Max Vandenburg In The Book Thief By Markus Zusak

It is human nature that as one goes through personal struggles, those around them also begin to be shaped and impacted by these personal changes. In The Book Thief By Markus Zusak, one of the main characters, Max Vandenburg, journeys through the Holocaust war as a Jewish man. He comes in contact with a family of three, Rosa, Hans, and their foster daughter, Liesel. Max seeks refuge in their home and although he is confined to their basement, he is on a personal journey that stretches farther than the Earth. Max Vandenburg begins as a strong man but the trials in his life strengthen him relationally, emotionally, and in his self-confidence.

Max’s relationship with Liesel is a crucial part of the plot and readers follow the growth of the

After the death of his beloved uncle, young Max faces the hardships in a way that he becomes “a teenager with hard hands, blackened eyes, and a sore tooth” (188). The loss is too much for him to handle and it begins to build up in the depths of his heart. It continues to build until he is on his way to the basement and Death notices “the smell-no, the stench— of guilt” (159) seeping from Max on the train. Max is, without a doubt, emotionally tormented by the idea of leaving behind his family to find his own safety. However, through his strengthening in the basement, he begins to shape his torment into something that brings joy to others. While he spends time in the basement, “The desecrated pages of Mein Kampf [become] a series of sketches, page after page, which to him [sum] up the events that [swap] his former life for another” and thus, leave the guilt behind (278). The artwork on the pages of Mein Kampf take him out of his imprisonment of guilt and Liesel cherishes the sketches. He not only was strong enough to step out of his remorse, but give life to