In part one of the book, page 20, paragraph three it states “With one eye open, one still in a dream, the book thief--also known as Liesel Meminger--could see without question that her younger brother, Werner, was now sideways and dead.” (Zusak 20) This is the first problem that Liesel has to overcome. Her brother dying, and having to start out a new life with a new
Well, Liesel’s life has been ruined as her prized possessions she was trying her best to treasure, is all gone for good. Her dreams and hope are all ruined. For example, one of her dreams was to build up a compassionate and friendship-type bond with Max Vandenburg, a Jewish man who’s hiding away from the open and evil world. She wasn’t able to do so as Max has been caught by the Nazis. Liesel’s dream is a symbol of how Max has become a surrogate for the death of her brother, Werner Meminger.
The book burning against Liesel's chest acts as a symbol for the physical effects that words can have. Words burn themselves into the mind, and they can incite a person to action. The fact that three books survived the bonfire symbolizes for Liesel that, no matter how extreme the Nazi Party's actions are in trying to rid the world of words and ideas they do not agree with, those words and ideas will always survive and are worth fighting for. And just as Hans took painful action to keep Liesel safe (by slapping her) in the previous chapter, Liesel takes painful action by taking the hot book and hiding it in her shirt in order to preserve the words and ideas within it. The fact that someone has seen her steal a book, someone with fluffy hair
Liesel has realized she must respect the man who was the reason for her and her entire families suffering. She has realized she officially has lost her home, that she is completely isolated from the community. “It was quite a sight seeing an eleven year old girl try not to cry on church steps, saluting fuhrer”(Zusak 115). After losing all of these emotionally wrecking things Liesel learns and understands she needs to keep going forward. She refuses to give up she although times are rough manages to think, it could be worse.
Liesel, known as the book thief to the audience has a distinct passion for books and how much they mean to her. Stealing book after the book becomes a hobby for the young girl whose love of books is fostered by her foster father, Hans Hubermann. As Hans teaches Liesel how to read and write they develop an
“The Grave Digger’s Handbook” leads to her learning how to read and write. After the bedwetting incident and Hans finding the book, Hans helps Liesel with writing by writing the ABCs and giving an example, for example “S” for sausmench. Every night Hans would read the book to her and this would help Liesel and Hans with their reading skills. When she went to school, she felt embarrassed because she was in a lower class for her age.
In addition to glorifying Hitler, saluting symbolizes Hitler’s dominance over his citizens, which subconsciously indoctrinates them and ensures his reign. None of the main characters in The Book Thief stand by Hitler’s beliefs, however, unless they want to be disciplined, they are forced to conform. Due to outside forces, Liesel Meminger’s identity is formed and strengthened. Liesel is able to learn from her relationships, the major events she experiences, and even the culture she is surrounded by, to construct the person she becomes.
Only the girl saw it. She bent down and picked it up and held it firmly in her fingers. The book had silver writing on it” (Zusak, 24). The reader begins to question why Liesel steals this book as it is clear that she does not have a specific reason for obtaining it. Later in the novel, the reader discovers something about Liesel that contradicts the decision to steal a
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.
Towards the end of the story, once the war starts to get worse, air raids are becoming more common. These air raids bring stress and worry to everyone, and one way to calm them all down was by reading. For instance, the text says, “She didn’t dare to look up, but she could feel their frightened eyes hanging on to her as she hauled the words in and breathed them out.” (Zusak 381). From this quote, it can be inferred that people were looking toward Liesel for comfort during this hard time.
Stockholm Syndrome has become a known topic because of Patty Hearst. She was kidnapped at the age of 19 years old, and it has affected her life ever since. She developed emotions towards her captors that she still cannot explain. Stockholm Syndrome can be best described as feelings of trust and affection felt in certain cases of kidnapping by a victim toward a captor. The abuser’s treatment of the victim is the primary cause of Stockholm Syndrome.
At first, Liesel is illiterate, but when she steals her first book at her brother’s funeral, and is abandoned by her mother, she turns to something she
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak tells the story of Liesel Meminger, a girl living in Nazi Germany through the narration of death. Just nine years old when her brother dies and her mother leaves her in the care of the Hubermanns, Lisel turns to the comfort of books to ease her pain. However, as she grows up the innocent words in her books lead her to discover the immense pain words carry through the horrific doings of Hitler. A man seen by many Germans as their savior, Hitler rose to power in the early 1930s, vowing to change the economy and transform Germany into a superior country. The portrayal of life in Nazi Germany depicted by The Book Thief is accurate due to events in the book that correspond with those in history such as the book burning,
In ‘The Book Thief’, people still ”who refused to believe that this small town on Munich's outskirts could be a target, but the majority of the population was well aware that it was not a question of if, but when" (Zusak 353). This is an example of external conflict because this is an actual war between religious beliefs and hate towards Jews. What I think about the ending of the book still left people with questions about how Liesel’s life after the war was? Did she get married to Max? Did Death give Liesel her book?
Her favorite thing to do with the stolen books was read with her father. Her Papa frequently read with her. “ ‘ Do you want to read it?’ Again, ‘Yes Papa’ “ (Zusak 64). One of Liesel’s friends, Max, is constantly filled with guilt as well.
