When in Germany, Speak Like the Romans Do

It is funny, but whenever I get an idea about writing an article, the first thing that comes to my mind is the title. I always get the title first, and then whatever it is that I plan on writing just flows automatically. There is no other way to describe this flow other than like a waterfall- it seems gentle and free at first, but somewhere in the middle, the turbulence is almost too much to handle and you can find me in my room with my nose nearly inside the computer typing away at my keyboard rather furiously, very much like I am doing now.

The weird thing is that I do not know what to write, to be honest. I have so many ideas, so many opinions on things, but I am hesitant to connect them to present them to you more neatly than the messy state in which they live in my mind, in the sense that the idea may lose its true meaning in the process. I have been waiting too long to write an article about the stock market and bitcoin but I just cannot bring myself to properly translate the caveman language which prevails in my head into English. All these ideas in my mind are like uncut diamonds; if they are taken care of and shaped a bit better, one would get a diamond.

This is why I have decided mid-article that this blog post will be about World War II.

Ever since I saw my friend Treesa reading "The Book Thief" and getting praised for reading a book twice her size, I have wanted to read it myself. Though I had started reading it, I confess that I am yet to finish the book. However, like any other over-curious person (who completed reading half a book but is too impatient to know what happens in the other half by reading since the whole reading process takes a lot of time), I saw the movie. And I have one word to describe it.

Damn.

It is one of the best movies I have laid my eyes upon, no doubt. Some people might think that it is a bit of a lag, but I do not think so. In fact, I think that there is no other book that correctly summarizes the emotions of people during the Second World War other than "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas"(Which personally I think you absolutely SHOULD watch because It. Is. Awesome.) Markus Zusak did an awesome job with the book and Brian Percival did an even better job with the movie.

The novel is narrated by "Death", who becomes a whole different character (all thanks to personification). Our protagonist is a young girl by the name of Liesel Meminger who is adopted by and lives with Hans and Rosa Hubermann in Nazi Germany during World War II. When the political situation in Germany becomes worse than a hangnail situation (which is a very bad situation, I can guarantee), her foster parents agree to hide a Jewish man named Max Vandenburg, who coincidentally happens to be a good-looking guy. Hans develops a close relationship with Liesel, helping her learn to read and write. Liesel falls in love with reading and begins to steal books that politicians seek to destroy. She also ends up writing her own story and finds a common interest in them with Max. She also successfully bags the favor of the mayor's wife Ilsa Hermann by collecting laundry. Said lady allows her to read books from her library. Rudy becomes Liesel's best friend and later falls in love with her.

Frau Hermann tells Liesel she can’t afford to send out the laundry anymore. Liesel is furious because her family is already struggling to survive and the Hermanns have so much. With Rudy’s help, Liesel begins sneaking into the Hermanns’ library and stealing books. For Christmas, Liesel builds Max a snowman in the basement. When Max gets sick and falls into a coma, Hans and Rosa worry about how they will dispose of the corpse if he dies. After months, Max recovers. Nazi soldiers arrive and inspect the basement to see if it is deep enough for a bomb shelter. Luckily, they don’t see Max. Liesel continues stealing books from the Hermanns’ library. Frau Hermann leaves her a dictionary and thesaurus with a note saying she knows Liesel has been stealing from her. Meanwhile, the 'dad' character Hans is suspected of being a sympathizer with the rebels. Max starts to revel in the thought that he might be the reason for this and that his presence may work to only further harm the family and leaves. But since he is emotionally attached to Liesel (and many other comparatively silly reasons, like following his heart and whatnot), he returns- but that is towards the end of the novel (Spoiler alert, even if it is a bit late for that now).

Rosa gives Liesel a book that Max made for her called “The Word Shaker.” It is the story of Max and Liesel’s friendship, and promises they will be reunited someday. Hans is sent to Essen, where he is part of a squad that cleans up after air raids. Another member of the squad takes a dislike to Hans, and one day he insists they change places on their work bus. The bus crashes and the other man is killed, while Hans merely breaks his leg. Hans gets sent home to recuperate. Following another air raid, Liesel and Rudy find an Allied fighter pilot who has crashed his plane. They arrive just in time to see him die. Death sees Liesel for the second time when he comes to collect the pilot’s soul. The Nazis continue to parade the Jews through the street, and Liesel sees Max among the prisoners. Liesel tells Rudy about hiding Max- something that she had never told anyone before.

