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The Role Of Love In Markus Zusak's The Book Thief

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Where would mankind be without love, the root of all human connections and foundation of relationships. Love is what brings us together, as a community, as a society, and as a species. In the novel, The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, love is the most powerful, predominant theme. To Begin, the Hubermanns accepted Liesel Meminger into their lives and treated her as their own child, particularly Hans Hubermann. Secondly, the Hubermanns kept Max Vandenburg, a Jewish man, who had a connection to Hans Hubermann, safe from the German authorities. Lastly, Liesel Meminger and Rudy Steiner developed a lasting friendship which, in turn, helped them through many hard times. The Hubermanns welcomed Liesel into their homes in an attempt to provide her a …show more content…

After the loss of her younger brother and separation from her mother, it is easy to see that she found it very difficult. She was more than lucky to receive the love and care that Hans and Rosa Hubermann provided for her, even if it was accompanied with a strict mentality and plenty of yelling. Hans was a nurturing presence in Liesel's life, teaching her to read and comforting her through nightmares. On the other hand Rosa provided a fair share of mean spirited nicknames, such as, “Saukerl” and, “Arschloch.” Rosa’s projection of love differs immensely from Hans but she certainly cares for liesel just as much, as shown in this quote, “...But she did love Liesel Meminger. Her way of showing it just happened to be strange. It involved bashing her with wooden spoons and words at various intervals.” (Zusak Page 35). The love shown by both Rosa and Hans was most certainly reciprocated by Leisel, especially in their final moments, “In her final visions, she saw her three children, her grandchildren, her husband, and the long list of lives that merged with hers. Among them, lit like lanterns, were Hans and Rosa Hubermann…” (Page 544). This quote shows Liesel looking back on her long life at her beloved foster parents, Rosa and Hans, with affection after losing them in the war many years prior. Another loved one of Liesel’s was Max Vandenburg, a Jewish stowaway living in the Hubermanns

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By writing and reading books, this was the main reason that she had survived (Writing in the basement). Hans Hubermann had taught Liesel to read, write and learn more vocabulary. Although the mayor's wife did give Liesel the paper to write with, Hans Hubermann taught Liesel to write and read. Although he was not a “Hero” at the end, he did technically save Liesel's life by teaching Liesel to read and

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He also left his family to hide, and got the Hubermanns help, putting them at risk, which left him with guilt. Liesel's background was also hard. She lost her father, brother, and her mother. She had to move into a new family,

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The Book Thief Essay In the book The Book Thief, love is shown to be a powerful thing by masking the deep hatred that brings conflict to Liesel and the Hubermans lives; Hans Huberman stays up late at night teaching Liesel how to read pushing off all of his own needs such as sleep and Liesel stays and cares for Max, a Jewish person, even though it wasn’t necessary for her to do so. Hans Huberman is a caring man who pushes his own needs away to care for and teach his foster daughter Liesel. “A 2 A.M. CONVERSATION “Is this yours?” “Yes, Papa.”

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Thus, one could be surprised when Death or the author said, “{Rudy} must have loved {Liesel} so incredibly hard. So hard that he would never ask for her lips again and would go to his grave without them” (Zusak, 303). Her family, in the most part was kind enough to take care of her, but not only that, instead, they also are able to look after “the jew”, Liesel’s new friend, Max. There is also some contradiction in this book. By this, I mean Hitler.

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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.

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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.

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A main reason Liesel develops into the character she is by the end of the novel is due to the individuals she meets and her relationships with them. When Hans Hubermann becomes

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Max especially. Hunkering down in the Hubermann’s basement, he has nothing to do all day but despair in the cold dark basement. With Liesel’s help, his life isn’t so horrible. She gives him newspapers and crossword puzzles and good conversation. For Max, Liesel is his artistic outlet.

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Her family always lived in constant hunger due to poverty. Liesel’s mother had to sustain the family on her own now that her husband was taken away for being a communist. In an effort to make life better for her children, Mrs. Meminger decided to put her two children up

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Developing Friendship through Justice, Love and Humanity Human relationships break or develop depending on the circumstances. The values that creates a stable relationship may vary on historical setting or the characteristics of each person. The novel, “The Book Thief” written by Markus Zusak shows justice, love and humanity through the friendship Liesel and Max developed during the time of the Holocaust.

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What is a friend? A common response to this question seems to be someone who accepts another for who they are. Another less used response to the same question is someone who leave another better than they once were. These two half definitions of friendship come to gather to explain that friend is someone who takes another how they already are and leaves that better than their previous state. True friendship often adds loyalty to ones character resulting in acts of courage.

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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.

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The theme of this book is learning to love and care for the people around. How I came to this conclusion is by how Liesel acts towards Max, her foster parents, Rudy, and her neighbors. Liesel cares for people even if they weren't like her and she doesn't understand why there is hatred in this world. She wanted the world to be a happy place for everyone including Jews to be friends with one another. On page 426 in ‘The Book Thief’, when Rudy’s father went to war Liesel could relate to Rudy because “her mother.

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One of the most important recurring themes throughout The Book Thief was Liesel’s relationships with all of the people in her life. She grows close with several different people, and trusts, loves, and cares for them all differently but equally. Three of those relationships will be explored more deeply; Liesel’s relationship with her foster father, Hans Hubermann, the Jewish man her family takes in, Max Vanderburg, and her best friend, Rudy Steiner. Liesel’s relationship with Hans is one of the most important, if not the most important, relationships in the novel. Hans is the first person Liesel trusts, and the person who stays with her and loves her until the end.

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Liesel trusted her papa even more after this encounter, Hans knew to keep this a secret to protect Liesel’s feelings. With all the negativity and poorness in Hans’ life, he would have been expected to respond negatively, but in reality, Hans did the complete opposite. Hans Hubermann showed his morals, a comforting essence, and trustworthiness despite living under horribly negative conditions. Under the tireless regime of Adolf Hitler, Hans clung to his personal beliefs. He did this in several ways, he helped two Jews, and helped Liesel develop into a better person.

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