Lessons On Hope From the Book Thief

While on vacation, I started a novel that many of you may have read: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It's the story of a German family living during Hitler's rise to power, and how that family displays character, love, values, and above all, hope.

The story centers on Papa, Mama, and their foster child Liesel. Papa chooses not to join the Nazi party because he does not support its ideals. In many ways they are an ordinary family living in extraordinary times.

Through an unexpected, unwanted event, they are thrust into circumstances that propel them to become the heroes of their own stories. In the Great War, Papa's life is save by a Jew who gets killed. After the war, he finds the man’s widow and makes her a promise: If she ever needs him he will help her.

Be careful what you promise.

Years pass and the request never came, until one night there was a knock at the door. There stood Max, the son of Papa’s savior. The son now needs saving himself.

If Papa says yes, he will be putting himself and the people he loves in danger. If he says no, he will destroy his self-respect. Support comes to Papa in a surprising way. Mama, who to this point has been a harsh and critical woman, becomes a warm and loving caretaker to Max. Everyone in the family works to keep him alive and safe.