Why Is Liesel Wrong For Stealing Books?

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During the class discussion of The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, I believed that there were many great answers to the discussion questions. One of the questions was, “Do you think Liesel is wrong for stealing books? What about apples?” Most people agreed that is was not okay to steal the apples, although a few people thought it was fine. Almost everyone believed it was acceptable to steal the book, and I agree. I believe that there are and always will be multiple sides and differing opinions on the topic of stealing and are all worth taking a look at. To begin, I personally don’t believe Liesel is wrong for stealing a book from the bonfire because it was going to be destroyed anyways. It shouldn’t harm or have a huge impact on someone else. The book could have been thrown out by someone who did not want it anymore. Her family cannot really afford books and Liesel is …show more content…

Once again, I can understand their rationale for their actions. They believed that the priests already ate a lot and were fat, so taking this food won’t affect them. Nonetheless, it is still immoral to steal here and is also unnecessary. Rudy and Liesel did not need this extra food. I especially didn’t agree with their method of stealing. They purposely set up a trap that injured Otto pretty badly and then took the food he carried. Liesel did, however, feel remorse for hurting Otto. Even though Liesel is just a kid and is going through some tough times, it still doesn’t give her the right to steal. Besides, Death claims that you could argue that others have it harder during this time and I agree. If you were a Jew during this time, that was bad news. They were persecuted, hunted, and killed by the Nazis. Liesel, on the other hand, although have lost her brother and may never see her mother again, is not living in constant fear for her life. The novel even states, “anything is better than being a Jew.” (Zusak

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