As a punishment for their actions, the jewish man is whipped six times while being being verbally abused, and is still expected to walk on. Where as Hans is whipped four times, and simply left on his knees. The jewish man's punishment and Han's are only different because Hitler has convinced a majority of the population that this man, and anyone else who follows his beliefs, are no better than an animal and deserves nothing better, where as Han's is still considered a human.
Soon after we are told that the piece of bread was left by the jewish man, only to be picked up and fought over by others that are also participating in the march, as if accepting their title as "animals". The comparison between being a HUman and being an animal is most explicit when looking at the different reactions to the piece of bread from The old Jewish man and the other Jews.
"If nothing else the old man would die like a human. Or at least with the thought that he was human." (p. 395)
The readers are lead to assume that the Jewish man is thankful for the piece of food, only to be told that all that was needed was the offer. The Jewish man refused the bread because he wanted to prove that he was still human, despite what many thought. The Jewish man still had self respect, and he still showed gratitude, unlike others. This Jewish man, wasn't just a Jew, he was human, and he didn't feel the need to prove this to anyone but himself, and was ready to refuse the food if it meant he could die a human.
I definitlly agree with you here. In front of the whole neighberhood, Hans tries to give bread to a Jew, which is pretty amazing considering the risk he is taking just to help someone in need. Han's act of kindness helps us percieve Hitler as a force of evil throughout the book. Death also describes Hans as human on page 393 when he says, "then, one human." With these 3 words, Zusak makes it known that Death is against the mistreatment of the Jews and also thinks that the germans that do nothing to help the Jews and stop the madness are so far gone that they aren't even human!
ReplyDelete"Only as they walked away did they notice the bread sitting rejected on the street."
ReplyDeleteWhen I read that, I had a different interpretation of why the Jew did not take the bread, although your idea was very interesting.
Obviously the Jew was starving, so it only makes sense that he take the bread. However,I think that the Jews are past caring, they are past hope. Like Death described before,
"His soul was skinny"
and we interpreted it as a soul devoid of hope. The Jews are on a "death walk" to Dachau, so what's the point?
"The suffering faces...pleading not so much for help - they were beyond that - but for an explanation..."
The Jew was past caring, and I think that it was the gesture he needed. The act of caring, and someone, anyone, showing that they felt something. The actual bread was unimportant. Hans Huberman gave the Jew something much more than food.
-Jessica