As John F. Kennedy, former US president, once said, “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future” meaning that change is inevitable: it may come with loss or joy but living in the past for too long will not allow one to succeed. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is narrated by Death and tells the story of Liesel Meminger who arrives in Molching in 1939 shortly before World War II. Liesel’s mother gives her up to live with Hans and Rosa Hubermann when the war starts progressing. In order to help Liesel overcome her brother’s death, Hans, her foster father, teaches Liesel how to read. Liesel grows a love for books, and steals them, alongside her best friend Rudy Steiner. Although, the …show more content…
Hubermanns struggle in poverty they still manage to help a Jewish fist fighter, Max Vandenburg, whose father once saved Hans' life.
Zusak utilizes Liesel's past experience with loss to convey that the past cannot change and therefore should not control the future.
Being carried away by her past Liesel conveys her emotions through anger towards others. At first, Liesel is overwhelmed by how much her life changes in such a short period of time. Whenever an unfortunate event would occur, Liesel would express her feelings through anger. When Ilsa Hermann tells Liesel that she will no longer be in need of Rosa’s services, Liesel’s, “anger was thick and unnerving, but she toiled through it. She worked himself up even further, to the point where she needed to wipe the tears from her eyes” (252). Liesel had felt as though there was a connection between her and Ilsa. Unfortunately, times were getting harder and the Hermanns need to set an example for those living in Molching. This bring Liesel back to losing her brother as she had lost a friend. She allows the feelings and memories of loss to control and now the feelings are exemplified because she is once again losing. Liesel may have reacted differently if she had been thinking about her present life, and maybe her relationship with Ilsa would
be different and she would not have to steal books. Between growing up and her life changing Liesel saw and learns many different things. When she arrives on Himmel Street, Liesel was only nine-years-old but as time went on she starts to develop her own ideas and starts to see a bigger picture. Liesel was never told why her mother left her, one day she remembered how her mother had been treated. This leads her to a conclusion that her mother was another person affected by Hitler as she remembers her often being called a “communist”. Hans confirms her accusations, which leads her to develop a new feeling towards, “the Führer...I hate him” (115). This ignites anger within her towards the Führer [Hitler]. Although Liesel has a valid reason to be mad, she is once again allowing the past to influence her future. Liesel did not think that by saying this she would be risking her life and her future, because she was too engrossed on fixing her past. Although Liesel cannot change her parents fate she wants to. The evidence presented shows two different cases where Liesel let her past influence her present. This caused an action that Liesel would not have normally done but, her emotions mixing with her sense did not conclude to a good outcome.
“The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak is narrated by death and begins when Liesel’s brother dies on a train with her and her mother. At her brother’s burial, she steals her first book, “The Grave Digger’s Handbook” and soon after is separated from her mother and sent to live with foster parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann, in Molching, where the majority of the book takes place. At school, Liesel is teased because she can’t read so Hans teaches her to read when she wakes up from her frequent nightmares about her brother’s death. Hans is a painter and an accordion player and also plays the accordion for her after her nightmares. Liesel grows very close with Hans and also becomes close friends with her neighbor Rudy Steiner who constantly asks her to
In Markus Zusak’s novel, the book thief, Liesel Meminger is surrounded by death and fear as that is the norm in the 1930’s. Liesel is a strong young girl who has been deeply affected by her brother’s death and her mother leaving her and finds comfort in ‘The Grave Digger’s Handbook’, the book she stole at the site of her brother’s burial. Throughout the novel Liesel finds comfort in other books and reads them to escape the terrible reality that is Nazi Germany. Together with books she overcomes obstacles she wouldn't have been able to do without them
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.
Not that it was a living hell. It wasn't. But it sure wasn't heaven, either”. (5.87) Death tells us. She became really fond of Hans Hubermann; a painter and accordion player, but with Rosa things were more complicated; she was a rough woman who did the washing and ironing of Molching’s wealthy inhabitants. Liesel starts to have dreams of her brother dying and wets in bed which leads us to her first reading session; Papa finds the book hidden under Liesel’s mattress and after a while he notices that Liesel does not know how to read and doing his best with a fourth grade education he teaches her how to read and write. She also makes a friend that she would never forget Rudy Steiner or we can call it Jesse Owens too; they met on the street during a soccer game and since then they became
Liesel experiences abandonment throughout her life, and the novel during a suppressed time in World War II Germany. Through her experiences Liesel’s learns to equate abandonment with love knowing that circumstance have forced her loved ones to leave her.
The heavily proclaimed novel “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak is a great story that can help you understand what living in Nazi Germany was like. Throughout the story, the main character, Liesel goes through many hardships to cope with a new life in a new town and to come to the recognition of what the Nazi party is. Liesel was given up for adoption after her mother gave her away to a new family, who seemed harsh at first, but ended up being the people who taught her all the things she needed to know. Life with the new family didn’t start off good, but the came to love them and her new friend, Rudy. As the book carried along, it was revealed that the Hubermanns were not Nazi supporters, and even took in a Jew and hid him in their basement later on in the book. Liesel became great friends with the Jew living in her basement, Max, who shared many similarities which helped form their relationship. Both of
In this essay I will talk about The Book Thief Characters. The characters are Liesel, Rudy, And Max. I Will talk about how they are Influenced by society in This Book/Movie. I am going to three Paragraphs about these three characters. This essay is going to be a Compare and Contrast Essay.
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.
Words hold great power and when used correctly can influence what people believe and how they act.
“Like most misery, it started with apparent happiness” (84). In the beginning, we are introduced to the narrator by the name of Death. He informs the readers that he has many stories, but only remembers the ones that interest him. The tale of Liesel Meminger is one such tale, as he was always fascinated by her will to live through the most horrible instances. It should be duly noted however, that this story does not have a happy ending. Death makes this clear before we even have a chance to get our hopes up. He tells us that everyone dies; the amount of time that they last is truly the only difference. After this sordid fact is in place, he mentions just Liesel first attracted his attention.
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.
In The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, beauty and brutality is seen in many of the characters. Rudy, Liesel, and Rosa display examples of beauty and brutality often without realizing what exactly they are doing, because it is a part of their human nature. Zusak not only uses his characters, but also the setting of the novel in Nazi Germany to allude to his theme of the beauty and brutality of human nature. The time in which the novel is set, during World War II, displays great examples of beauty and brutality, such as the mistreatment of the Jews. As a result of this time period, the characters have to go through troubling times, which reveals their beautiful and brutal nature in certain circumstances. Zusak uses his characters and their experiences to demonstrate the theme of the beauty and brutality of human nature in the novel.
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?
Liesel steals the books she is ,at the same time, liberating them from destruction. The whole idea of stealing as a horrible thing to do comes into question. Liesel risks death or torture in doing this as well. Her theft is also a self-education and an act of rebellion against the Nazis. Lie...
The world we live in is molded by History. Every event since the dawn of time has led up to now, and every event now is leading up to tomorrow and beyond. “The Book Thief “, is a Historical Fiction novel written by Markus Zusak. In the book, a young girl named Liesel is fostered by a poor German couple, and comes of age through the Third Reich and Second World War. During the book many Historical events affected Leisel’s life. The three historical events that most promentaly impacted the course of Liesel’s life in The Book Thief, are the rise of the Nazi Party, the German invasion of Poland, and the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor.