Hans Hubermann is Liesel’s father that helped her educate herself along with providing Liesel with support and materials. He is a painter yet he doesn’t agree with the doings and acts of the Nazi Party which allows Liesel to open her eyes and see this too. Liesel Meminger is the main character in this story. She is recognized as “the book thief” because of what she pursued in order to attain a legitimate education. She lost her immediate family when she was just twelve years old which must have had a detrimental impact on her childhood. She was taken up by the Hubermann’s in which she was raised in a somewhat caring and compassionate environment in which Hans played a big role in her development. Throughout the plot, she plays an important
Liesel yearns to discover the power of words through reading books. Throughout the story, she repeatedly steals books to grasp more information. It all starts with The Gravediggers Manuel; Liesel attains this book the day that her brother dies, while he is being buried by the gravediggers. Liesel pilfers this book from the gravediggers because the book will symbolize her remembrance of her brother, Werner. This also will start the beginning of her acrimony for the Fuhrer, because Liesel discovers that he is answerable for his death.
In The Book Thief, author Markus Zusak tells the tragic story of Liesel Meminger and her experiences in 1939 Nazi Germany. Zuzak incorporates compelling literary devices such as toe curling foreshadowing, personification, and vivid imagery in the form of simile and metaphors to grasp the readers’ interest. Zusak’s use of various literary devices helps to deepen the text and morals of the story, and makes the dramatic historical novel nearly impossible to put down.
Voltaire once said “[t]he longer we dwell on our misfortune the greater their power is to harm us”. Everyone has heard about bad luck and disaster, they are words that people just laugh at because they think that they will not be trapped into a situation where bad luck or disaster will come into hand. The proper word used for this type of situation is misfortune and misfortune is the decision of fate because it is the consequence humans put upon themselves by their actions. Humans do selfish things and expect the good to come of it and all that comes out of it is the bad, did anyone ever take the time to think that misfortune even affects those who do not deserve it but it was fate who chose to do it. It was fate who made those humans suffer
Throughout life many people face difficulties. Depending on the person’s strength some will get through tough times, but some will fail to overcome them. Two books where characters have to face many challenges include: Their Eyes Were Watching God and The Book Thief. These two stories deal with people overcoming the difficulties faced throughout everyday life. Some difficulties include racism, religious discrimination, and dealing with others’ cruelness or kindness. Examples from these books prove that the characters have challenges throughout the stories to overcome. In the face of adversity what causes some individuals to fail while others prevail?
Hans Hubermann was directly described as a lover of Jews, because he did not believe that Jews were being treated fairly, in fact they were treated as less than animals being whipped, malnourished, and forced to work in harsh conditions. Hans treated Jewish people just like everyone else, he showed fairness to everyone, death said, “ He was a man who appreciated fairness” (Zusak 180). He put his life on the line many times trying to stand up for Jews. When there was a parade of Jews walking down the street, the brave Hans Hubermann tried to give one of the Jews a piece of bread, and instead of being applauded for this good deed he he got a flaming whip on his back. Even though Hans was whipped, death said, “If nothing else, the old man would die like a human. Or at least the thought that he was a human” (395). Hans was very secretive about his life during World War I, so without knowing the story about how Erik Vandenburg saved Hans’ life, one would not understand just how much equality and fairness meant to Hans. It was Hans’ fairness, generosity, and loyalty that made Hans different from all of the other characters in The Book Thief, as he remained the same while true to
The novel The Book Thief is a book about a young girl by the name of Liesel Meminger. Observing the life of this young girl is not easy as this is the time of Hitler’s reign in Germany. In a short period of time, this girl faces many difficulties. More than any child should ever have to encounter. She has to deal with being abandoned by her mother, the death of her younger brother, and relocation to another part of Germany. Immediately when Liesel arrives to Molching, her life is forever changed. She is forced to live with two strangers, now her new mama and papa. Liesel faces much abuse both at school and at home. At school she is made fun of for her illiteracy and at home, mama speaks very rudely to her calling her a swine and other insults.
Liesel’s mom leaves her with foster parents because she wishes to protect her from the fate she is enduring. The words Paula, Liesel’s mom, uses go against Hitler because she is a communist which resulted in her being taken away and Liesel to lose her mother and experience the loss of her. This shows Liesel experiences unhappiness because of her mother’s disappearance which is caused by the words she openly uses that contradicts Hitler.
