The Role Of Bystanders In The Book Thief

Victims, perpetrators, and bystanders all have a very key, very relevant part in wars. Some are worse than others but it can come down to opinion. Victims are the abused ones that should be helped. Perpetrators are those following orders and don’t always have a choice and bystanders are those that chose not to help another human being. Bystanders are the worst in my opinion. In each of the following books, there are examples of all of them. The Book Thief had Jewish victims. Perpetrators were the Nazi’s. The bystanders were the people of Molching. Max was a Jewish victim that received help from neither bystanders or perpetrators. However, Rosa and Hans were victims of death. The perpetrators were the Nazi’s that dropped the bombs accidentally over Molching, destroying Himmel Strasse. The bystanders were those, unlike Liesel, that watched the Jews walk down the street with nothing to eat. All Quiet on the Western Front had soldiers that were shot in battle. They were shot by enemy soldiers. Bystanders were everywhere when Paul went home; trying to tell him about their war days and how he needs to come home soon. Those aren’t words of encouragement. They are words spoken by people that have no clue what it’s like on a battlefield. Paul and his friends were …show more content…
Luckily, Night also had Jewish survivors that lived on to tell the story of the crimes against them. Elie was taken from his family and threatened with a painful death everyday. He was this story's main victim. However, just because you were a victim once, doesn’t mean you will always remain that way. Now Elie is a “Holocaust survivor” and he choses to tell his stories. The Nazi’s are always the perpetrators in WWII and this book is no different. They still shot, hung, maimed, broke, or tortured countless lives. The bystanders were the Polish or American or almost any other countries citizens that didn’t help until much too late in the