The Book Thief, Escapism, and Trauma Theory: How to Talk about the Holocaust to Young Readers

An analysis of The Book Thief, its unique narrator, and how to address their themes responsibly in the classroom.

Transcript

1. THE BOOK THIEF Escapism & Trauma Theory: How to talk about the Holocaust to young readers
2. POLL: At what age is it appropriate for children to learn about the Holocaust?
3. ABOUT THE BOOK ➤ Markus Zusak’s fifth novel ➤ Published in 2005 in Australia ➤ 2006 in United States ➤ Based on his heritage — Zusak’s parents grew up in Germany during WWII ➤ Highlights the power of books ➤ Nazi book-burnings: burned books by Jewish authors; tried to burn identity of Jewish people ➤ Liesel represents hope?
4. QUESTION #1: ➤ List two themes/criteria that place The Book Thief under ‘historical fiction’.
5. HOW IS IT HISTORICAL FICTION? ➤ A work of fiction set in a time prior to when it was written ➤ Takes place in late 1930s; written in early 2000s ➤ Themes of historical fiction found in The Book Thief ➤ The underdog fighting against an establishment ➤ Rebellion/revolt ➤ Fairytale? Magic? Supernatural?
 ➤ Sweep of history: begins in late 1930s — ends….?
6. QUESTION #2 ➤ Who is the underdog in this story? Is there more than one? ➤ Who is/are she/he/they fighting against?
7. QUESTION #3 ➤ Would you consider this story’s conclusion a happy ending? Why or why not?
8. 20th Century Fox adaption — Released in November of 2013
9. QUESTION #4 ➤ How does the film adaptation seem problematic? ➤ There is one key character severely misrepresented. Who is it? ➤ If you didn’t read the book, would you be able to easily determine who the narrator is? Why or why not?
10. QUESTION #5 ➤ What common themes of Children’s Literature are found in The Book Thief?
11. DEATH AS NARRATOR ➤ “A potentially disturbing figure who nevertheless functions to mediate the harsh realities of the novel’s subject matter, enabling Zusak to accommodate the conflicting expectations surrounding Holocaust literature aimed at children and young adults” — Jenni Adams, 2010 ➤ Confronts adolescent reader with fact of death ➤ Double narrative ➤ “…the simultaneous comfort and confrontation accompanying the perspective of Death” (Adams, 228) ➤ Death in an abstract (“Small [but disconcerting] Fact”, p. 3) ➤ Death’s focus on specific historical losses ➤ P. 340: “Summer came. For the book thief, everything was going nicely. For me, the sky was the color of Jews.” ➤ “Risks distorting the reality of these events to an unacceptable degree” (Adams, 226).
12. “When their bodies had finished scouring for gaps in the door, their souls rose up. When their fingernails had scratched at the wood and in some cases were nailed into it by the sheer forces of desperation, their spirits came toward me, into my arms, and we climbed out of those shower facilities, onto the roof and up, into eternity’s certain breadth. They just kept feeding me. Minute after minute. Shower after shower. — Death, p. 340
13. DEATH AS NARRATOR ➤ Minimizes “even the luridly imagined suffering of the Jews by depicting their passage from this earthly torment into ‘eternity’s certain breadth’” (Adams, 226) ➤ Offers redemption? Makes it seem okay, because the Jews are now “saved”? ➤ Construes death as a form of rebirth: “…as if it were newly born,” p. 340 ➤ Personally appeals to the reader: “Please believe me,” p. 340 ➤ “Sentimental endeavor to mobilize the reader’s desire for such redemption,” (Adams, 226) ➤ Demonstrates the “doubleness often considered necessary in Holocaust representations for young readers, thus also provides a firm illustration of the ethical problems surrounding escape and consolation in Holocaust literature,” (Adams, 226)
14. THE HOLOCAUST & LITERATURE OF ATROCITY FOR CHILDREN ➤ The Book Thief — age range? ➤ “Young readership … more readily identifiable as young adult rather than child,” (Adams, 229) ➤ “Simultaneously confronts readers with knowledge of historical fiction and protects them from it,” (Adams, 231)
 
 ➤ At what age should children be exposed to Holocaust literature/education?
15. Historical fiction novels — intended for middle-grade reading levels Number the Stars by Lois Lowry, The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
16. Picture books about the Holocaust — intended for elementary-level readers Erika’s Story, The Harmonica, & Benno and the Night of the Broken Glass
17. ➤ Since mid-1980s, explosion of imaginative writing for children’s Holocaust literature ➤ Must be life-affirming, offer some hope ➤ Mustn’t traumatize ➤ Narratives teach motto ‘Never Again’ ➤ Double narratives: “respects our need for hope and happy endings even as it teaches us a different lesson about history,” Naomi Sokoloff, 2005 HOW DO WE TALK TO CHILDREN ABOUT THIS EVIL?
18. “Childization [of the Holocaust]effectively works to contain the disruptive and disturbing ramifications of considering the Holocaust and all its complexities. That is, it is simplified for children because children require its simplification, and it is imagined as something for children to study because there is some tacit desire to simplify it.” Eric Tribunella Melancholia and Maturation, 2010
19. THE HOLOCAUST & LITERATURE OF ATROCITY FOR CHILDREN ➤ Literary texts to fill “twin axioms”: to instruct and to delight ➤ Literature of atrocity should instruct but not delight ➤ Elizabeth Baer proposed a set of criteria to measure children’s Holocaust texts and their effectiveness: ➤ Grapples directly with the evil of the Holocaust ➤ Presents the Holocaust in its proper context of complexity ➤ Includes a warning about the dangers of racism and anti- Semitism, and of complacency ➤ Gives readers a framework for response — creates a consciousness, a “memory”, and sense of personal responsibility regarding prejudice, hatred, and racial discrimination Elizabeth Baer, 2000
20. IS THE BOOK THIEF EFFECTIVE? With these terms in mind,