Air Raids In The Book Thief

Reflection: The Book Thief contains many important concepts, but three of them play major roles in developing the characters and creating themes. One key concept discusses the power and significance of words. As seen in the novel, words can be used to influence people in negative and positive ways. For example, reading and writing save the lives of Hans, Max, and Liesel in the form of letters, a copy of MKPF, and Liesel’s life story. On the other hand, Hitler uses words to encourage the German people to hunt down and kill Jewish people. This shows how words can kill people and save people’s lives. Another important concept in The Book Thief is that life is unpredictable, and it can’t be meticulously planned out. Fate and chance will make a difference. This is shown when Hans switches seats with Reinhold Zucker in the military vehicle. Neither of them knows that the bus will crash, and the person in that seat will be killed. But fate isn’t tested, so Hans’s life is spared, and Zucker’s life is taken away. The last major concept, and perhaps the most important, is used as the framework for one of the most crucial themes. It is that humanity displays its duality in extreme ways. From Hans risking his life to give a piece of bread to a frail, old man, to Hitler killing six million Jews in cold blood, humans are capable of the amazingly kind and the incredibly

In the beginning of the novel, Liesel brother dies while they were on the train to Munich to the foster home .This drains Liesel cause she is going to the foster home

Hans Hubermann felt guilty because he was confused about why Erik Vandenburg would die for him. Hans felt unworthy of what Erik did. He channeled this guilt into different emotiions and actions. Hans had the compassion to take Liesel in as one of his own, he had no problem with working through her problems. Hans stepped out of the social normality at the time to help a Jewish shop-keeper paint his vandalized door. He also took Max Vandenburg, a run-away Jew that was sent to Han’s house, fully aware of what though times may lay ahead. Throughout the entire book Hans uses his guilt to preform good deeds for others.

In the middle of “The Book Thief”,Liesel becomes determined. She is determined to show her papa that she can read and write. Liesel shows she is determined because she learns how to read and she wants to write all the words that she learns on the wall. An example that shows this is “we're starving out here,and you're stealing books?”said Rudy. In this example Liesel wants to read the one book from the library so she steals it but will bring it back when she is done.

To begin, in The Book Thief, books seem to provide Liesel with hope in many ways . First, Liesel reads her books in hope that they will distract her from her harsh reality of living during a war, and having Hitler as a leader. This is displayed in the following quotation,”Liesel opened one of her books and began to read. The book on the top of the pile was The Whistler and she spoke it aloud to help her concentrate,” (Zusak 381). Within this quotation, one sees that Liesel reads her books to in the hope

Liesel discovers that by educating herself, she has the capability to allow herself to survive her desperate circumstances, while developing bonds with others. Liesel has gone through a lot and been in desperate circumstances. She uses her books as a way to persevere, she discovers the “book [with] silver writing on it,”(pg 21) it represents the end of a phase and a beginning of a new one. Liesel quickly adapts to reading, to mourn the loss of her brother, since she found the book where they buried her him. During the book burning, there is an opportunity for Liesel to retrieve more books, “the book thief [has] struck,” (pg 22) for the first time.

Lastly in The Book Thief, books reminded Liesel of the last time she saw her mother and brother which also kept her calm after her nightmares and help develop a bond between Liesel and the mayor's wife. The stealing of books made Liesel

Every time Liesel steals books from people, she consistently places the lives of others at risk. An example of this is when Liesel is worried about Max dying and wants to steal a book and read it to him

Liesel Meminger is the daughter of Paula Meminger. She is also the sister of late Warren Meminger. Consequently, she steals the first book in the novel, called The Gravedigger's Handbook. Therefore, Death gave her the nickname of “ the book thief” before us knowing that she would become “the book thief”. Liesel Meminger is the hardworking, book-thieving, kind-hearted protagonist of The Book Thief. She loves books so much that she steals them, even before knowing how to read. All of this started because stealing books reminds her of Warren Meminger. This is even she bonds more with Hans Hubermann, her foster father, dedicates his time to teach her how to read. We might be asking, why hasn’t she gotten an education at the age of 10. The answer is not as clear as others, but it definitely has to do with Liesel father’s communist affiliations. He was part of the German Communist Party, that was popular when Hitler took over. This is also the reason why she had to be fostered.

From what has been established so far in The Book Thief, I believe that Liesel is hungry for knowledge and the power of literacy. Since the beginning, she has longed for this ability which is why she stole books in the first place. It just so happened that Hans was willing to teach her how to read and to teach her the things that she wouldn’t learn at school. I think that she has many longings for things throughout the book, but this is the most important in her mind. Along with just the ability to read, I also think that she wanted the chance to show that

future of Liesel’s stealing career with books. Liesel owned fourteen books, of the ten most

Hans Hubermann. All of them gone. And she’d never even had a real father.” (Zusak 425) Liesel is heartbroken when Hans leaves her for the war, because he is the closest thing to a father Liesel has ever had. However, she knows that he has no choice but to obey the government if he wants a chance to see them again.

Throughout “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak, we see a growth in the main characters, Liesel and Hans. Liesel is Hans’ foster daughter and together, their relationship has grown as if they are biological father and daughter. Hans took Liesel into his arms and unquestionably made her apart of his family. We can relate their relationship to the lyrics of “Butterfly Fly Away,” by Hannah Montana.

Liesel loves to read and it doesn't take her long to withhold her title as Book Thief. She starts with The Grave Digger’s Handbook which is the book she picks up after her brother’s death. Hans teachers her to read and painted her a “chalkboard” in the basement so that she can write down the new words she has learned. There ends up being a town “parade” which is really a book burning event where Hitler and the Nazis are commemorated, during this time Germany was looking towards invading new countries. Liesel is handed a book and pressured to throw it into the fire, to which she eventually does so. However, once the fire has been put out and everyone has gone home, she notices a book that is only slightly charred, not destroyed by the fire and picks it up. A car drives by and a woman, who is Ilsa Herman, the mayor’s wife, sees her take the book, but Liesel hides it under her coat and runs away quickly back home.

9. Bye bye Hans Hans gets drafted into the army and once again Liesel must lose another lover person taken away from her. Liesel is in search for words. The dictionary represents her lost for words. She is searching for something to express her pain.