Point Of Structure Of The Book Thief

For Liesel, in this scene she deepens and opens up the relationship with

“Liesel wandered towards the mountain of ash. It sat like a magnet, like a freak. Irresistible to the yes, similar to the road of yellow stars”(Zusak 119). Liesel shows an interest in the Jews but it also shows that the pile of burning books and documents is just like the Jews and how no one wanted to be around them because of the danger of being seen with them. If caught being nice to a Jew, they along with you would be severely punished. At the time, to oppose Hitler, meant that you were welcoming Death with open arms. For example, Hans Hubermann was whipped after “[he] presented a piece of bread” to “the [parade that] stood before him”(Zusak 394). Hans, knowing the consequences if he were caught, gave a person a piece of bread even though it was considered forbidden. He was willing to stand up for human rights, when no one else was. This is a the very definition of a rescuer. Death, being able to move around the anywhere in the world really fast, mentions that “in 1933, 90% of Germans showed unflinching support for Adolf Hitler. Hans Hubermann belonged to the 10% who didn’t”(Zusak 630). Hans is not one to follow the crowd even when he is outnumbered and

Liesel, the book thief herself, steals books in times of pain. All six books Liesel steals are metaphors for the feelings of loss and pain during the time of which the book was stolen. She uses the books to grow knowledge of the situations occurring around her, one stolen book in particular is “The Gravedigger’s Handbook” This book is the first of all books Liesel steals, and it is the book that caused her to grow to love words, coincidently, she finds this book in the snow on the day of her brother’s death, which is when she was filled with grief and abandonment. This book is a symbol for Liesel’s grief and as she tries to learn how to read the book, her twisted comfort in the story shows how the words had a powerful effect on her grieving process shown by the quotation, “…Not to mention the morbidity of the subject. As for the girl, there was a sudden desire to read it that she didn't even attempt to understand” (Zusak, 66)

When a person observes/encounters death their willpower shows determination that helps them survive. The first glimpse we see of this is on page 21. On the train to Munich liesel's brother dies. His name is Werner. He later gets buried at a graveyard just by the train tracks. There was a little ceremony and Liesel and her mother carry on. One thing Liesel takes is the gravedigger's handbook. This is portraying to us on how she will eventually turn into a thief, hence “The Book Thief”. This quote is portrayed by death; “One eye open, one still in a dream. It would be better for a complete dream. I think, but i really have no control over that”. (5, 9) In this quote Liesel believes that the situation that had just occurred was a dream, but she knows that it is not. She learns to read the gravediggers book and it opens up the opportunity of books into her life. Another example of death is when Hans trades cigarettes for Mein Kampf. Hans’ history with Mein Kampf has been a wild one. On Hans’ way back from WWI he

In the first few chapters of the story, Death described himself a little and talked a little about Liesel. One of the things that makes Death so fascinated with Liesel Meminger, the book thief, is that she manages to escape over and over. He says that 1942 was a busy year for him, because of the people who died from the World War II. He saw them dying painfully one by one and carried millions of their souls away during the war, and he truly understood the ugliness of humans; on the other hand, he also understood that there are some people who still has a beautiful

Characteristics and significance – He is a cruel man that runs the Nazi party, which is responsible for the air raid that bombed Himmel Street. He is also the reason Max was hiding and living in fear.

Death tells the wonderful story about a young girl who escapes death, more than once. The first time he sees her is on a train, then he sees her when he came for a pilot who had crashed, and the third time he saw her was after a bombing in her neighborhood. Liesel Meminger was a brave young girl. She lost her brother on the way to meet their foster family. After her brother was buried, Liesel stole the Gravediggers Handbook, thus receiving her nickname

The novel follows an 11 year old girl named Liesel,

With the author using a third person omniscient narrator, which is death, this improves the strength of the theme. With death being the narrator of the book it helps the reader see how death was all around Liesel. “You see, to me, for just a moment, despite all of the colors that touch and grapple with what I see in this world, I will often catch an eclipse when a human dies. I’ve seen millions of theme. I’ve seen more eclipses than I care to remember” (Zusak 11). Death darkens the story and this makes you feel their emotions. With a third person omniscient

Commentary: Death is an omniscient narrator. He switches between many of the characters in the book. He describes many of the characters feelings, emotions, and thoughts throughout the story.

