ipl-logo

Markus Zusak's The Book Thief

794 Words4 Pages

In the novel, The Book Thief, a fictional story, author Markus Zusak demonstrates the power of words to save or destroy someone or something. The setting is in WWII in Molching, Germany. Leisel is a foster care child who went through a lot to get to where she is, Himmel Street. She is living with her foster parents, Rosa and Hans Hubermann. She also has a very good friend, Rudy, who is your typical Arian boy with blonde hair and blue eyes. The Hubermanns are also hiding a Jewish man, Max, from Hitler and his devious Nazi regime. Hitler wants to kill off all the Jews, and create one supreme Aryan race. Throughout the course of the book, all of these characters have something to do with who lives or who dies depending on the words they use. The power of words is so strong that they can save or destroy …show more content…

The Nazi’s are looking for strong fighters for their war efforts. Rudy qualified and is the best for the job in their eyes. The soldiers are trying to convince Rudy’s parents to hand him over when they say, “We’re creating an elite group of German citizens in the name if the Fuhrer. “(408) The soldiers are rejected by Rudy’s parents. If Rudy went out and intervened with the decision and said he would go to the school, he would have changed everything. For example he would changed all of these outcomes,” 1. Alex Steiner wouldn 't have suffered the same punishment as Hans Hubermann, 2. Rudy would have gone away to school, 3. And just maybe, he would have lived” (411). This is an example of how words destroy people. If Rudy would have gone, he would have survived, and he would not have perished and Alex Steiner would have been the luckier man than Hans. The words that did not come out of Rudy 's mouth held the most power, but Rudy decided to keep them closed off and things didn 't turn out well because of

Show More
Related
561 Words | 3 Pages

III. Discussion/Essay Questions: 1. Hans Hubermann hid Max because Hans knew Max’s father and when he died in the war, he promised Max’s mother that he would help in anyway he could. Do you think that Hans Hubermann would have still hidden Max if he didn’t know Max’s father?

Read More
189 Words | 1 Pages

He did not want to stay in the Hubermanns house at first, but it grew on him. They also experienced many close calls including a scan from the Nazis throughout the house and multiple air raids from other countries. Meanwhile Liesel found herself stealing books from the Mayor's house

Read More
439 Words | 2 Pages

“He clung to his mother’s hand and that of Sarah, the nearest of his cousins. “I won’t leave. If we all can’t go, I don’t go, either.” ” This quote is from the point in the story where the are talking about how max has forced to make the decision to leave his family and was left with his only option for survival, the Hubermanns. Max was a jewish fighter, Liesel was a 10 year old girl but they came together at this one place.

Read More
664 Words | 3 Pages

Hitler Youth was significant enough to be put in The Book Thief by Markus Zusak because of the impact it has on the characters in the novel. One of the ways that Hitler Youth influences the characterization in the novel is through showing Liesel’s resilience to hold her own opinion. For example, Liesel’s best friend, Rudy, is blonde in the book. This is what the Nazis considered to be the ideal person. Rudy and Liesel stay strong even with the hate being shared by Hitler and the Nazis.

Read More
812 Words | 4 Pages

However, words also separated them when Max, a Jewish man had to leave the Hubermann’s home in fear he would be found. It was Hitler’s words and his believes that had brought Liesel and her friend apart. Thus, Liesel knew how powerful words are. “The words. Why did they have to exist?

Read More
703 Words | 3 Pages

You truly don’t know what you have until it’s gone. Everyday things are taken for granted. In “The Book Thief” It shows incredible examples of how loss transforms you for the better. “The Book Thief” Written by Markus Zusak is a novel based on Nazi-Germany during post World War 2. It Features the scary truth along with harsh humor, The story is told through the eyes of brave, Jewish girl named Liesel.

Read More
483 Words | 2 Pages

Both these protagonists happen to be political refugees avoiding Nazi persecution: Liesel’s parents were Communists and Max is a Jew. Max and Liesel alike have recurring nightmares about the last time they saw their families and these help Max and Liesel link themselves in areas where no one would understand their pain due to the loss of their family. Unlike most relationships theirs is based on their similar past and personalities as well as unspoken understanding along with the trust for each other. These similarities form a strong bond between Max and Liesel and this makes “The Standover Man”, a book compiled by Max using pages from “Mein Kampf” important, as Max helps Liesel realize that the power of words can be used to delight as well as harm others. “The best standover man I’ve ever known is not a man at all...”, a line within “The Standover Man” implies that Max believes that Liesel and he need each other and this friendship is unique to both of

Read More
989 Words | 4 Pages

To love is to risk. Whether that is risking life, belief, health, or reputation, it is still a risk at any rate to give devotion to another. No era in history knows this better than during the Holocaust. Still, the most unexpected of people would die trying to help Jews escape persecution, they would help others who didn't share the same moral foundation as they did, they would share food rations when they barely had enough for themselves, or they would risk their public standing and forever be labeled as a sympathizer just to help a suffering soul regain his balance. Similarly, Markus Zusak's The Book Thief demonstrates a complete comprehension of how humans act against self preservation and individual comfort when challenged with harrowing situations that appeal to their own personal connections.

