‘The Book Thief’ by Markus Zusak

1. ‘The Book Thief’by Markus Zusak How a resolution of a main conflict was important to the text as a whole.

2. My main points are … • Max escaping the raid of Nazi’s eliminating the Jewish society. • Max relying on Mein Kumpf to shelter his escape from Hitler. • Max battling Hitler in the basement.

3. Max escaping the raid of Nazi’s eliminating the Jewish society. • As a teenager of fifteen, Max Vandenburg was a ‘Jewish fist-fighter’ in the playground. He would fight many opponents “…at a small reserve on Steber Strauss”. • Over a total of thirteen fights with Walter, Max only claimed victory three times. They fought each other until they were seventeen when “…grudging respect turned into genuine friendship”. • All Max’s life he has had someone ‘standing over him’; in the fights he lost “…with blooding falling from their nose”, his father standing over him while he was sleeping and now Hitler.

4. Max relying on Mein Kumpf to shelter his escape from Hitler. • Walter had Max hide in “…a secret hiding room…a few hundred miles north-west of Himmel Strauss in Strugart.” • “He had only eaten the foul taste of his own hungry breath for what felt like weeks, and still, nothing. For now he could only sit on his suitcase couch, hands underneath his chin, his elbows burning his thighs. Ignore the itchy feet. Don’t scratch the soles and don’t move too much. Just leave everything as it is at all costs. It might be time to go soon.”

5. Max battling Hitler in the basement. • “Every night I wait in the dark and the Fuhrer comes down those steps. He walks down and he and I, we fight for hours.” • “He was twenty four but he could still fantasize. ‘In the blue corner,’ he quietly commentated, ‘we have the champion of the world, the Aryan masterpiece – the Fuhrer.’ He breathed and turned. ‘And in the red corner, we have the Jewish, rat-faced challenger – Max Vandenburg.’ ‘The ring itself was perfect. Perfect canvas, lovely ropes. Even the stray hairs of each thickened string were flawless, gleaming in the light, white light.”

6. In conclusion… • Max escaping the raid of Nazi’s eliminating the Jewish society… • Max relying on Mein Kumpf to shelter his escape from Hitler… • Max battling Hitler in the basement… • …Are the resolutions of a main conflict.