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Every person goes through some event that may shape their lives, while it may be very small and uneventful like a simple conversation, or a death among the family, both of these events change how a person develops. In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, the main character Liesel has to suffer through the horrific events of World War II in Germany during Hitler's reign. In the beginning, Liesel loses her brother and ends up living with two adoptive parents. At first she is very scared and feeling lonely, but she ends up growing close to the Hubermans, especially Hanns who is her adoptive father. Later on, Liesel meets a young boy named Rudy who becomes her best friend and love interest. Also, she meets a jewish boy named Max who she cares alot about and teaches her strong lessons on overcoming loneliness. Finally, she meets the mayor's wife, Ilsa Hermann who lets her take books. All of these characters play a major role in the development of Liesel's life, …show more content…
In the novel, Liesel is actions and beliefs are shaped through events that change how she develops.
In the beginning of the book, Liesel gets adopted after she has recently lost her brother; "Still in disbelief, she started to dig. He couldn't be dead. He couldn't be dead. He couldn't" (23). In the article, Mental Health and Growing Up, by the Royal College of Psychiatrists the article explains that a death in the family may cause sadness, anger, anxiety, lack of sleep, and the feeling of lost safety. In the novel, Liesel has just recently moved into the Hubermanns where she shows signs of a death such as, loss of safety and abandonment. The death of her brother ends up bringing Liesel and Hans hubermann closer together. Later in the novel, the sister nun at her school disregards Liesel and has no interest in her reading in front of her class, so Rudy, her best friend in the novel tries to stand up for her; “Sister Maria, I think you forgot Liesel.”. Rudy's reaction helps shape Liesel to become more
confident in herself and she realizes she has a friend in the school. Later on, Liesel goes to steal a book from Ilsa Hermann and she finds a letter in a dictionary. After reading the letter she feels like she can resolve her anger towards Ilsa; “You should have knocked, she thought, and although there was a good portion of guilt, there was also the juvenile trace of laughter”. In the article Why Friends Make Us Happier, Healthier People, Jennifer Abbasi says "People who are lonely tend to have... and they're more likely to "give up" or "quit trying"." The letter from Ilsa Hermann builds Liesel's actions for the better by helping her realize she is welcome even if it is not displayed and that she should never give up. Later, a jewish man named Max comes to hide in the Hubermanns basement and Liesel and him become close. Max tells her about his dreams of how is going to beat Hitler in a boxing match; “He walks down and he and I, we fight for hours.” (254). Max's dreams gives Liesel the thought of an opinion. Liesel starts to understand what Hitler is causing and what his true intentions are against the jews and the imperfects. Finally, a bomb explodes on Himmel Street and kills her adoptive father, Hans Hubermann. Hans shapes her life drastically, so his death is a major impact against Liesel; "Goodbye, papa, you saved me. You taught me to read... the book thief wept till she was gently taken away."' (538-539). Liesel is lost, confused, depressed, abandoned, and loss of stability. Hanns death will may cause long-term mental health problems for Liesel which will impact her future for the worse. Markus Zusak uses real life events from the most traumatic and horrific to the simplest of gestures. These events help to build Liesels character and display how she develops or how she plans to develop. In the end, a minor event which may seem like nothing, may change the world for another person.
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.
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.
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
Loss can be a heartbreaking experience or just an inconvenience. It is significant in both books because of what the characters loss or what the characters loose. Whether it is a family member or an object, all the losses have some significance to the war or symbolism. In the novel, the book thief Liesel loses her mother. “ There was a chaos of goodbye”(Zusak 25). “The sudden realization that this would all be for nothing - that her mother would never write back and she would never see her again.” (Zusak 99). These two quotes explain Liesel's loss of her mother. When Liesel joined her new family and she never got a letter back, she realized that her old life is behind her and she can never go back to her mother. Her mother is thought to have
Also about the choices they make. I will also talk about what are they are characteristics and how both Liesel and Max are compared Liesel is nine years old, almost ten, at the start of the book. She is about fifteen toward the end of the book when the bombs destroy her home and kill her loved ones. The book ends when she is an old woman and Death comes to collect her soul. Liesel is the book thief.
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.
Take Liesel’s first encounter with her new foster family for example. When Liesel first arrived at the Hubermann house as a traumatized girl unwilling to talk to anyone, it was Hans who showed her kindness and love. As Rosa Hubermann demanded Liesel to take a bath, Hans said, ““Leave her alone.” Hans Hubermann entered the fray. His gentle voice made its way in, as if slipping through a crowd. “Leave her to me.” He moved closer and sat on the floor, against the wall. The tiles were cold and unkind. “You know how to roll a cigarette?” he asked her, and for the next hour or so, they sat in the rising pool of darkness, playing with the tobacco and the cigarette papers and Hans Hubermann smoking them”(33). Because Liesel had nightmares each night, it was Hans that would have to wake up in the middle of the night and comfort her for hours. After these nightmares occurred, Death describes Hans’ actions, “He came in every night and sat with her. The first couple of times, he simply stayed—a stranger to kill the aloneness. A few nights after that, he whispered, “Shhh, I’m here, it’s all right.” After three weeks, he held her. Trust was accumulated quickly, due primarily to the brute strength of the man’s gentleness, his thereness”(36). Liesel’s naiveness in a world where children have to grow up very quickly makes it even more difficult for Hans to take
Throughout time, children have read stories of brave knights, running into battle with their swords ready to defeat the invader. They have read tales of everyday girls turning into princesses by kissing a frog or wearing a glass slipper. Also, some of these stories contain accounts of historically poignant moments. For example, the novel The Book Thief written by Markus Zusak takes place during World War II. It gives a lasting impression on what this time was like for everyday people and the impacts the war had on them. The author does this through the many storytelling elements incorporated into the book. Also, Zusak displays how people respond to changes within their lives during these taxing times. For instance, the main character, Liesel
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
Liesel’s mom leaves her with foster parents because she wishes to protect her from the fate she is enduring. The words Paula, Liesel’s mom, uses go against Hitler because she is a communist which resulted in her being taken away and Liesel to lose her mother and experience the loss of her. This shows Liesel experiences unhappiness because of her mother’s disappearance which is caused by the words she openly uses that contradicts Hitler.
...by American bombers and everyone but Liesel dies on the street. Liesel only survives because she was writing a book of her own, and was in the basement when the bombs struck. When she is rescued by the police, she rushes to find her parents and Rudy, but only finds them both dead. The story ends with her being adopted by Ilsa Hermann. Of course, this does not mean the story is over; there is an epilogue. Max survives the war and later finds his way back to Liesel, who rejoices when they finally meet. When Liesel finally dies, death takes her away from the others and shows her the book that she was writing when the bombs fell. She asks him if he understood the meaning of it, to which he responds with his own sage advice. When death takes her soul away for good this time, and takes one last look at the title of the book. The Book Thief by Liesel Meminger.
Exposition: Death begins to narrate Liesel’s story as she is sent to her foster parents, Rosa and Hans Hubermann, on Himmel Street in Molching, Germany.