Relationships In The Book Thief

The Book Thief is a historical fiction novel by Markus Zusak set in Munich, Germany during the Nazi reign from 1936-1943. The novel incorporates a main character that is, in the beginning, an innocent child who doesn't understand the world and takes her on a journey where she grows up and matures through the hardships and challenges of her life. The story is narrated by the character Death, who is a fresh take on the Grim Reaper, only wearing the black cloak when it's cold and never carries a syte. Death describes the life Liesel Meminger, an orphaned girl who witnesses her brother's death and burial and finds herself being adopted by the benevolent old couple, the Hubermanns. The rest of the story follows Liesel's journey through her incredibly challenging life with the Hubermanns and characters such as Rudy, The mayor's wife, and Max helping her along. Symbolism in The Book Thief deepens the story by conveying many different ideas and emotions that supports the reader's understanding of the story. This is especially apparent with the use of the gravediggers to help the reader remember characters, the use of color to help the reader feel the proper emotions and remember the correct events, and the use of Liesel's changing feelings about Rudy to convey how Liesel grows and matures through the book.

Max and Liesel were scared of each other at the beginning of the novel because they didn’t know what was going on. Throughout the book they both become very close friends and start to give presents to each other. “As it turned out, the gift was delivered on paper, just over a week later. He would bring it to her in the early hours of the morning, before retreating down the concrete steps to what he now liked to call home” (pg.222). Max has been hiding in the basement for many weeks now and he makes a book called The Standover Man. This is the book Max is delivering to Liesel so they can have a closer relationship and become like family. This is the first item that Max gives to Liesel and Liesel will give lots more because her love for Max is very strong and cannot be broken. A quote from this novel that explains their unbreakable relationship would be when Liesel sees Max walking to a concentration camp. “‘You have to let go of me, Liesel.’ After a long line of steps, the first soldier noticed. He pointed his whip. ‘Get out of there.’ When she ignored him completely, the soldier used his arm to separate the stickiness of people. The soldier took her. ‘I said get out!’ he ordered her, and now he dragged the girl to the side and flung her into the wall of onlooking Germans. She reentered” (pg.511). This passage shows the unbreakable relationship of Max and Liesel. Even though the soldier pushes

Rosa Hubermann was not shy when she was first introduced and you hardly saw a glimpse of her quiet side. When Liesel, was dropped off at Rosa’s house, her first words were harsh towards the girl. She always used the word, Saumensch, which means bastard in english. Besides using harsh words, Rosa had a loving side

He's being punished with poverty and lack of medical treatment. He is not alone.Liesel's book stealing never quite qualifies as criminality, unless you're being strict. As Rudy points out, it's almost silly to call taking books from Ilsa Hermann's library "stealing." Her book thievery presents a pleasant counterpart to the very real crimes of the Nazis.Being a Jew in these times means being a criminal. There is no move a Jew in Nazi Germany can make that isn't considered a crime.Death explains to us that sau means a pig. Saumensch is an insult for women, Saukerl is an insult for men. Arschloch is "asshole" (sorry for using the term, but it’s nessecary to describe this part of the book). These terms become terms of endearment between the characters as the novel progresses.At this early stage, though, being called a pig-girl isn't exactly endearing. Liesel soon learns that calling Rosa "Mama" is one big way to stay on her good side.Death tells us that this is a definition that isn't found in the dictionaries. As we see when we get into the Duden Dictionary sections of the novel, it's sometimes hard to find the right words to express what we see and feel.This theme is repeated over and over in the novel, by anyone who survives. Michael Holtzapfel's guilt over his brother's death (which he had nothing to do with and couldn’t prevent) drives him to commit suicide.The passage does a lot to highlight Max's suffering. Two years hiding in dark sheds has made him an

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

The Book Thief is set in the time of World War 2 where the Holocaust is present and disaster is everywhere. Throughout the story, Liesel, the main character, learns that words are extremely powerful and hold the ability for people to use them for good or for evil. Among the disaster and altercations, Liesel uses her literature to comfort her and make herself more powerful due to her knowledge, which demonstrates the theme of the story, the comfort and power of literature and words softens the pain of loss.

The Book Thief is about a young German girl named Liesel Meminger as she goes through life while living in Germany in 1939. Liesel and her foster parents live a normal life on 33 Himmel Street. There is only one difference between their family and the others, they are hiding Max Vandenburg (a Jewish man) in their basement during the time of the Holocaust. This story, narrated by Death follows the life of Liesel from her first step into 33 Himmel Street, until the day she died in Sydney, Australia.