Probably because it is supposed to be kept a secret. Way to go, Liesel!

The mayor’s wife gives Liesel a blank notebook so she can begin writing her own story. This creates confusion within the reader's (or in my case, Netflix viewer's) mind whether the wifey is a good character or a bad one. One night, while Liesel is in the basement editing her book, her neighborhood is bombed. Hans, Rosa, Rudy, and the rest of the neighbors are killed. When rescue workers pull Liesel out of the rubble, she finds Rudy’s corpse and gives him the kiss he always wanted. When the workers take her away, she leaves behind her finished book, called “The Book Thief.” Death, who has been watching, (because he has got nothing better to do than stalk Liesel) rescues the book. Liesel goes to live with the mayor and his wife. After the liberation of the concentration camps, Max returns and finds Liesel. They hug and cry together. Liesel eventually grows up and moves to Australia, where she has a family and lives to an old age (because Australia is the answer to all our problems). When Death finally comes to take her soul, he shows her the book she wrote so many years before. She asks him if he read it and understood it, but Death is unable to understand the duality of humanity (or maybe because he thought the handwriting was bad, though that theory makes him sound less dark and mysterious in the whole ordeal). Death's last words for Liesel (and possibly the reader, because anything and everything has to be a mystery) are "I am haunted by humans."

It is true. The literal bloody workload that we dump on Death would have earned him the Best Employee award a long time ago.

"The Book Thief" is the movie that sparked an interest in World War II and consequently, World History, within me. It is the movie that prompted me to read Mein Kampf, both in German and English (though I confess I did not complete the German version); The movie that led me to learn the whole German national anthem by heart because the meaning of the lyrics sounded pretty cool. To be honest, despite the violent ways in which Germany chose to rule the world less than a century ago, I admit I was impressed with how such a country managed to rise among the ranks within a short period only due to a single man- Adolf Hitler.

There is no doubt that Hitler was a very mean person. Being someone who is weirdly attracted to dark stuff, I had researched quite a bit about him. I will admit that I was aghast by the torturing methods that Hitler and his minions took up to erase away a whole sect of mankind. Their mercilessness shames me to such an extent that I refuse to even mention more about their modus operandi. However, I have got to admit, Hitler is by far one of the best orators I have had the chance to listen to. The way his words sweep over the crowd is mesmerizing, to the point of having deadly dangerous results, like WWII. Perhaps the only other better orator whom I have witnessed at work would be Mark Antony, whose speech also aroused mutiny- a little 'bit' that Shakespeare began with "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;".

If you watch the clip of Mark Antony at Caesar's burial, you will be moved, I say, moved! It is not just his voice modulations or hand gestures, but how he used his words, very limited and confined, censored speech, to include irony and sarcasm to such an extent as to achieve his true goal of unmasking Brutus' hypocrisy. It is wonderful to see how the refrain "Brutus is an honorable man" gradually turns Brutus from someone honorable to someone filled with malice in the eyes of the crowd, all within mere minutes. The well-timed pauses with Mark Antony's famous dramatic exit in the middle of the speech, how his words make people around him think, helps in directing the mind of the crowd exactly into his clutches.

There are a few common threads that connect Liesel, Hitler, and Mark Antony- Their affinity to words as well as their impulse to raise a mutiny. Their NEED to have people understand them, be it Liesel with her book, Hitler with his order that Mein Kampf be taught in schools as a compulsory subject, or Mark Antony when his loyalty to Caesar isolated him from the masses. In all three (despite one being a supervillain) we hear a tiny voice crying out for their loved ones, the people whom they had lost, their land, and their country. We hear a plea for help. It is funny how we ignore such pleas for help, without knowing how it will have affected them for the better or the worse in the future.

Like right now, all I can hear is my stomach's plea for food. And sorry to say, that is something I simply cannot ignore.