Parent- child relationships

The parent - child relationships in ‘The Book Thief’, ‘Othello’ and 'The King's Speech'

The theme of parent - child relationships is an occurring theme in both ‘The Book Thief’ and ‘Othello’.  We see how different parents act and how their children are affected by that.  The way each parent acts affects their own child’s attitude towards them.  Hans manages to gain Liesel’s trust and is kind to her. He respects her opinions and their relationship grows.  Brabantio, on the other hand, doesn’t respect Desdemona’s opinions.  Although he does respects her love for Othello, this is after Desdemona runs off and marries Othello in secret. In ‘The Book Thief’, Liesel has just lost her brother and both of her parents. She is scared and in an unknown place.  Hans understands how she must be feeling and tries to reach out to her.  He knows that she probably won’t trust him at first so he gives her time to adjust to her surroundings and is just kind to her, he comforts her at night as her parents cannot.  Hans is missing a daughter and Liesel is missing a father.  Liesel then finds it much easier to live her new life with her new parents.  Liesel is not afraid to talk to Hans if something is wrong. However, the opposite is seen in ‘Othello’.  Brabantio doesn’t love Desdemona like Hans loves Liesel.  In ‘Othello’ Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, doesn’t seem all that interested in Desdemona’s life.  Here we see a different kind of parent - child relationship, one that is lacking trust.  Brabantio cares for his daughter but he is a very controlling character and thinks he knows what is best for Desdemona.  He doesn’t trust her judgement, and he thinks differently from the way she does.  There is clearly not enough communication in their relationship, as Desdemona feels that she needs to run away in order to be happy.  

The way the parent sees the world also affects how the child sees the world. There is a big contrast between the way Hans and Brabantio see the world. Hans teaches Liesel to be kind.  While Brabantio is not as accepting.  In ‘The Book Thief’, Hans is very kind and very accepting of everybody.  He does not join the Nazi Party as he does not believe that anyone should be discriminated against.  This is what he teaches Liesel.  He shows Liesel that she should be kind to everyone, even Jews, as if they were her own family.  Liesel continues to always be kind, and never judge a book by it’s cover.  She becomes close to Max, and like Hans, is brave enough to help him.  Hans does not hesitate once to help Max.  Hans is not a sheep.  He doesn’t follow in everybody else’s footsteps, he sticks to what he believes in.  We see this trait in Liesel.  On the other hand, Brabantio does not teach Desdemona to be kind to everyone. Brabantio is the complete opposite to Hans.  In ‘Othello’, Brabantio looks down upon Othello because he is a ‘moor’.  He is disgusted at the thought of Desdemona marrying a moor and he has no problem telling the world.  He immediately becomes angry when he learns of their marriage and says ‘O treason of the blood!’  He doesn’t believe it and claims that Othello put Desdemona under a spell.  The way he acts affects Desdemona negatively, as she feels that she needs to go behind her father’s back in the first place. Desdemona is the one to convince her father that she will be okay with Othello. He is hesitant at first, but agrees, although he doesn’t fully trust Othello.  

Actually having a caring parent around will affect how the child turns out. Rosa deep down is a caring mother. She is always looking out for Liesel, even if Liesel doesn’t know it.  Desdemona doesn’t have a mother, not one that we know about.  In ‘The Book Thief’, Rosa is the big, tough, scary parent.  She is described as a wardrobe, tough on the outside, but a mystery on the inside. Rosa does love Liesel like her own daughter, her love for Liesel is just hidden. She too, like her husband, did not hesitate to help Max, even though it put her life at risk.  Rosa is a genuinely caring person, but not enough people know that.  When she dies, Death tells us, ‘Make no mistake, the woman had a heart’. Liesel knows this, that is why she feels safe with the Hubermanns.  This compares to ‘Othello’ because, unlike Liesel, Desdemona has no mother.  In ‘Othello’, we are only told about Desdemona’s father which leads to believe that she does not have a mother.  It must have been difficult for Desdemona not having a female influence while growing up.  She is quite different to Liesel as she has had no female role - model.  She is used to males being in charge, and considering the time she is living in, is used to men making all the rules.  She only has one parent to care for her, but her doesn’t take that much of an interest in her.  The other main person in her life is her husband, so she sometimes feels lost without her mother’s opinion, especially when Othello begins to distrust her.  

In 'The King's Speech', Bertie is a very caring father, like Hans in 'The Book Thief', he just wants his children to be happy and to have no worries. He has some horrible memories of his own childhood, so he never wants his children to feel they way he did. He makes his daughters laugh by reading stories and pretending to be a penguin. Similarly, we see Lionel playing with his children and entertaining them by acting out plays. In comparison to Bertie and Lionel, Hans will do anything for Liesel, even though he is not her real father he does his best to comfort her. He plays his accordion to her every day, and he spends a fortune on books for her. However, the same is not seen 'Othello'. In contrast to Bertie and Hans, Brabantio puts his own best interests before Desdemona's. Although deep down he must care for his daughter, Brabantio is a controlling character, he has strong opinions of Othello and he is not afraid to voice them. Compared to Brabantio, Lionel thinks before he speaks.