The mayor's wife then takes Liesel to the library, and Liesel is very amazed. “A snowball in the face is surely the perfect beginning to a lasting friendship.”  [Zusak, 154]. This quote made me laugh quite a bit because it shows the friendship beginning to form between Liesel and Rudy. “She tore a page from the book and ripped it in half.

The Book Thief, written by Markus Zusak, outlines the tragedies and events that take place in Liesel Meminger’s life, in Nazi Germany. Throughout this young girl’s struggle of living in the oppressive Nazi regime, she is able to learn crucial lessons about life and the art of survival- some that follow her to the grave. The most important lesson she learned and the pivotal theme of the novel is that rebellion can be and beneficial in certain situations.

Liesel Meminger, who was a very sympathetic young girl which her words were used from her warm heart towards people. Frau Holtzapfel had lost both of her sons, so for her to be happy, Liesel would read to her a lot, which also made Frau Holtzapfel feel comforted. Also when Max was taken in by the Hubermann’s, he was a Jew, which meant he wasn’t allowed to see the outside world. Liesel would go outside and tell Max the

The Book Thief written by Markus Zusak shows how the impact on the power of language has on Liesel Meimeger through the structure of the novel. The structure of the novel shows the development of the character Liesel, highlighting the impact of the power of language. In her development, she finds the ability to express herself as well as to connect to others. Books become a comfort to her and heal her, they help her grow strong relationships with other characters in her life. However, she also sees the damage words have caused through Nazi propaganda, understanding that Hitler 's words have been the cause of suffering of the people in her life. Despite this, the structure of the novel shows the ability of the character to understand that

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

If you believe in yourself and have dedication, pride, and never quit, you will be successful. Markus Zusak, the author of The Book Thief, creates a story of a young orphan named Liesel Meminger, who is living with her new foster family. She learns the wonders of reading from her foster father and grows to love books. During Liesel’s time with her new family, she shows determination through her efforts and kindness with her encounters with other people. Liesel in The Book Thief expresses her traits, such as hardworking, and bravery.

In The Book Thief, a novel by Markus Zusak, examples of unconventional love is shown towards Liesel through the actions of the characters Max, IIsa, and Rosa in many ways throughout the novel. To begin with, Max shows an example of unconventional love towards Liesel by leaving Hubermann’s basement in order to protect the safety of Liesel and her family. One day in Molching, there is a parade of Jews marching through miserable condition that are transporting to the concentration camp. An older Jewish man keeps falling and Hans, out of a crowd of abusive Germans, offers the man a piece of bread and the man thanks him. This creates fear that the Nazi’s will come and search their house, where they are hiding a Jew, Max. During that night, “Max Vandenburg [walks] up Himmel Street with a suitcase full of food and warm clothes” (Zusak 816). Max makes a decision that he is going to leave the Hubermann’s house in order to avoid putting Liesel’s family in danger. This represents his love for Liesel and her family because even though it hurts Liesel that Max is leaving, he is doing it for her protection. Before Max leaves the Hubermann’s house, Max and Han’s make an arrangement that they are going to meet in the forest in four days. When Han arrives at the destination they have planned to meet at, Han’s discovers a note under a rock from Max. Han picks up the note from Max that reads “You’ve done enough” (819). This message from Max represents that he refuses to receive any more help

Hans is a passionate, caring man who earns his living as a house painter by day and an accordion player by night. Liesel believes his eyes show kindness, and is closer to him from the beginning than to her foster mother. He is one of a few in their village who is not a registered member of the Nazi party, which comes to have serious repercussions on the family as the book progresses. Rosa Hubermann is a stern, strong woman who looks like a “wardrobe with a coat thrown over it” and would be “cute,” but appears perpetually annoyed. She peppers her language with epithets like “Saumensch” and “Saukerl” and “Arschloch”. “Sau” refers to “pig” and mensch is girl and kerl is man, arschloch sounds pretty close to its English equivalent. From the beginning Liesel is “saumensch,” which at first refers to Rosa’s annoyance at taking this girl in, even though it does mean more money for the family. But by the end, it has become a term of true endearment. Liesel’s best friend in the village is a little boy named Rudy, “the boy next door who was obsessed with the black American athlete Jesse Owens.” Rudy is in love with Liesel and always pesters her for a kiss, which he does finally receive, after some pretty serious turns in the story. He is a simple, almost naïve boy, and would do almost anything for her, including jumping into a nearly