One major scene occurs moments before the bonfire of books. A series of events trigger recollections of Liesel’s past family which causes her to construe the reason why her family is separated. Liesel finally asks Hans, “Is my mother a communist?” (115). This question acts as Liesel’s confirmation of her thought that the Nazis has indeed taken her mother away just like how they took her father for being a communist. Liesel is perplexed because she knows her mother is not a bad person at all, yet, her personal experiences with her mother contradicts with the ideals she has been taught; her mother is a criminal for believing in a utopia different than Hitler’s. In the following scene, Liesel is slapped by Hans Hubermann right before he said, “You can say that in our house… But you never say it on the street, at school, at the BDM, never!” (115). It pained him to punish Liesel and he longs to embrace and comfort her, but he was forced to take drastic actions to protect Liesel from being taken away by the Gestapo. Hans understands that he is Liesel’s sole protector and he shall act as a shield along Liesel’s journey to find her truth. Hans’ actions acts as an example for Liesel to follow. He tells Liesel to never admit her thoughts in public but he tells her that she can in private when she is safe from prying eyes and ears. Hans himself is hiding his insurgent activities behind closed doors. He hides a Jew in his basement, fully knowing it could very well kill him and his
It was on a train with Liesel’s mother and brother where they were travelling when death made his first appearance in the book thief’s life. He took the soul of her brother and only glanced at the girl truly, not taking real note of her as he did his job. She knew that her brother was dead at that point, but the shock wouldn’t truly take her until she snatched a book from where it had fallen near her brother’s hastily made grave. After he was buried, Liesel and her mother continued on their way, arriving at the town of Molching, where she met Hans and Rosa Hubermann. In the first few months that she had arrived, nightmares plagued her mind, haunting her with images of Werner, her brother, and his cold dead eyes. Hans is the one to comfort her, and because of this she grows to trust in him and truly view him as her father. She enjoys his company as well, for he can play the accordion and is always smiling and winking at her in a joyous way. He also begins to teach her how to read the book that she picked up on the day d...
This is a story of courage, companionship, affection, survival, decease, and sorrow. This is Liesel’s life on Himmel Street, narrated by Death. There are two major themes in this book that are experienced at any point of time in everyone’s life. Those themes are “Survivor’s Guilt” and “Abandonment”. This book should be read by everyone. This book has a lot of themes that is beneficial for people in their lives. I feel that this book is interestingly written for an important piece of history.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is written in 1939, Nazi Germany. Parts 1-3 of The Book Thief are set over the time span that starts at the Winter of 1939 and ends on November 3, 1940. Zusak uses real life events in his story to set the plot and follow a timeline. The historical events lay out a road map on which Zusak basically follows as he writes this story. Zusak's usage on nonfiction events in a fiction story creates a mood in the story that makes in more believable.
By the end of the book, it is finally revealed that Liesel is the writer behind The Book Thief. Through the clever way Zusak finalizes the book, it illustrates how much Liesel has grown, matured, and learnt throughout the entire book. Through the tragedy that transpires towards the end of the book, Zusak completes the Epilogue by having the narrator (death) “handover” the book to return to Liesel after he arrives to take Liesel away. During the bittersweet ending it quotes, “... And I pulled a dusty black book from my pocket. The old woman was astonished. She took it in her hand and said ‘is this really it?’ I nodded… Even Though the text had faded she was able to read her words. The fingers of her soul touched the story that was written so long ago in her Himmel Street Basement.” (549-550) These final words emphasize the significant impact Lisel has made in regards to the perspective of the reader. Throughout this book liesel clearly proves that through passion and interest, you have the power to stand up for what you believe in and can, meaningfully convince others, to do what is
Everyone has done something that may seem wrong in society’s eyes, but these decisions or actions could end up changing society’s view about the situation. This is the case for characters in The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. The Book Thief is about a girl named Liesel who struggles to readjust to her new home with Hans and Rosa Hubermann. Along the way, she makes new friends such as Max Vandenburg, the son of a man that Hans is in debt to, and Rudy Steiner, a young boy who lives near Liesel. Over the course of the book, Liesel learns just how powerful words can be, and how society can impact one’s decisions. One of the main themes in the book is that sometimes going against society will lead to the
As time evolves, so do the words that are essential for our everyday survival. The most obvious difference between humans and animals is our ability to master the art of speech. Often, people will say the “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”, a simple nursery rhyme that helps ease a bullied child from abusive words and taunts. But does that really help cure the emotional pain? Words can illuminate and motivate the minds of people but can also shadow their self-esteem through psychological trauma. In The Book Thief, we see how fundamental words were to shape the reality of millions of people caught in the fire of World War II.
Death states that, “I’m always finding humans at their best and worst. I see their ugly and their beauty, and I wonder how the same thing can be both” (Zusak 491). This book shows us human doing things that weren’t even imaginable before this point. Many people give into ideas that were lies. But, we also watch a few people go out of their way and sacrifice everything for a man they barely even know. They do everything they can to keep him safe and alive. They work harder, the get another job, and they even steal. In Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, death examines the ugliness and the beauty of humans.