In the novel, The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, an enlightening story about a girl named Liesel Meminger. Liesel experiences many different triumphs and tragedies throughout the course of the book. Markus Zusak contributes to The Book Thief by showing the reader the growth of Liesel, “thievery”, and “Death” as our narrator. Furthermore, Liesel’s growth shows how the gain of power affects a character, the theme of thievery is evident throughout The Book Thief, and Death narrates the novel to give us a better perspective of the story. Throughout the novel, Liesel grows over the course of The Book Thief by gaining power. She does this by learning the power of words. From the start of the book, Liesel did not know how to read. By the end of the …show more content…
Without them, there wouldn’t be any of this. Without words, the Führer was nothing” (Zusak 521). Liesel is basically saying that if Hitler didn’t have the ability to read, then none of this would have happened. This is something Liesel realizes as she grows. Another example of Liesel’s growth throughout The Book Thief is early in the book when Death claims, “She was the book thief without the words” (Zusak 80). This clearly adds to the fact that Liesel was wordless and powerless from the beginning when she did not have the knowledge to read, but grows as she learns. Finally, the last example of Liesel growing overtime is her knowledge of having to hide from a Jew. At the age of 11, Liesel started hiding Max in her basement. Normally a child would tell if they had a Jew in their basement, not understanding the subject, but Liesel on the other hand knows she cannot tell. For instance,when Liesel finds out they are checking basements to make shelters she runs home saying “Papa.They’re checking basements to make shelters”(Zusak 342). Liesel knows that she must help her family to keep Max a secret, even at her young age. This not only shows that she is older than she really is, but is also solid proof of Liesel’s