1.The Grave Digger’s Handbook: Represents the last time Liesel saw her mother and her brother. It is the first book Liesel steals and reads, and it helps her start reading. 2.The Shoulder shrug: Second book Liesel steals. She adds up things that have happened and realizes that Hitler/The fuhrer's responsible for them. It’s an act of rebellion against him,since it was going to be burnt. Opens doors to more books since someone saw her steal the book. 3.The Dream Carrier: Liesel steals the book for Max. It represents her relationship with Max. 5.The Whistler: Signifies her friendship with rudy. Rudy saves the book after it is thrown in the river, and asks Liesel for a kiss for the last time. 4.Han’s Accordion: Belongs to her foster father.Liesel took it after Himmel st was bombed and he died. It links Hans and max, and it …show more content…
brings him help Max. It symbolizes what her foster father was to her, and why he helped Max. 6. Soccer Ball: Liesel and Rudy become friends after she deflects one of his kicks and he throws a snowball at her. Later in the book the soccer ball gets crushed by a car. Liesel brings it home a present for max, hoping he’ll get better and wake up. 7.The Last Human Stranger: The last book Liesel steals.
The title and quote from the book describe how she feels. After she finishes the book she rips up another book and leaves a note for the mayor’s wife, which leads to Ilsa giving Liesel a blank book to write herself. 8.The Standover Man: Max makes the book for Liesel’s birthday. In the book he talks about how they have things in common, and how she gave a gift to him on her birthday. It connects her to Max. 9.The Word Shaker: The second/last book Max made. The books tells Liesel of the power of words and how the Fuhrer used them. It represents Liesel and Max’s friendship. 10.The Book Thief: Liesel writes this book, and it saves her life when she goes down into the basement to revise it, and is protected from the bombs.Liesel writes the book to explain everything she went through. She loses it after the bombing, but death picks it up, and shows it to her when she dies. Part One Arrival on Himmel
street We were traveling on the train towards Munich. Werner started coughing, hard, and then stopped, motionless. My mother was asleep. I shook my brother. No,no he can’t be dead, this isn’t happening! I got up, walked towards mother, and woke her up with a shake. She saw Werner, and sobbed. I cried silently The train stopped due to faulty track work. In a panic, mother opened the door and climbed into the snow with Werner. I followed numbly. It was snowing. Two guards followed us, a tall on and a short one. My tears froze onto my face. They argued on what to do, but I couldn’t hear anything. All I could see was Werner. He couldn’t be dead. They decided to take us to the next town, where we could sort things out. We climbed back on the train. Werner was buried 2 day later. There were 2 grave diggers and a priest. The gravediggers were complaining. They started to walk away. Mother was talking with the priest. No he couldn’t be dead. I dug into the snow which carved into my hands. They started bleeding, then froze on my hands. I felt a hand on my shoulder, i was being dragged away. I screamed, i couldn’t leave Werner! I stood up and breathed. Then I saw something black and rectangular in the snow. I picked it up. Mother didn't see it. It had silver writing although i could read what it said. I said goodbye to Werner as we left the cemetery and waved. We made our to the next train towards Munich. Why were we going to Munich? I wondered, what about Werner? We boarded near midday. When the train pulled into Munich everyone slid out. We walked towards a building and entered. We went into a office. I sat in a corner while mother answer questions. Then she got up. She walked towards me and said goodbye. She was leaving? What about me? I clung to her coat as she explained and dragged me back. After that was a blur. Then they put me in a car with a lay and another man. We started driving to our destination. My foster home. I wished they would lose their way or change their minds. It didn’t happen. “Nearly there,” the lady said and smiled “Your new home”. The buildings on the street looked as if they were stuck together. There were mainly small houses and apartment blocks. The lady disappear into a house while the man stayed. I assumed he was there to make sure I didn’t run away. After a few minutes the lady came out with a tall man and another short woman. The man had a cigarette. I stayed in the car. “What is wrong with this child?” the woman asked “Well, come on.” After fifteen minutes, I came out. The tall man did it. I clung to the gate. I did not want to go in. It was not my home. Werner was not here. People started to gather, but dispersed when the woman yelled at them. But eventually I went in. I held the tall man’s hand and my suit case. In the suitcase was that black book with silver writing that I had taken, no, stolen. It was the first book I stole.
