and could kill. Hans was more dangerous because his was public and Liesels was behind the protection of their house walls. Liesel looks up to Hans as her hero and when he gives her a watschen it hurts her much more than those from nuns and Rosa. Does Liesel act differently from most German students because she is naive or because she sees her idols different thoughts of this world she lives in? Liesel and Hans are similar in many ways because of their bond. They have seperate motives though I believe. Hans is from loyalty and kindness while Liesels is from admiration and following her papa.