Sunday, May 16, 2010

Why? Why go back?

The scene where Liesel finds Max in the crowd is just so heart touching for me. When Liesel pushes through the crowd and sneaks into the "parade" to talk to Max, it really for me just emphasized the true strength of Liesel and Max's relationship. But the part that touched me the most was when Liesel went back into the crowd after the first beating and started reciting sentences from the Word Shaker. That was just such a powerful moment for me. It is hard for me to explain what I was feeling at that particular moment, but it was like I could feel Max's and Liesel's relationship become even more strong and more special. Something I don't understand though is why would Liesel want to go back into the march for the third time even after the brutal beating she received from one of the soliders. Half of my brain understands why Liesel would do such a thing, but the other half of my brain is using common sense and is asking the question why would you put yourself in such danger. The half of my brain that understands knows that for Liesel going back for the third time is her last chance to ever see Max. As Liesel yells, "Please, Max!" she is expressing her want for him to come back, which is something that I can understand. But the other half of my brain is focusing on the fact that going back like that for the third time is very risky. I am not sure that if I was put in that position I would go run after him like that. I'm not sure. I would probably just count my blessings that I was even alive and left the situation at that. But for Liesel there was something actively compelling her to run after him, an emotion that took over, an emotion that the reader might not feel or understand. That exact emotion is the missing piece of the puzzle, but as long as that piece remains missing my brain will continue to fight over the possibilites of why Liesel would go back. For all we know, Zusak might have written this scene so that the reader has to fill in the blank, a blank that has infinite possibilities.

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