Book Thief Identity

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Recommended: Understanding the factors that shape peoples identity essay

It is simply impossible to live life unaffected by others. In everyday life individuals are being influenced and shaped by their peers, families, and friends. People learn, follow, and adapt to what they have experienced or been taught. One’s identity is shaped greatly by the people involved in their lives, with that said, depending on the situation the outcome can either be negative or positive. The Book Thief, a screenplay by Michael Petroni, follows a young girl as she adapts to living with new adoptive parents, learns the true tragedies of war when her family takes in a Jew, and explores her passion for words and reading. An individual is impacted by the people around them and one’s personal experiences shape them into who they are. In …show more content…

In the film, Hans provided Liesel with a feeling of support and comfort from the first moment that they meet. Towards the beginning of the movie, Rosa’s insolent tone of voice and abrasive attitude put a strain on the development of her and Liesel’s relationship. When Rosa was yelling at Liesel to exit from the car, after her arrival to the house of her new foster parents, Hans decided to take a different approach. As a result, Liesel felt more welcome and was able to leave the car because of the feeling of security that Hans provide her. Naturally, Liesel gravitated towards Hans for affection and guidance because he was gentler and the more understanding one of the two parents. The bond of Hans and Liesel was evidently stronger than that of Rosa and Liesel, as there was a sense love and warmth within the relationship. Comparatively, during my trip to Ottawa, a close friend of mine was putting a strain on our relationship as she neglected to resolve issues with necessary communication. “It was the same old cycle, something would happen , Romana would get mad, then ignore us, then we would apologize for the unknown thing that we did.” (Nwaogu) During the trip to Ottawa, Romona started to change, she became rather distant and fragile, which concerned me , but without her willingness to open up to …show more content…

Liesel's foster family is put into a treacherous situation when they required to conceal a Jewish man and on numerous occasions risk discovery if their disloyalty to the ruling party.Hans and Rosa make the valiant decision to keep Max in their basement as he hides from the Nazis and tries to survive against the odds of presumable death. When Liesel finds out that Nazis are checking people’s basements, her first thought and instinct to help Max. Liesel is forbidden from telling a soul about her family’s dark secret and at times it is extremely difficult for her, but she is able to keep her promise to Rosa. This trait of being compassionate is ostensibly passed down from her foster father, Hans, who constantly demonstrates what it means to have concern for the well-being of others. As a result, Liesel was very kind and empathic towards Max because she began to understand that the world possesses some evil forces and in order to diminish it, one has to be a light source of good. Correspond- ingly, when I lost my father’s camera, I felt that I had to sacrifice my own pride and admit my wrong doing in order to move forward. In this situation, my dad motivated me to have integrity for my actions because from a young age honesty was instilled into my

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    Characters of Himmel Street which support those who have been marginalized by society encounter love for humanity as they share a form of love with the individual they are comforting. Liesel Meminger is a character on Himmel street that continually comforts others, which is noticeable in the way she treats the character Max Vandenburg who has been abused by societal ideologies. It is evident that Liesel supports Max when she obtains gifts for him, while he is ill and concealing from the Nazis, “Whenever she

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  • The Book Thief Sparknotes

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    Max uses Mein Kampf as a kind of cover so people wouldn’t suspect that he was a Jew and he escapes to the Hubermann’s house as Hans promised to help the Vandenburg’s if they ever needed it as he was friends with Max’s father in the war and Max’s father saved Hans’ life. Liesel is curious but also scared of Max at first but they bond over the fact that they both have nightmares, have lost their families and are both “fist-fighters” Since Max is always hiding in the basement, Liesel begins to describe the weather to him and brought him snow where they had a snowball fight and built a snowman with Hans and Rosa. Soon after, Max falls ill and she brings him 13 presents, hoping that he will wake up and reads to him every morning and night. Max also begins to share stories with Liesel and for her birthday makes her a book called “The Standover Man” which is about his life and journey. Max also begins to have daydreams where he fights Hitler and Hitler always uses his words to excite the crowd and uses them as a weapon. Liesel and Rudy also begin to steal food with a group of

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    One may hear the words love and abandonment and believe they are opposites, but this is not the case in The Book Thief. Markus Zusak uses abandonment to bring together two characters. One night Liesel and Max reveal to one another their reoccurring nightmares. Liesel has a dream where she feels abandoned by her mother and brother while Max has a dream where he abandons his family. Even though Liesel is abandoned and Max is the abandoner they both feel the same way toward what had occurred to each of them. Through this sharing of nightmares comes a special unspoken connection between the two. Liesel and Max go from strangers to practically brother and sister who love one another, which may seem odd for the love came directly from abandonment. Liesel’s first encounter with abandonment came from her brother dying on the train on the way to Liesel’s foster home. Liesel was very upset and hurt by her mother and did not under stand why she was doing this until later. “She saw it all so clearly. Her starving mother, her missing father. Kommunisten” (Zusak 111) Liesel connected the dots and realized that her mother was married to a communist, which was a great danger during the reign of Hitler. Liesel came to comprehend that her mother gave her up to keep her safe and away from Hitler. Her mother did all of this out of love for her. All the pain and suffering that Liesel has gone through has been caused by

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    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.

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    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.”

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    Unbeknownst to Liesel, Max secretly writes two graphic stories for her, enshrining the power of words, rewarding her developing power of words and giving her strength to write her own words. The Standover Man; the first of the two complete illustrated stories, encapsulates Max’s feelings towards Liesel and their developing friendship. Within the context of the story, Max is depicted as a bird- like creature who fears ‘men standing over’ him. His fear may be associated with the events of his life that have left him vulnerable, for example, losing his father at a young age and losing a fist fight to a friend. As the story progresses, it becomes evident that Liesel’s presence provides comfort to Max, as he begins to realise that ‘the best standover man [he’s] ever known is not a man at all’, but is Liesel; a companion who is ultimately able to redefine Max’s preconceived notion of ‘the standover man’, as being someone associated with abandonment and antagonism to a compassionate figure that he need not fear. The second story, The Word Shaker, written by Max, and created with the assistance of the Hubermanns, juxtaposes a book of oppression and detestation into a story of hope and resilience, to impart optimism within the reader. The fact that the faint text of the Mein Kampf does not leak through the painted pages, as it did in The Standover Man, is symbolic of how the only way to obliterate the legacy of Hitler is through the union of Jews and Germans. This is utterly uplifting, as they elicit the realisation that even for Max, who is secluded from the world and tormented by the Nazi morals, is powerful enough to overcome his fear of Hitler’s

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    Reading is something that she does to get her mind off those things. Once she gets to her foster family all she has is her gravediggers handbook. Hans teaches her how to read the book and they form a great relationship that carries throughout the book. “With a smile like that,’ Hans said, ‘ you don’t even need eyes.” (Zusak 68)

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