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Once Max Vandenburg arrives at Hubermann house Liesel is confused on him staying there. It’s difficult for her to understand why her foster parents were letting him stay and why he was staying. To no doubt though, Liesel and Max soon find common ground and become friends who help one another through rough times. Max and Liesel firstly bond over reading; she practices asking him if the Mein Kampf is a good read and the fact they both had left close family before arriving to Himmel Street. Then Liesel discovers Max also has constant nightmares, “In their separate rooms, they would dream their nightmares and wake up, one with a scream in drowning sheets, the other with a gasp for air” (Zusak 219). Soon after Liesel asks Max what he dreams about
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
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.
She finally tells Rudy about Max after the incident. Liesel returns to Ilsa Hermann’s library and destroys a book because she becomes angry with how words can bring so much hate and then she writes and apology to Mrs. Hermann. Mrs. Hermann comes to Liesel’s house a few days later and gives her a journal so she can write her own story. One day while she was writing in her journal in the basement, an air raid happens and Liesel is the only survivor because she was safe in the basement. She is saved by the LSE and kisses Rudy’s dead lips and says goodbye to her Mama and Papa. She is taken by the mayor and his wife and when Alex Steiner comes back from the war, him and Liesel spend a lot of time together. Eventually, Max shows up and they have a bittersweet
Hans can’t help to offer a piece of bread to one of the prisoners and is beaten along with the prisoner for this act of nobility. He is frightened that the Nazi will search his house and discover Max. That same night Max leaves Himmel Street. Hans is sent to war as his punishment and Alex Steiner is also conscripted for not permitting Rudy be part of a special training school. With Hans and Max gone, Liesel does her best to go on. She reads to the inhabitants of Himmel Street in the bomb shelter during air raids, robs food with Rudy, and helps Rosa who is devastated by Hans’s departure. The last book she steals is called “The Last Human Stranger” at this point she is frustrated and
Hans is a very caring and selfless father figure in Liesel's life. He treated her with plenty of care and affection.’Unofficially, it was called the midnight class, even though it commenced at around two in the morning.’’(Zusak,30) Hans would get up to read to Liesel when ever she would have nightmares which would then lead to their late reading sessions in the basement. No matter how tired he was, he would always make
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
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.
All thanks to his friend Walter kugler. Walter is Max 's best friend. Walter and Max started battling each other growing up, yet soon got to be companions. In the early phases of the Holocaust, Walter helps Max avoid the Nazis and organizes Max to stay at Hans Hubermann 's place. Even though Max is going through tough times he is able to keep a strong relationship with walter. Despite the fact that Max is experiencing extreme times he can keep a solid relationship with walter. Secondly is the relationship Max has with Liesel. In spite of the fact that Liesel is apprehensive meeting Max to begin, they soon turn out to be great companions. They share bad dreams as their first talk together. Max has left his family and Liesel has lost her sibling. Sharing their mishaps the two get to be associated through sharing their souls and the printed word. Liesel instructs Max that he can express his sketchy identity through words. "i have hated the words and i have loved them, and i hope i have made them right” (528). Max and Liesel have grown to love and learn from one another. Lastly, is the relationship Max has with Hans before leaving them. Max left since Hans has shown love for a Jew in a parade, and Max realized that Hans ' home would be hunted by the NSDAP down evidence of
It is evident that Max tries to escape his reality and get lost in a world where he can find freedom from his complex troubles, much like every other child in the world today whom does not know how to deal with such chaotic and complicated thoughts. Max, unknowingly comes face to face with all his emotions through the lives of others, helping him to come to an understanding in his escape. In the film “Where the Wild Things Are” Max’s sister ignores him, he feels his mothers new boyfriend is taking her from him and he is overall portrayed as a lonely, lost character. Max is told by his mother that he has gone out of control, which essentially is the last straw in initiating him to run away to where he eventually ends up where the wild things are. According to the article “Fantasy - Necessary for Sanity and Morality” in order for proper development, “A child needs to understand what is going on within his conscious self so that he can cope with that which goes on within his unconscious.” This can be attained by daydreaming through stories and scenarios to ...
Elli talks about daily life in her neighborhood. Her mother does not show any compassion for her. When Elli complains of this, her mother brings up excuses that are unconvincing. Elli believes her mother does not care for her and that her brother is the favorite. Hilter’s reoccurring radio broadcast give nightmares to Elli, whos family is Jewish. The nights when the Hungarian military police would come and stir trouble did not provide anymore comfort for Elli. One night, her brother, Bubi, comes home with news that Germany invaded Budapest, the town where he goes to school. But the next morning, there is no news in the headlines. The father sends him back to school. He learns the next day that a neighbor’s son who goes to school with Bubi has said the same. The day after, the newspapers scream the news of the invasion. Bubi arrives home, and the terror begins.
There are so many different conflicts in this book, but the two most evident ones are the person vs society conflicts. The two main conflicts that help portray the wreckage caused by racism is the relationship between Max and Liesel and also the books that Liesel steals on a regular basis. Firstly, hiding a Jew in your basement is never easy, especially when it is during the second world war. Liesel and the Hubermanns had to sacrifice a lot in order to successfully hide a Jew in their basement. The fact that they even had to hide someone shows how much racial segregation there was against Jews. An example would be when Max and Liesel “hugged and cried and fell on the floor” (Zusak 548). Liesels relationship with Max is the most important conflict
...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.
Hans is forced to leave Liesel to serve in the military due to the Nazi Party accepting his application. “Don’t go, Papa. Just don’t go. Let them come for you if you stay. But don’t go, please don’t go.”(Zusak 424) Liesel understand due to the circumstances Hans, and not because of his choosing. Even Max had to leave at one point in order to maintain the safety of the Hubermanns. This still is all do to circumstance, which has thrusted Hans, Max and Liesel Mother to leave her
The theme of friendship can change one’s views on the human dignity of another person because the relationship with them can change how they are seen and treated. The theme of friendship is displayed throughout the novel and demonstrates human dignity in Max and Liesel’s friendship, hers and Rudy and Liesel’s relationship with the gang of children who stole. This is believed, because of Liesel's thoughts on how Germans treat the Jews like Max, Rudy’s perspective of Liesel unlike Liesel’s teacher, and she and the group of children being there for each other. Human dignity can be shown in many friendships because a strong relationship with someone can change how they are seen, treated and how one relates to them.
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...