Liesel is kind-hearted because in The Book Thief she said, “ I don’t want to lose someone else”. She said this to Max after they became close friends. Given that, she is kind-hearted one can tell that she would do anything to protect her family from death. After WWII max and Liesel reunite and they hug and cry until they fell to the floor. Where Liesel use to live in 33 Himmel Street before there was a raid that destroyed the whole street, they hide Max. Her best friend is Rudy Steiner, he is a neighbor at first but then the friendship grows after each mischievous thing they do together. With Rudy, she grows and steals books for fun. Rudy might think it is fun, but to Liesel, it means for her. Like I said, she does this in memory of her brother. They have a race and it is a draw after falling. Rudy then said to Liesel, “If it’s a draw, do I still get my kiss?” Liesel then says, “ Not in a million years” and Rudy at the end he says “One day, Liesel, you’ll be dying to kiss me”. Therefore, at the end of the book and middle, she desires to kiss him but doesn’t until the end where he is dead. Later on, her family and she hide a Jew, Max Vandenburg, from the Nazis. Max and Liesel have grown close together. Liesel is competitive, compassionate,

This shows Liesel’s character because it shows how she really is and likes to go against the system. The meaning of the burnings were to burn books and anything made by a Jew. The book was supposed to stay in the fire and burn because it was about a Jewish protagonist. Liesel’s character influenced her decision to steal the book out of the

Liesel Meminger, coined “The Book Thief”, exhibits extraordinary acts of courage within the literary work. Since birth, Meminger has faced hardships; she deals with the absence of her father, the death of her younger brother, and the abandonment by her mother all within several years. These adversities lead to the development of Meminger’s courageous nature, which she displays throughout the novel. Acts of her courage include stealing books and trusting the Hubermanns After attending her brother’s funeral, Liesel notices that one of the gravediggers has dropped a novel. Looking around to make sure no one is watching her, she collects the book and hides it; stealing this book ignites the fire and desire inside of her to learn how to read and expand her knowledge. After Liesel Meminger arrives to the Hubermanns’ house in Molching, Germany, she has to be coaxed out of the car. Finally, Hans Hubermann, later known as Papa, is the successor in luring the child out of the car, he immediately gains her trust, unlike his cold counterpart, Rosa Hubermann. Despite Rosa’s foul mouth and direct orders, “Saumensch. You call me Mama when you talk to me” (Zusak 35), Liesel eventually learns to trust and love her. Learning to love and to trust the Hubermanns shows how courageous Liesel truly is since she had previously faced the abandonment/death of two parents.

Throughout the years of living in Nazi Germany, she had experienced events unimaginable for a child to even witness. Liesel witnessed her younger brother die. She saw a young war soldier commit suicide by hanging himself. He was her neighbour. She had watched an enemy bomber pilot die in a plane crash near her house. "She had seen a Jewish man who had twice given her the most beautiful pages of her life marched into a concentration camp. And at the center of all of it, she saw the Fuhrer [Hitler] shouting his words and passing them around" (Zusak 521). Liesel despised Hitler and his words. He destroyed people with his words while she stole them back. At one point, she didn't even want words to exist anymore because "without words, the Fuhrer was nothing" (Zusak

More than the overt message about the power of words, it’s Liesel’s confrontation with horrifying cruelty and her discovery of kindness in unexpected places that tell the heartbreaking truth.” (1) I do not agree with statement about too much commentary, I believe the commentary gives a perfect amount of insight into Liesel’s backstory, as well as Death’s past in his morbid business. As well as with the too much switching from past to present time, the switching is from Liesel’s current memory to her memory before the Hubermann family, and Max’s life before and after he had to run from the Nazis. I do feel like there is a lot of point of view switching between characters and at times that can get a bit confusing. However, the characters are spectacular and the message comes across loud and clear as you progress in Liesel’s life and her adventures as a book thief. It’s a book that deals with the reality of the life that people had to face during Nazi Germany, but in an entertaining way that’s appealing to the young adult audience. Some World War II books can get extremely boring, with little high points in the plot. But young adults can almost relate to Liesel, she has different aspects that appeal to all audiences.