"Max lifted his head with great sorrow and great astonishment. 'There were stars,' he said. 'They burned my eyes."
-pg. 378
When the faux alarm was sounded, everyone on Himmel Street disappeared. For the first time in 22 months, it was safe for Max do look outside. Zusak speaks profoundly through Max when Max spoke of the stars. Max was not talking of the true stars in the sky, but the Star of Davids painted on the windows and doors of Jewish shops. One of the only places where Max is safe is in a house surrounded by anti-Semitic people who are destroying the shops of Jews. These marks of hatred are truly what burns Max's lives as he realizes that his survival is so delicately balanced and what danger he has put on one of the only families to still have souls.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I find it very interesting that you made the stars connection with the stars of David. I didn't see that before, but now that you mention it, its 100% true. At first I thought that Max just meant the stars were too bright since he has spent so much time inside. But there is light inside, and the stars are not bright enough to blind someone who has been living with electricity. Max hasn't been in the outside world for around a year now, which has put some distance between him and Nazi Germany, but I think that when Max saw the Stars of David, he was more aware of the danger he created for those helping him and for him. The stars of David on the shops made Nazi Germany real to him instead of a collection of memories he had with him while in the basement.
ReplyDeleteThe reference to the Stars of David are noticeably similar to the much earlier metaphor: "...some stars had the nerve to rise and float... till the stars were dragged down again, into the waters of the German sky" (45). The floating stars would be Jews who are resisting the Nazi's persecution. Max, in a small, private way, is resisting the movement by just staying alive.
ReplyDelete