Max Vandenburg

I love Max’s character. He is a complicated character who has a lot of willpower to be able to survive what he is going trough. He is a Jew in Nazi Germany who is, fortunately, helped by the Hubermanns. Max is guilt ridden, he feels blame for leaving his family and friends behind so he could save himself. And he feels guilty for placing an enormous burden on the Hubermanns because if someone found out he was with them they would all get shot on site. Max is best friends  with Liesel and they have a powerful connection through their shared love for words. That shows the soft side of his characte, but the rest of the time he is a fighter.  Throughout this novel he has fought, and fought, and fought both physically and mentally. When his uncle died, he vowed,”‘When death captures me… he will feel my fist on his face'”(Zusak 189). This shows he isn’t going down without a fight he is going to do whatever he can do to survive. That quote was one of the main reasons why I chose Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” to represent Max.

 

 

During the song (1:00) they sing ” Just a man and his will to survive.” I believe this represents Max for many reasons. He had to spend TWO YEARS in a dark room with very little food and water and nothing to do. I feel as though this had to take a lot of will to be able to get through. In another part of the song (1:23), Survivor sings, “It’s the thrill of the fight. Rising up to the challenge of our rival” which represents his love for physical fighting. Max was the “Jewish fist fighter” and fought kids in the neighborhood. In the Hubermann’s basement, even though he did’t actually fight him, Max fantasized about fighting Hitler. Both of those events gave him a thrill, a rush that defines his character well. Overall, this song has a feel of an underdog rising to the occasion. Even though the odds are stacked against him, he doesn’t give up and rises to the top. Max is like the person in the song. He is a Jew in Nazi Germany who is helped by his best friend Walter. Walter directs Max to the  Hubermann’s who help to hide him. He doesn’t have that much to keep him going, other than his will to survive, and hopefully he will come out on top.