Read More
597 Words | 3 Pages

Suffering What maybe the central theme of the book thief and how does it affect the people and characters in the story? To start, the novel's title is the book thief by Markus Zusak. The book thief was put on New York's best seller list. The novel is about a girl named liesel who now lives with her foster parents and her life in the year 1939 along with what happens to the people around her and herself.

Read More
1671 Words | 7 Pages

1. A journey may be physical, spiritual, or emotional. Describe the journey of the character throughout the book. In the end, what did the character learn about herself / himself and the world?

Read More
840 Words | 4 Pages

Growing as a Character Every event in our lives happens for a reason, whether it is to learn from our mistakes or to gain experience from them. In Markus Zusak's novel “The Book Thief,” Liesel Meminger uses her experiences with living in the 1940s to learn life lessons and experience first hand the many terrible things Hitler is doing to people around her. She learns how to deal with the many obstacles that are thrown at her. Liesel grows as a character by following her step-father’s footsteps in being a kind and generous person, going through childhood with her best friend Rudy, and being aware of what is going on around her by learning from Max.

Read More
586 Words | 3 Pages

This young boy exhibits many examples of courage, even if they do go hand in hand with pure stupidity. For starters, Rudy repeatedly asks Liesel for a kiss. That is no doubt a daring act for a young boy such as himself. He also defies his Hitler Youth Division leaders, even with the consequences of more drills and general humiliation before his peers. Not to mention, in the beginning of The Book Thief, soon after we meet Rudy Steiner, we discover his obsession with Olympian Jesse Owens.

Read More
1144 Words | 5 Pages

Hans Hubermann, Liesel’s foster father, helped Jewish people in whatever way he could. When a Jewish shop named Kleinmann’s was vandalized, Hans asked the owner if he needed any help cleaning up, and promised to come back the next day and paint his door, which he did (Zusak 181-182). Hans delayed applying to the Nazi party because he didn’t agree with their beliefs, and by helping the owner he was put under more suspicion, however he felt that it was a proper action and didn’t allow danger to stop him. In addition to Hans act of kindness, the Hubermanns took a Jew named Max into their care, and allowed him to stay with them to be safe. In a book overview, Tabitha Hall observes, “Though not Jewish, Liesel and her foster parents struggle as they keep their Jewish friend hidden…” (“Overview: The Book Thief”).

Read More
978 Words | 4 Pages

To Heal and to Hurt: The Importance of Words in The Book Thief by Markus Zusak “Words do two major things. They provide food for the mind and create light for understanding and awareness.” This quote by Jim Rohn highlights the two major things words do, indicating they have a power, an important role in everyday lives. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is an outstanding representation of many topics including the most crucial one, the importance of words. It is the late 1930s to early 1940s in Germany during the World War II, and the main character, Death, cannot help himself but to be intrigued by Liesel Meminger’s story, a girl that lives in Munich, Germany on Himmel Street.

Read More
1015 Words | 5 Pages

Hence, Hans is extremely worried and cautious about being caught hiding a Jew, knowing that it could mean the death of them all, yet still proceeds with this humanitarian gesture, showing beauty where there is hatred and war. Another quote that emphasizes the enormous risk the Hubermann family is taking by hiding Max is when the Nazi soldiers arrive at their door and ask, “‘I need to inspect your basement, just for a minute or two, to see if it’s suitable for a shelter” (Zusak, 344) as the family waits in utmost anxiety as it was being searched, thinking “[none] of them had the audacity to consider what they’d do if the basement was appointed as a shelter. They had to survive the inspection first.” (Zusak, 344). Thus emphasizing how much the Hubermann family risks everything to help a complete stranger simply because it is the right thing to do, demonstrating kindness and sacrifice in times of war, hatred, and discrimination among

Read More

More about Markus Zusak's The Book Thief

Related Topics

Open Document