Figurative Language In The Book Thief

“It’s just a small story really, about, among other things: a girl -some words -an accordionist -some fanatical Germans -a Jewish fist fighter -and quite a lot of thievery” (5). In The Book Thief, the author Markus Zusak creates a marvelous story and it is enhanced by the story being told in Death’s perspective. The title of The Book Thief, refers to Liesel Meminger, who is The Book Thief of the story for the obvious reason that she steals books to learn how to read. Liesel also wrote a book named The Book Thief which is about her life. The author uses a lot of figurative language and illustrates many themes when writing the book. The time period Zusak wrote in was very compelling and the fact that Liesel steals books to teach herself to

Even though she lost her family she soon will gain a new one. She arrived at the home of her new foster parents Hans and Rosa Hubermann. When Hans, a compassionate housepainter, learned that Liesel couldn’t read, he taught her how wonderful the language could be. Liesel grew to love books. She even stole them from a Nazi bonfire and the mayor’s wife’s library, but also received a few as gifts. Liesel’s new family hardly survived. And things got worse when they secretly sheltered a Jewish boy. Liesel shared a lot of memories with the Jewish boy whose name was Max. For Christmas, Liesel brought snow into the basement and they built a snowman and when he was sick, Liesel read to him. When the air raids hit, she went down to the neighbor’s deep basement with a few other families, while Max stayed in the Hubermann’s basement. Liesel read to the families to calm them down. Liesel and Rosa had a hard time when Hans was compelled into the German Army. Max left because he was afraid the house would get searched. After Hans returns, Liesel sees Max being marched towards the concentration camp at Dachau and loses all hope. She was able to talk to him but was whipped by the Nazi guards. Rudy then stops her from taking any more risks. When Liesel went to Ilsa’s library, she tears up a book and disowns writing, until Ilsa gives her a blank notebook. Liesel

Liesel is the protagonist of the book. She is a foster child that learns to love her new home and also learns to handle the loss of loved ones as seen by both the death of her brother and the leaving of her mother. As Death describes her, she is a “perpetual survivor” (22). She loses her mother, brother, Hans, Rosa, and Rudy, among others. Liesel is stubborn since she refused to take a bath for the first 2 weeks with the Hubermann’s. She is competitive, especially when playing soccer. She gave Max and the Hubermann’s an outstanding Christmas by bringing snow into the basement and building a snowman. She also finds lovely gifts to give Max when he was sick. For those reasons, she is thoughtful. By teaching herself to read in the middle of the night with Hans shows her determination and ambition. Rudy is Liesel's best friend and is commonly known as the boy who painted himself black like Jesse Owens and ran the track at Hubert Oval. Rudy is a good student and an even better athlete. He’s in love with Liesel and is always begging her to kiss him, but he only gets his kiss after it is too late. He often defends Liesel, protecting her the best he can. Once he ran into the cold December river, without hesitation, to retrieve Liesel’s book that was thrown by Viktor Chemmel. They steal apples and potatoes together, plus books from the mayor’s