Books are a big part of The Book Thief ‘s plot line. For the main character, Liesel Meminger, books have literal and symbolic meanings for her. From her love of books she to learned and write, how to survive, and how to steal. Through Liesel stealing books, she discovers new passions and experiences.
The first book stolen by Liesel Meminger is The Grave Digger’s Handbook taken at the site of her brother’s burial. As stated here “On some level, perhaps she wanted to make sure her brother was buried right” (Zusak 66), the book holds a high value to her. She not only feels a connection to it because it’s a reminder of the last time she saw her brother but also, that book sparked her interest in reading. Once LIesel was brought to Hubermann household, the book was kept under her mattress because of how it was for a 10 year old to own something so morbid. Papa, Hans Hubermann, shortly discovered the book one night during their “midnight class” and was taken aback at first but didn’t
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After Liesel regularly visited Ilsa Hermann, the mayor’s wife, to collect the laundry, she was eventually invited in to read books from their home library. Once Liesel had taken four books from Ms.Hermann’s library, she decided to write a letter of apology. Ms.Hermann responded by giving Liesel a “little black book”; she encourages Liesel to write saying “You can certainly write. You write well” (Zusack 523). Liesel writes constantly in the book down in the basement, she found her passion in reading and now strives for one in writing. The book, titled, The Book Thief, literally saves Liesel’s life. While she finishes her last line of her book, the narrator says “Outside, the world whistled. The rain was stained” (Zusack 528). This describing the bombing that was happening on Himmel Street, that killed everyone that Liesel knew, in their sleep, whilst she was editing her work in the
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.
’’Liesel observed the strangeness of her foster father's eyes. They were made of kindness, and silver. Like soft silver…..upon seeing those eyes,she understood Hans Hubermann was worth a lot.’’ (Zusak,34) Liesel saw kindness in Hans Hubermanns eyes which made her feels more comfortable with him rather than Rosa Hubermann.
Through Liesel’s and Ilsa’s friendship comes an understanding of what Ilsa Hermann has experienced in her son dying. “I used to read here with my son.” (Zusak 451) Before Ilsa makes a connecting to Liesel it seems as if Ilsa was floating through life like a zombie awaiting death to cause the pain of living with out her son to stop. It was not until she comes to care for Liesel, almost as if she thinks she is her own does she have a revival of the spirit. After revealing to Liesel that she knows that Liesel is taking books from her library Ilsa gives Liesel a blank book and tells her to write her own story in it. Every night Liesel would go down into her basement because it was her favorite place to be and write down there for hours. One night there was a bombing on Molching with no warning while Liesel was down writing. She ended up surviving because of the long chain of events starting all the way back to her stealing The Grave Digger’s Handbook in the graveyard her brother lays in. (Word Count
This realization, although suspected by the narrator for a long time, shows the true irony of Liesel’s thefts: that she never needs to steal them. When she steals her last book, The Last Human Stranger, she even takes a plate of cookies and leaves a note. Although none of these books are featured as heavily as her first few thefts, their titles reference parts of Liesel’s struggles such as her relationship with Max, her role in uplifting her community in the bunker, her continuing education, and her status being the only survivor of the final bombing. In conclusion, the books which Liesel steals are very influential in her development through the course of the novel, with the titles themselves references other parts of her life.
A symbol is a unique term because it can represent almost anything such as people, beliefs, and values. Symbols are like masks that people put on to describe their true self. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the author uses Tom Robinson and Arthur Radley to represent a mockingbird which illustrates the theme of innocence by presenting these characters as two harmless citizens that do not pose a threat to Maycomb.
Words, so simple, yet are the most powerful ways of communication. The weight of words is one of most impactful themes in Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, and is felt throughout the entire novel. The Book Thief is a story that takes place during World War II, and follows the Hubermann family and friendships as the Narrator: Death follows them through their journey of Germany in 1939. Hans Hubermann is one of the greatest supporters of words right next to the Book Thief herself, Liesel Meminger. Words are emphasized through stolen books, spoken conversations, and thoughts of the characters. Hans Hubermann backs Liesel’s desire to read through many long nights, protects Max Vandenburg while in hiding, and consistently stands up against the dehumanization
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.
