‘‘I AM HAUNTED BY HUMANS’’ – An Assessment of Criminality, Guilt and Shame in Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief

Swarachita Dasgupta

Independent Researcher

Abstract:

Humanity tends to follow the compass of morality. It is the driving force for maintaining harmony within a society thronged with individuals of varying temperaments. Although the concept of morality promises a clear distinction between the virtues and the vices, we cannot overlook the fact that that it is highly subjective. Morality cannot be equated to natural values inherent to a human as they are imposed upon throughout an individual’s life. Consequently, it raises concern regarding what qualifies to be labeled as crime and whether one should really feel the guilt and shame associated with it. In my paper I intend to delineate the juxtaposition between humane impulse and the discourse of morality through Markus Zusak’s literary excellence, The Book Thief. Inculcating the themes of criminality, guilt and shame into literature helps to humanise judgements and break free from dogmatic notions, not only to determine the aftermath but also assess the causes behind an act of crime, and to freely mingle with different perspectives to dissolve the codes of morality.

Keywords: Crime, Guilt, Humanity, Morality ,Shame

Introduction:

By definition, ‘Crime’, is a term that encompasses ‘an act or omission prohibited and punished by law’ (Collins Dictionary). But these illegal acts are subjective, for indeed, they are devised and categorised by humans, for humans. The magnitudes of crimes, therefore, are heightened and toned down in accordance to the social condition the supposed criminal finds himself in; and this fluctuation in considering the intensity of the crime leads to the twisted notion of justice – who should be punished and how much? Punishment is the ultimatum of justice, the harsh treatment meted out to the supposed criminal. But is justice always synonymous to being fair? The next question that needs to be assessed here, is what governs the differentiation between the wrong or the right – Is it due to the support of a majority? Is it in adherence to the benefit or loss of humanity? Or is it individual favouritism imposed upon as universal truth?

We often see how guilt and shame are treated to be correlated and are used almost as substitute to each other; because the root cause of these two emotions lies in the violation of a social norm by inappropriate behaviour in relation to a given society and also that they are both moral emotions. Guilt constitutes shame and regret – ‘‘the feeling of regret for having done something wrong for which we also feel ashamed,’’ says Ortony (A. Ortony). To Lewis, both are slightly different as an individual is ashamed when he judges himself and is guilty when he is being judged (Lewis). To inculcate all of these into literature is to humanise judgements, break free from dogmatic notions, not only to determine the aftermath but also assess the causes behind the ‘crime’ and to freely mingle with different perspectives to dissolve the codes of morality.

Criminality, Guilt and Shame in The Book Thief

Revolving around a ‘‘girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist fighter and quite a lot of thievery (Zusak),’’ Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, challenges the generally conceived idea of criminality and its accompanying guilt and shame. The setting of Nazi Germany shows how the ‘crime’ against humanity is forcefully propagated as the law of the land. Displacement of millions of families, propagation of hated against a particular group of people and common mass being punished for something they have no active role to play in, serves as a foreground for Liesel Meminger’s life as narrated by Death. Denied of a normal childhood and pushed to adopt herself to her new foster family, she finds comfort in the little trophies she steals. These trophies in the form of books though hold little material value, are a potent symbol for Liesel wanting to do the wrong in the life back to right. Starting from a gravedigger’s handbook while burying her brother to the abundant choices in Ilsa’s library, Liesel resorts to stealing what has been unjustly snatched away from her – education. For Liesel, the act of thievery is how she intends to take control of her life; in fact, the books she steals help to build her own story. Instead of directly asking to borrow books from Ilsa or sitting and reading them in her library as she used to do, she decides on stealing them one at a time after her foster mother is denied of anymore work. It is as if her rebellion – ‘‘Liesel would discover that a good thief requires stealth, nerve, speed and most importantly luck – the luck to rebel and achieve something out of it (Zusak).’’ Liesel’s petty little ‘crime’ becomes the namesake of the novel and is highly ironical when pitted against the brutal atrocities she sees happening around her during the Second World War.

To Rudy, stealing is an act to uplift his mood and he wants to become a thief. Drowned in poverty and stuck in a war zone, his ‘crime’ consists no more that stealing mere food and little items that a child fancies – boots and teddy bear. When Hans sees an old man struggling to keep up with the parading Jewish prisoners and offers him bread, he is whipped. Why? Because people are made to believe that act of kindness towards humanity is a ‘crime,’ that compassion must be reserved for selective fellows. It is the fear of committing this crime that engulfs the Hubermann family while they hide Max, a Jew, in their basement.

Hans suffers from the survivor’s guilt when his friend Erik gets killed the First World War Though, he had no fault of his own, and he feels ashamed to face Erik’s family and offers to help his wife and child in the future if necessity arose. This guilt and shame never leaves Hans and years later when Erik’s son, Max, asks for a shelter, Hans offers his basement despite knowing what danger it meant for his own family. After bombing starts in Molching, when Hans has to ask Max to evacuate his basement, he once again suffers from shame, the guilt eats him out and he later searches for Max in every parade of the Jewish prisoners. Max on the other hand has his own guilt trips because of his ‘crimes’ – crimes of leaving his family behind, endangering a friend’s life to provide him with some food and fake identity proofs and jeopardising a whole family’s safety by hiding in their basement – all of these just because he wants to survive like any other human would want to. Max is ashamed of the position he is in, that would put anyone and everyone around him in danger. Such a cruel society forces Max to assimilate that he doesn’t deserve the most basic things in life and he should feel guilty for having them – ‘‘Living was living. The price was guilt and shame (Zusak).’’

Conclusion

The Book Thief, hence, poses the question of what can be considered as true ‘crime’ – the desire to achieve one’s basic rights and going to every possible extent for it or going to every possible extent to deny one’s basic rights? After the bombing of Himmel Street, what remains as the biggest guilt and shame in Liesel’s life is not thieving but being granted the chance to live – ‘‘she was an expert at being left behind (Zusak).’’ The Book Thief with its topsy-turvy approach to the concept of criminality, shows an utter collapse of humanity where humans are pitted against one another, where conscience is murdered for bare survival, where one is torn in-between the tug of war of the right and the wrong and where Death is ‘‘haunted by humans (Zusak).”