The Book Thief: Book Analysis

The Book Thief took place in 1939 during World War II in a German town called Molching. Focusing on a Jewish girl named Liesel Meminger, the book followed what it would be like to grow up around hatred and death. Liesel was adopted when she was nine years old by a German couple named Hans and Rosa Hubermann. Hans worked as a painter while Rosa worked by doing laundry for people. Liesel began helping Rosa with delivering laundry to her clients. Liesel met a boy named Rudy Steiner who soon became her bestfriend. Being illiterate was something Liesel had to struggle while she was a child but after getting adopted she started focusing more on learning how to read. Hans read alongside Liesel and helped teach her about words. As a way to support

There were many instances in the book where words have had the ability to change lives. The author made many scenes that showed how words can change how a person thinks. When Max was in the basement unable to go outside, Max had asked her to explain in words what she sees when outside. "The sky is blue today and there is a big long cloud and it 's stretched out like a rope. At the end of it, the sun is like a yellow hole…" (217). After hearing Liesels descriptions, Max gained hope and a will to survive. The narrator, Death, had once said “The best word shakers were the ones who understood the true power of words. They were the ones who could climb the highest. One such word shaker was a small, skinny girl. She was renowned as the best word shaker of her region because she knew how powerless a person could be without words” (446). Death was talking about Liesel because she saw past the propaganda and speeches Hitler put out and she understood Hitler was wrong. Propaganda is a way of using words or images to try and influence views. Since Hitler used propaganda to influence many people, this further supports the books theme of words being more powerful than anything. Liesel had written in her book "I have hated the words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right" (528). This quote shows how Liesel hated the words of Hitler but she also loves reading and writing and hopes that her words make a better impact than