Final answer:
Markus Zusak's 'The Book Thief' portrays the incredible courage of ordinary people in wartime Germany, revealing resilience, and defiance exhibited by characters like Liesel and her foster family in their struggle against Nazi oppression.
Step-by-step explanation:
The novel The Book Thief by Markus Zusak showcases the courage that ordinary people are capable of displaying, even in the darkest of times. The characters in the book, particularly the protagonist Liesel and her foster family, demonstrate immense bravery in the face of Nazi oppression during World War II. They engage in acts of defiance such as hiding a Jewish man in their basement and standing up to the ruling regime's ideology, reflecting their internal strength and moral fortitude.
Liesel's journey encapsulates the essence of human resilience, with her thirst for knowledge and the power of words leading her to steal books and learn to read, showing her defiance against the restrictive environment she lives in. This element of the story highlights how education and literacy become acts of rebellion and sources of hope.
Confrontations between characters in The Book Thief often illuminate themes such as the human capacity to overcome fear, the importance of compassion, and the resistance of the human spirit, even when facing seemingly insurmountable challenges. By depicting these ordinary characters' extraordinary acts, Zusak emphasizes the theme that courage can manifest in various forms and can arise from any individual.