Liesel Power Of Words

“From the toolbox the boy took out, of all things, a teddy bear. He reached in through the torn windshield and placed it on the pilot's chest.”“The book thief has struck for the first time – the beginning of an illustrious career.”“Then they discovered she couldn't read or write.”“Unofficially, it was called the midnight class, even though it commenced at around two in the morning. ““The last time I saw her was red. The sky was like soup, boiling and stirring. In some places it was burned. There were black crumbs and pepper, streaked across the redness.”“That was one war started. Liesel would soon be in another.”“In fact, on April 20 – the Führer's birthday – when she snatched a book from beneath a steaming pile of ashes, Liesel was a girl

There are many reasons why Liesel’s life shows beauty in the wake of brutality, but the most significant reason is that she has beautiful connections with people, so no matter how brutal things get,

For example, after the book burning, there were some books that were too wet to burn, and Liesel took advantage of this moment, “When she reached her hand, she was bitten, but on the second attempt, she made sure she was fast enough. She latched onto the closest of the books. It was hot” (Zusak 120). Jewish book burnings were popular across Germany during this time, as they were trying to destroy the power of the Jewish community. During the novel, Liesel is empowered by the words she reads in these books, and even shares this power with Max Vandenburg, the Jewish man living in her basement. The courage Liesel shares with Max allows him to build the hope he needs to want to fight Hitler. During his dreams, he imagines himself in a boxing ring with Hilter, and even though Hilter had the upper hand during the match, Max had hope that he would win, and therefore in his dream “he punched him [Hitler] seven times, aiming on each occasion for only one thing. The mustache” (Zusak 253). As previously mentioned, the accordian was also a very important form of symbolism in this novel. Not only does give the family hope during their

With the power of words, that causes the destruction of Germany and the world, Liesel’s uses that same power to deal with the terror of death that looms over them, allowing her to give power and hope, to those that need it, especially in the midst of the chaos of World War II. Where the German forces were deteriorating, and the Allies only grew stronger with each bomb that they drop, Liesel and her neighbors hide within one of the basements, in attempt to survive the onslaught of attacks, fearfully and anxious. The only things that were with them was each other, and their most precious items, and for Liesel, it was her books. All they could do was wait for sirens, and because of this uncertainty, Liesel took it upon herself to ease her distress.

To start off, Max's impacting personality really changed Liesel as a person. Before he came she was a scared little girl only hoping for her mother to come save her. But when Max came and their connection formed Liesel left much more comfortable and happy in the Huberman home. All Liesel knew about the feud between Jews and Germans was what learnt in school, Max showed Liesel what was actually happening in the war, and opened her eyes to the big picture. Millions of Jews just like Max were being killed daily in Nazi Germany. In school all Liesel learnt was how to hate the Jewish religion, but when she met Max she started to have a mind of her own and formed her own thoughts and ideas. Showing Liesel the brutality against the Jews, received from her own country, caused Liesel have a bigger heart and give bread to

Liesel is characterized as a girl full of courage and her unwillingness to back down. An example of her courageous mentality is when Ludwig Schmeikl bullies her because of her inability to read. The narrator explains, “(Liesel) stood up and took the book from him... she threw it away and kicked him as hard as she could” (82). This scene shows that Liesel is not afraid of standing up for herself and does not back down from Ludwig. Instead she retaliates back against him, bringing him to the floor. While she may be

When readers first meet Liesel Meminger, she is a young girl standing quietly with her mother and brother on the train. At this time, she seems confused and a little bit afraid. She doesn’t know exactly

Even though they have two different family backgrounds and reactions with regard to the struggles they face, both of them strive to fit into the Nazi regime to avoid incarceration and death. Therefore, they are haunted by the guilt of leaving their families for survival through having nightmares. While Max shows his defiance against the Nazi regime through daydreaming about boxing with Hitler, Liesel publicly defied the Nazi regime through stealing a banned book, and helping Jews in order to protect the basic morals of humanity. Liesel believes if humans lose humanity, they would become “cold-blooded” and lose the true meaning of

During this time period, Germany and Russia were in a horrific war. There was constant bombings and raids in cities including Himmel Street in Molching, Germany. This kept everyone on their toes just in case they were bombed in this area. They needed to get out of the area as soon as possible so they didn’t die. In the book during the second raid, people scared out of their mind sat around, “That was still an immutable fact, but at least they were distracted now, by the girl and her book” (Zusak 382). Liesel read to the scared people to try and comfort them. In this dark time, Liesel gave people comfort and she was able to make the situation slightly better and not as scary for many people. Sometimes, the right words can make the situation a lot better. Words can be comforting and make everything feel better. For example, “For at least 20 minutes,s he handed out the story. The youngest kids were soothed by her voice” (Zusak 381). Even though it is a dark situation, it made it better. Comfort during this dark time is what these people needed. Being calm in a situation like this had a positive effect on everyone around Liesel. Next, when Max, a Jew and the son of Hans Hubermann’ s friend, moved into the Hubermann household, it put the family in a very risky and life threatening situation. If they had gotten caught with a Jew in their basement, there would have been horrible consequences for all of them. But, the more time that Max

