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The Importance Of Family In The Book Thief

1318 Words6 Pages
Most people say that blood runs thicker than water, but in this book that is not the case. In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, family is shown in an extremely unique way. Generally, when people imagine the average model family, they see a family that has money, a family that is prim and proper and usually, a family that is biologically related. Though, family in this book is based on shared hardships and having faith in each other, not by blood relation.

Hans and Liesel’s relationship is a great example of trust. This is because even though Hans and Liesel are not blood related, they have this extremely strong father-daughter bond which is based on them having immense trust in each other. On page 497 it shows how much Hans means to Liesel. As Hans was in Stuttgart, Liesel missed him so much. So when she was told he was coming home, she was ecstatic. It says “ ‘Papa. Papa’ She must have said it a hundred times as she hugged him in the kitchen and wouldn’t let go” They have always had a strong bond, even when she first moved to Himmel street. For example, on page 35 it shows that it only took Liesel a short period of time before she was able to trust Hans. It says “Fifteen passed till they were able to coax her from the car. It was the tall man who did it.” The tall man being Hans. It is also shown that Hans and Liesel developed a relationship quickly on pages 43 and 44, when she had just arrived to Molching. Whenever she had a nightmare Hans would come into the room and
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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.

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