An individual's cultural heritage sets the stage for their character, perception, morals, and experiences. In Markus Zusak's case, his and his parents' cultural heritages led to the inspiration for his novel, The Book Thief.
Our world is filled with countless cultures and beliefs. Different ways of processing life and different traditions to follow. Another difference? The struggles we face. It is no secret that some cultures have faced extreme hardships and sacrifices at the hand of those who don't. This idea dates back to the beginning of time and still thrives today. Western beauty standards today still favor orange-white skin (read more about western beauty standards here). The Chinese Immigration Act banned Chinese people from entering Canada (read more here).
Nazi Germany murdered over six million European Jews and eight million others.
Culture. Religion. Appearance. These factors control the treatment of people whether it is desired or not. This is a heavy theme in The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, whose parents originated from Germany and Austria.
Zusak's writing is greatly inspired by two life-real experiences of his parents who lived through the Holocaust. The first was the bombing of Munich: a bloody, violent event that offered Zusak first-hand experiences of the war from his parents. The second is the experience of a teenage boy offering bread to an emancipated Jew being marched down the streets, although it ended in both the boy and the Jew being whipped by a soldier. It's horrific to me how the unreasoned hatred held against Jews was so apparent that they were punished for being given bread. I believe this is why Zusak used a little German girl as his main protagonist, who helps and befriends a Jew, rather than completely committing to the Jew's perspective, as his German parents would never be able to provide that point of view. His background and his parents' childhoods led Zusak to show how people should be treated equally through his writing.
People of different cultural heritages look different, act different, and feel different. But does it matter? We're all people, we're all the same at heart, and we all deserve to be treated accordingly.
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