This part of the novel resembles a point in Liesel’s character in which she was passionate about the things she was feeling - almost as if she was determined to do something about it. As this event occurred, Liesel was filled with anger about her parent’s disappearance. She had recently found out that Hitler had something to do with it, which pushed Liesel to the conclusion that Hitler was not a man to be celebrated. As her hatred for Nazi ideals grew, so did her bravery.

Max Vandenburg, who was a very supportive boy of Liesel, always helped her during her worst times and even her best times. Max had missed Liesel’s 12th birthday so he made her a little gift. He took a book called Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler, but made it his own called The Standover Man. He gave this book to Liesel as it symbolizes how people have always stood over him in his life to help him just like Liesel has. “During that week, Max had cut out a collection of pages from Mein Kampf and painted over them in white. He then hung them up with pegs on some string, from one end of the basement to the other … Only then, on the paper that had bubbled and humped under the stress of drying paint, did he begin to write the story. It was done with a small black paintbrush” (Zusak 223). This quote reflects the power of words because Max is doing this for Liesel since they are good friends, and since it's her birthday. This comes to show that Max is about positive words towards his friends, but mainly Liesel.

The book 's importance is explained through Death where ‘“The books meaning 1. The last time she saw her brother. 2. The last time she saw her mother.” Despite Liesel being illiterate, the Gravedigger’s handbook holds significant meaning for the character. Liesel has an overwhelming feeling of loss of control and acts out in rebellion to steal the book that lay beside her brothers grave. By stealing the book, she has a reminder of her small family and it stops her feeling defeated by her ever changing life, which she has no control over. This idea is then reinforced with another action of the character. Liesel then finds out that Hitler was the cause of the suffering and loss of freedom of the people she loved and knew in her life.This second act of rebellion takes place while Liesel visits a Nazi book burning. Liesel soon understands that the Nazi’s burnt books to brainwash citizens of Germany(_____). As a result of this Lisel then understands the importance and power words have, causing her to again acts rebelliously in a protest. “And it was anger and dark hatred that had fueled her desire to steal it.” This passage from the novel shows the emotions of Liesel. As a character who is unable to express herself verbally, her actions speak for her. Liesel 's desire to understand words begins to grow, with her understanding that Nazis burn books in fear of what they may do to society.

“…‘don’t you know I love you…’” (534). After saying this, she realized the best way to show him how she felt one last time was to kiss him. “Liesel kissed her best friend, Rudy Steiner, soft and true on his lips” (536). Next she saw her mama and papa. She went up to her mama first and went back to the first time they met, and then special times with her. “‘Do you remember what you said to everyone on the street that day?’ Her voice wavered now. ‘You said, ‘what are you a*sholes looking at?’’” Liesel went back to how even when Rosa was being rude, like her usual self, she also always made Liesel feel safe. Then she went back to another time she was rude, but made Liesel feel better and safer. “‘Mama, i know that you… I liked when you came to school and told me Max had woken up’” (537). Then, finally she moved on to Hans, the person she loved the most. Liesel thought of papa as her home. Whenever they were together, they were home. One of the things she loved most was his accordion. To say goodbye, it

After losing her mother and her brother, Liesel’s life and identity is changed drastically many times. It is through books that she discovers and becomes comfortable with this change. When she first meets Hans and Rosa Hubermann, her new foster parents, she does not wish to speak with them or get to know them. However, once Hans discovers Liesel with the book she stole when her brother was buried, The Gravedigger’s Manual, they bond over Hans teaching Liesel to read. Liesle describes the first time her and Hans have a lesson in the middle of the night: “She had done this at school, in the kindergarten class, but this time was better. … It was nice to watch Papa’s hand as he wrote the words and slowly constructed the primitive sketches” (Zusak

Unlike the Nazi’s however, Liesel realizes the pain her words caused. "Blood leaked from her nose and licked at her lips. Her eyes had blackened. Cuts had opened up and a series of wounds were rising to the surface of her skin. All from words. From Liesel's words" (Zuask 253). A child, no more than 12 years old, was telling someone not to cry, that she was being “pathetic.” It was all because of one group of people taking the lives of millions that a young girl believes crying over your loved ones deaths was ridiculous. At one point, Death even compares itself to humanity saying, "You want to know what I truly look like? I'll help you out. Find yourself a mirror while I continue" (Zuask 307).