Towards the end of the book, the narrator says, “I am haunted by humans” (Zusak 550). Being narrated by Death, The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, is a novel about an orphan, named Liesel Meminger, who moves in with the Hubermanns in Himmel (Heaven) Street. While she is there, she plunders books from libraries and book burnings during the horrors of World War II. Liesel Meminger’s desire to read helps her deal with the incidents around her and gain insight about the power of words, while her insecurity helps her create connections with the beneficent people. Besides stealing and reading words, Liesel Meminger made constant bonds with people. Being moved from place to place and relying on people who ended up leaving her made Liesel not able to trust anyone as quickly as others. Her insecurity sent many other people away but the people who truly loved her. In the text, it said: The seat in front was flung forward… She would not move. Outside, through the circle she made, Liesel could see the tall man’s fingers, still holding the cigarette… It took nearly fifteen minutes to coax her from the car… There was the gate next, which she clung on to. A gang of tears trudged from her eyes as she held on and refused to go inside (Zusak 28). The tall man was Hans Hubermann, her foster father. After that, she has always trusted Hans Hubermann and knew that he would always be there for her unlike the other people previously in her life. When she blocked Rudy’s kick in soccer, he hit her with a snowball and ever since then, he would always follow Liesel and make sure she was okay. He never gave up on her even when she would be annoyed and they ended up being best friends and partners in crime. Finally, Rosa Hubermann, Liesel’s foster mother, wo... ... middle of paper ... ... Liesel change was Max. Max was the son of Hans Hubermann’s dead friend who is wanted for being Jewish. While Max hides in their basement, he writes his own books that were called The Standover Man and Word Shaker. In the Word Shaker, Max wrote about Liesel and how Hitler realized that words have an effect on people. He also wrote that the people on top are the ones that fully understand words. She benefited from the friends she had. Liesel learns how to read from Hans Hubermann and steal what she loves with Rudy. As Liesel Meminger concludes her narrative, she says, “I have hated the words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right” (Zusak 528). Like Liesel, we need to make sure that we use our words properly, whether it is to our advantage or for others. Works Cited Zusak, Markus. Book Thief. United States of America: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006. Print.
8.The Standover Man: Max makes the book for Liesel’s birthday. In the book he talks about how they have things in common, and how she gave a gift to him on her birthday. It connects her to Max.
Liesel Meminger, the protagonist of the story is an adopted girl with blonde hair and a frightening pair of chocolate brown eyes. She is fostered by the Hubermanns when her father abandons her family and her mother is forced to give her up for adoption. She is very close to her foster father, Hans Hubermann, and has a rough but loving relationship with her foster mother, Rosa. She befriends Max and the mayor's wife. The mayor’s wife allows Liesel to read, borrow, and "steal" books from her home library. Liesel also befriends other children of Himmel Street. Liesel eventually marries Max and moves to Australia. She has several children and grandchildren. Liesel dies in Sydney.
Liesel Meminger was a very bright girl that didn’t have the resources to flourish. Her mother must hide from the Nazis because she is a communist and sends Liesel ...
Liesel and her family were paying an old friend of Hans but also doing something that they knew they could be taken away for. “We can’t leave him here, the smell will kill us…and we can’t carry him out the door and drag him up the street either” (Zusak 329). Max, the Jew had become sick and they were not sure if he was going to make it. Trying to figure out a way to take out a Jewish corpse had become impossible to do without getting caught. “Does he know? Liesel thought. Can he smell we’re hiding a Jew” (Zusak 343)? Having Nazi soldiers come into their home was nerve racking because they had to hide Max but they had less than a minute. They were so worried that they might get caught because they could have been taken away from their house and their family. Hiding a Jew could scare anybody if they were not allowed to.
The power of words can influence many people which results in many characters to be negatively impacted like Liesel.
On page 64, the text says ¨A patch of silence stood among them now. The man, the girl, the book. He picked it up and spoke soft as cotton.¨ This was the start of Liesel’s passion for books. She and her foster father would read and read investing and spending time with one another. Soon, their bond would be unbreakable, from reading together at night, to Hans teaching Liesel to pronounce words on sandpaper. These actions are evident to the words connecting her to her foster father. Sure, Hans has to play the role as a father since he accepts the responsibility but Hans and Liesel’s bond is stronger than a regular father bond. Hans makes sacrifices for Liesel, investing his time with her from reading to her, teaching her and even sacrifices his possessions in order to make Liesel happy. Liesel never really knew her father before and now, her new foster, Hans, is an adequate figure to be confirmed as Liesel’s father. And the words don’t stop there. Liesel was also able to form a relationship with the mayor’s wife, Ilsa Hermann. Both Liesel and Ilsa appreciate each other’s presence in which Liesel appreciates that Ilsa lets her enter her library and Liesel provides company for Ilsa due to the unfortunate absence of her sons. Lastly, another relationship mended by words is between Liesel and Max Vanderburg, a
Liesel steals the books she is ,at the same time, liberating them from destruction. The whole idea of stealing as a horrible thing to do comes into question. Liesel risks death or torture in doing this as well. Her theft is also a self-education and an act of rebellion against the Nazis. Lie...
