Women are to be nurturing, loving, and soft. Men are hard, strong, and tough. But this is not always the case in Markus Zusak's The Book Thief, where women are tough and men just want to sit down and play the accordion or write a book.
There are few gender stereotypes in The Book Thief, but not none. It is the men who are sent off to war, and it is the men in power. Perhaps the biggest gender stereotype is that of Death himself, who is depicted as a male using he/him pronouns, despite being an almost otherworldly being or a god. The highest power in the novel, a male for no reason. However, the use of gender and their character helps make this plot realistic and relatable.
Exhibit A: Rosa Hubermann. She is a complicated character with a mix of following and breaking gender roles. Her source of income was washing and ironing. Her cooking was atrocious. She had a foul mouth, especially when she's mad. I wouldn't be surprised if Rosa Hubermann invented the idea of tough love. She was strict and hard on Liesel, and she rarely expressed her love, although not many people loved Liesel as much as Rosa did. She even fed a Jew without a second thought upon his first arrival. Throughout the novel, Rosa has an internal conflict where she has difficulty expressing affection and revealing her true emotions. This could be because she views love and kindness as a sign of weakness and something one could hold against her. Or, maybe she doesn't want to soften Liesel up like her husband, who gave away everything he had and risked his life for multiple people.
"Make no mistake, the woman had a heart. She had a bigger one than people would think. There was a lot in it, stored up, high in miles of shelving" (Zusak 532)
Exhibit B: Hans Hubermann. He was much simpler than Rosa, much calmer as well. Apart from fighting in wars and having manual labor as an occupation, Hans broke nearly every other gender stereotype out there. Hans was kind and soft. He did his best to teach Liesel how to read, sang her songs and told her stories. He has the deepest connection with Liesel than anyone else. He sold his cigarettes to buy Liesel books, and he helped and fed bread to a Jew knowing it would lead to his social damnation. Hans Hubermann willingly led a Jew into his house, fed him, clothed him, and protected him, all for the sake of keeping a promise to his fallen comrade. Hans was a symbol of pure love and kindness, and it is the most nurturing character Liesel meets. His being a man only highlights this, as men are not expected to be the nurturing and kind type, so Hans being this type of person makes these qualities hard to ignore whereas a female may be overlooked.
"The Jew stood before him, expecting another handful of derision, but he watched with everyone else as Hans Hubermann held his hand out and presented a piece of bread, like magic" (Zusak 394)
It's quite clear that during the creation of these characters, gender stereotypes were not heavily used, as each character is a unique blend of these stereotypes. Rosa's hardness stands out as a woman, and Han's kindness would be chalked up to extra emotions should he have been a woman. They simply are who they are, and who they are may follow these gender roles in some areas while others may not.
If you're interested in gender stereotypes, I highly recommend this Ted Talk by Eleanor Tabi Haller-Jordan on "How To Avoid Gender Stereotypes."
Comments