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
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
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.
2. What is ironic about Liesel’s obsession with stealing books? Discuss other uses of irony in the novel.
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
As he approached the shop door he could see the girl still hard at work in the back of the shop. He step in the shop silently keeping his eye on the girl. Quickly he asked Alex Steiner if he could speak to Liesel privately. With nod of the head Max was already proceeding toward his soon to be fiancee. Without her knowing he softly put his arm around her instantly warming her heart from the long dull day at work. Without a word He pulled her out of sight into the back room. Liesel could instantly sense something was different. He was far too giddy than normal, which probably gave max’s secret away before he even spoke. As she asked him what was up he immediately bent over on one knee and asked “Liesel, will you marry me?” Tears of joy came screaming down the Book Thief’s face. She was overwhelmed with emotions and with a blurred nod of her head they embraced one another with unconditional love. Max summoned up the bravery and said these next words “ would you leave Germany and all the grey from our past behind and move to Australia and start a new life with me?” Liesel had never been outside the country of Germany. She was nervous and scared of
Fellow classmates in Liesel’s class mock her because she didn’t read the passage he was instructed to read. This shows Liesel experiences unhappiness because of her lack of reading and the power of words.
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
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...
...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.
Every book that Liesel comes across has a memory attached to it, and has a significant impact on her actions and relationships. Liesel Meminger is the diligent, compassionate, and assertive star of the novel. She loves books so much that she begins to steals them, even before she knows how to read! Liesel had a tough start towards reading. In fact, without her foster father Hans, and his dedication towards teaching her, she would never have learned how to read at all. Since then, reading has captured Liesels interest. Throughout her stay with her foster parents Liesel found refuge, power, and a clearer understanding of the events that shape up her life.
During the horrid times of World War II, Death has been everywhere. He later explores the world of Molching through Liesel’s eyes and shows fascination and fear of humans. In Markus Zusak’s “The Book Thief” shows a story of a girl named Liesel Meminger lived through her life in Molching under the care of the Hubermanns, Rosa and Hans, after losing her family. Once she learned to read with the help of Hans Hubermann, she began getting or stealing books, and would eventually write her own book, describing the experiences and reliving the memories with the others before their final moments. Even during the hatred-filled times in Liesel’s life, the people in her life showed her the brighter sides of Molching.
Liesel Meminger, the protagonist of The Book Thief, lost her loved ones and her mother was deemed unfit to parent. Thus, she was taken under the wing of a foster family, the Hubermanns. Liesel’s tragic past has a part to play in her circumspect nature. Owing to that, she found it hard to open herself to Hans and Rosa Hubermann but as time progresses, Liesel’s defensive self begins to dissipate slowly which paved a path for the foster parents to develop a loving relationship with Liesel. Initially, Liesel’s relationship with Hans lacked emotional strength. However, this fragile relationship gradually became one which was tightly-knitted as Hans was able to win Liesel’s trust. The narrator, Death, first describes the scene where it dawned on
The Hubermann's have been taking care of Max, when he starts to become very sick, and this results in him being in a coma at one point. It is during this time that Liesel, "...did not have dinner that afternoon or go to the toilet...promised herself that she would finish reading the book..." (323), comes to discover that like material gifts, words can also be a very precious gift. For words are powerful and words are knowledge. In reading to Max, she is becoming a selfless person, not caring about herself as she is caring for Max, but only thinks of him. This is showing that she is pushing the limits of the status quo in her society, because being selfless and helping others such as Max, who is a Jew at that, is against her societie's
Liesel loves Max; a Jew, while during the Holocaust. An example of this is when Liesel never stops searching for Max. Liesel also goes through the crowd of Jews to find Max. She even risks her life for him. Liesel gets nightmares and bonds with Max while he’s in the basement. She brings Max a newspaper so he can do crosswords. Both Liesel and Max love books, which they connect with even more. Max promises to give Liesel a gift for her birthday. Max also teaches Liesel about how to never give up. Max and Liesel love each other, even though they constantly live in fear.