Pretty much all the books we've read so far have had plenty of parallels or opposites. The reason that I chose to blog about this particular book was that in The Book Thief, all the parallels are hidden and related.
The first one is seen in Max and Liesel. Liesel, as the book progresses, becomes increasingly brave, and mature. Her friendship with Rudy becomes stronger, she is willing to steal, yell at the mayor's wife, and she begins to take on some of Rosa's workload. Max, as the book progresses, loses his health, despite his efforts to exercise, constantly apologizes, and lives and relives his duel with Hitler.
Liesel's life can only seem to improve, and Max's-as well as every other Jew's life during that time- can only seem to get worse.
Yet their growing friendship, and what they have in common (nightmares, personal struggles, and their love of reading) acts as an opposite to that.
Max's work on the pages of Mein Kampf is another opposite/relation. This one is quite obvious, although The Standover Man is not simply a parallel within the greater parallel of Max and Liesel's friendship-it also makes that greater parallel stronger, and is a manifestation of it as well.
In other words, parallels within parallels.
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