In the novels The Book Thief and Fahrenheit 451, books play a crucial role in the plotline of each story. Both of the main characters go out of their way to possess books, mostly through thievery, and read them even though it may be illegal. The books help open up the eyes of Liesel and Montag and help them see how distorted the world around them really is.
Books are used as a control mechanism and sense of freedom for Liesel as she finds safety in them. She is constantly invited to the Mayor’s house to read books and when she is no longer allowed to go she takes it upon herself to steal the books. Death, the omnipresent narrator, provides an insight into the deeper meaning of the Book Thief. Death watches over Liesel and the people around her. When Hans Hubermann goes away, Death follows him and relays to the reader his experiences.
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
...t Max gave to Liesel as a gift. This book represents the power of words, and how words can make a difference in a person’s life.The readers are engaged because it is interesting know the back stories behind these books when we read about them in the novel. Finally, Hans’ accordion symbolises comfort in The Book Thief. When Hans leaves to go fight in the war, he leaves his accordion at home with Rosa and Liesel. This is the moment that Liesel know that Rosa truly does love Hans, although she might not show it. “Liesel watched. She knew that for the next few days, Mama would be walking around with the imprint of an accordion on her body” (429). Rosa, Liesel’s “Mama”, keeps the accordion close to her heart because it reminds her of her husband, Hans, whom she misses so much. In The Book Thief, symbolism attracts attention to certain thematic ideas and the novel itself.
The story begins with Liesel and her brother on a train being taken to a distant land. Sadly her brother dies on the journey, and they bury him when the train stops. At the burial sight, as one of the grave diggers walks away an object falls from his coat. “There was something black and rectangular lodged in the snow. 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 16). When Liesel grabbed the The Grave Digger’s Handbook, it wasn’t her intention to read, she didn’t even know how to
Books also help Liesel build relationships with two other people; Max and Ilsa. Liesel’s relationship with Ilsa started
In the beginning of the book, Liesel is seen as an innocent uneducated young girl, but then starts to go through numerous tragedies. Such as the death of her brother, abandonment of her mother and the absence of her real father. Liesel then starts to steal and read books as an escapism because of the loss of her brother. She then joins a stealing gang, in which she continues to steal fruits, vegetables and other important foods from farms. “Twenty-four hours later, Liesel and Rudy braved the wire fence again and filled their sack. The problem showed up as they made their getaway. Christ! shouted Arthur. The farmer! It was his next word, however, that frightened. He called it out as if he’d already been attacked with it. His mouth ripped open. The word flew out, and the word was ax.” (Zusak 164). Liesel is now taking the food she steals for granted, in which she does not care if she gets in trouble. She is simply acting out. This leads her to doing wrongful things to gain more power, like stealing more books from the mayor's library to gain more knowledge. “The injury of words. Yes, the brutality of words. She summoned them from someplace she only now recognized and hurled them at Ilsa Hermann. “It’s about time,” she informed her, “that you do your stinking washing anyway. It’s about time you faced the fact that your son is dead. He got killed! He got strangled and
Liesel Meminger stole The Grave Digger's Handbook when she was leaving the graveyard because she wanted to have something that connected her with the last moments she and her brother had together. Liesel also stole The Shoulder Shrug at the fire and it was one of the books that had been set aside for burning due to its dangerous material. Liesel stole the book and it was significant because the material was opposing Hitler and supported her same feelings towards him at the time because she comes to the realization that Hitler is to blame for her separation from her mother. The mayor's wife witnessed Liesel steal the book and that is also important because if she hadn't, Isla may have never invited Liesel into her library. Liesel steals The