Death is a very well-known figure that is feared by many in all countries. He is suspected of being cruel, disturbing and all synonyms of horrifying. Death is inevitable and that is the most fearing aspect of his persona. In Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, Death is made to seem or resemble humans. Effectively using the narration role, Death introduces a unique description and definition of colors in which he uses as a tool to effectively engage the readers to the events occurring throughout the book. He also demonstrates him personal and different experiences as well, mostly about soul gathering and the implications of WWII that have affected him. On the contrary to Death’s dead, appalling and scary nature that many interpret him to be during the book, Death shows many emotions and features to his personality that reasoning would declare otherwise. One of those feature would be the colors.
Liesel experiences abandonment throughout her life, and the novel during a suppressed time in World War II Germany. Through her experiences Liesel’s learns to equate abandonment with love knowing that circumstance have forced her loved ones to leave her.
Suffered the loss of her brother werner, while attending his funeral “there was something black and rectangular lodged in the snow. Only [liesel] 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). It was a book named “the grave digger 's handbook”. This proves that without even understanding the book Liesel was already looking for ways to learn and find a passion to mourn her brothers death. Next, is the relationship Liesel has with her papa, Hans. He shows Liesel how to read and write. Liesel, who doesn 't know how, grabs books that Hans then quietly shows her to translate. He does this through their night time nightmare hours “Unofficially, it was called the midnight class, even though it commenced at around two in the morning” (70). furthermore in the storm cellar, utilizing Hans ' paints to show her how to compose. He is staggeringly understanding, as this is an extremely troublesome and moderate procedure, and he never demonstrates restlessness or dissatisfaction with Liesel 's moderate advancement, thus proving that liesel stuck with her idea and followed through with her passion. Lastly, Liesel 's passion for reading and writing progressed when Ilsa gave her the a journal to write her story in, “[she] thought if [Liesel was not] going to read anymore of [her] books, [she] might like to write one instead.”
The heavily proclaimed novel “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak is a great story that can help you understand what living in Nazi Germany was like. Throughout the story, the main character, Liesel goes through many hardships to cope with a new life in a new town and to come to the recognition of what the Nazi party is. Liesel was given up for adoption after her mother gave her away to a new family, who seemed harsh at first, but ended up being the people who taught her all the things she needed to know. Life with the new family didn’t start off good, but the came to love them and her new friend, Rudy. As the book carried along, it was revealed that the Hubermanns were not Nazi supporters, and even took in a Jew and hid him in their basement later on in the book. Liesel became great friends with the Jew living in her basement, Max, who shared many similarities which helped form their relationship. Both of
During Markus Zusak’s book we observe the beauty of humans at many times. One of the most beautiful things a human does is when Max, the jew the Hubermanns are hiding from the nazis, gives Liesel a book that he made himself. But he says that “Now I think we are friends, this girl and me. On her birthday it was she who gave a gift to me”(Zusak 235). Max made this book for leisel by taking paint from the basement and painting over pages in Mein Kampf. He lets the pages dry and then he writes a story on them. He makes this book for Liesel because he can’t afford to buy one, and even if he could he can’t leave the house. But when he gives Liesel the book we also examine humans doing something so unbelievably nice. Liesel accepts max as a friend. Which in the long run will help Max out a lot, because he is locked in the basement and he can’t even go up stairs during the day. So someone who is there to talk to him, and someone for him to talk to will help him out. Throughout this book we watch their friendship grow. Liesel feels bad for Max because he is stuck in the basement so on a regular basis she will tell Max what the weather is like...
I read the “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak, in which a little girl is thrown into an unknown world without her mother or brother. The main character of the book, Liesel, becomes a foster child in Germany during the 1940s. The book is over a span of years and we grow with Liesel. I really enjoyed this book and I would recommend it to anyone. It is set during the Holocaust, but it is still a coming of age book. I liked this book because the writer managed to write a book about a girl growing up and Nazi Germany. Neither one took away from each other and it all flowed very nicely.
The main character Liesel, known as “the book thief” is who Death is looking over. Liesel, her mother, and brother are on a train to Munich. On the train ride her brother dies. She and her mother get off the train to bury him. The first book Liesel steals is from the gravediggers. They continue the journey to a town called Molching, where Liesel will be raised by foster parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann. Liesel adjusts to her new home life. Hans teaches Liesel how to read. The war is escalating in Germany. The town holds a book-burning to celebrate Hitler’s birthday. That’s when Liesel steals another book from the flames. Liesel’s job is to deliver laundry to the Hermann family. The Hermanns’ have a library full of books. Liesel is allowed to read them in the study. Meanwhile, a German-Jew named Max needs help, so he seeks out the Hubermanns. Max hides in the basement, so he is safe from the Nazis. Liesel begins stealing books from the Hermanns. The Nazis parade the Jews through the town of Molching on their way to the concentration camp for everyone to see. Liesel is given a blank notebook to write her own story. One night the neighborhood is bombed. Hans, Rosa, and the rest of the neighborhood is killed. Rescue workers find Liesel under the rubble. She leaves behind her finished book, called The Book Thief. Death, who has been watching, rescues the book. Liesel ends up living with the mayor