Examples Of Grief In The Book Thief

The Consolation Found in Sorrow Sadness is a feeling with infinite depths. Some people erode within sadness, fearing what extent it can take them. Others conquer it to annihilate the possibility of their self-destruction by the merciless hands of sorrow. Every individual has a disparate story, which one in particular is The Book Thief, by Mark Zusak. Living with countless amount of obstacles waiting for her, Liesel Meminger constantly battles every day to keep herself from losing against agony. Unfortunately, she loses her brother and mother in the beginning, which hits her with shock and desolation. Later, the Hubermanns adopt Liesel and brings her to 33 Himmel Street. From there, she begins to perceive the realization of how arduous, yet

However, the time that it takes to acknowledge the fact and the intensity of anguish one can receive from it has the potential of being long and miserable. Such example can pose this case when Liesel grieves over her deceased brother, Werner Meminger. “Every night, Liesel would nightmare. Her brother’s face. Staring at the floor. She would wake up swimming in her bed, screaming, and drowning in the flood of sheets.” (Zusak, 36). The loss of her brother is a traumatic event in her life. This forlorn she carries for Werner scars her immensely. The fact that she has those nightmares reveals that she still does not believe that her brother is dead. These nightmares hit Liesel with a lot of trepidation, but this gives Liesel the chance to see her brother once more. Throughout the story, the nightmares still haunt her in her sleep, but in the end, she accepts the fact that her brother is gone and keeps him deep inside her heart. Although this is a tragic experience for her, she gains comfort from her foster father, Hans Hubermann. Every time she wakes up, he reads books to her in the early hours of the next day and teaches her how to read and write. This indicates Han’s love for her, but this love is what comforts Liesel, who believes that no one would accept her for who she is. Another instance would be when Frau Holtzapfel suffers over her dead son, Michael Holtzapfel. “The humans, too, are wearing patches of snow on their heads and shoulders. The brother shivers. The woman weeps. And the girl goes on reading, for that’s why she’s there, and it feels good to be good for something in the aftermath of the snows of Stalingrad.” (Zusak, 471). The war in Stalingrad consternates Frau Holtzapfel. Even though she is jubilant that one of her sons came back, that cannot substitute the grief she holds for her other son. It is so horrifying and depressing to hear that one’s child is dead. Now, Michael can only exist in her memories,