The book that I chose was The Book Thief, and the two significant characters in the novel which will be used to depict their changing relationship are Liesel Meminger and Max Vandenburg.
One day, Max showed up at Liesel’s foster parents’ house critically ill. Max’s father had saved her foster father’s life before, so Liesel’s foster father decided to take the risk and help him. Rosa and Hans Hubermann urgently let Max into their house, where they put him in Liesel’s room. While Max slept for three days consecutively, Liesel watched him by his side. She realized that she and Max had a lot in common as they both arrived in a state of agitation and they both nightmared.
On Liesel’s birthday, Max did not have anything to offer her as a birthday present. However, he did wish
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Thus, as their vocabulary was not strong, they started learning together. Not long after, it became a routine for Liesel to start reading in the basement while Max wrote down words for a book.
Next year during winter, Liesel brought down snow to the basement to make a snowman and have a playful snowball fight with Max, Rosa and Hans Hubermann. However, because of the cold, Max fell ill and did not wake up for a while. Liesel felt devastated and blamed herself for causing Max to be ill. This is inferred from, ““Why did I have to bring all that snow down”. Liesel cared very much for Max and she was praying for Max to be alright which she asked. “ It started all of this, didn’t it, Papa?” She clenched her hands as if to pray. From this, we can show a major difference from when Liesel first met Max.
Liesel’s and Max’s relationship contributed to the theme of the story as it showed the irony of Adolf Hitler’s commands. Adolf Hitler said that no Jew was to be spared and that all Jews should be executed, but Liesel and Max’s relationship showed a German and a Jew being very close
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
Liesel is being effected by the holocaust in many ways. I think Liesel only knows part of what's going on. She's be effected because her foster parents Rosa and Hans are hiding a jew. The jew's name is Max and they hide him in the basement. Liesel promised Papa that she wouldn't tell anyone about Max.
The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, takes place in 1940s Nazi Germany in the small town of Molching. The main character, Liesel Meminger, takes on a role as the foster child of Hans and Rosa Hubermann. She also meets a young boy named Rudy Steiner, who goes on to be her best friend and lover. In the book, Liesel faces many challenges big and small. From hiding a Jew in the basement to a thieving lifestyle, Liesel has to learn to overcome all of life's problems. Through all of this, she is supported by her foster father Hans Hubermann who is caring to people he barely knows, intelligence despite his lack of education, and generosity even when he has little for himself.
Some people perceive kindness in different ways as what they might think seems nice, could be harmful to others. When Liesel tries to communicate with Max, she does not pause to think that such an action would put her and Max in danger. On page 513, the book narrates “He cried as the soldiers came and a small collection…Standing, he was whipped”. It was Max who was the one whipped by the soldiers because they saw Liesel hugging and talking to him. Max’s life was placed in danger because Liesel thought she was being kind by talking to him. It is understandable that she wanted to communicate with Max after a long time of not seeing him, but the manner in which she conveyed her emotions to him was too obvious to the soldiers watching. Had Rudy not been quick on his feet to go and help her, she would’ve been punished more for speaking with Max. In addition to the immediate damage done, other people who witnessed the situation would think that Liesel’s family was sympathetic to Jews, something not considered good at that time. The long term consequences of Liesel’s stubbornness to speak with Max set an even deeper impression to when Hans gave the bread to the Jews and therefore puts her and her family in more danger. This is another example of Liesel’s stubbornness, or perceived kindness, which place her and others’ lives in danger.
The Book Thief’s plot is character driven in the beginning. Characters choose to make their own decisions and consequently feel the effects of later on. For example, Liesel and Rudy intentionally make the decision to steal books from Ilsa Hermann’s library. The Hubermann and the Steiner families both make the subconscious decision to dislike the Nazis. Finally, Hans Hubermann makes the potentionally incriminating decision to harbor a Jew, Max, in his basement. These characters choose to go against their morals, yet their decisions work in their favor. Nearing the end of the book, the plot structure switches to plot driven; external forces disturbing the characters more than their own decisions and actions do. This novel is centered around the Holocaust and the war was taking place, and without this, many of the major events would not have happened, resulting in a different outcome for the characters. The bombs set off due to the war also influenced the characters by a great deal, causing their panic and fear to control their
At the beginning of part six, Leisel builds a snowman for Max in the basement on Christmas Eve, which is ironic considering that Max is Jewish. A little later Max becomes very ill and goes into a coma. Leisel brings him get well gifts while he is in the coma, which are all gifts from the outdoors including a pinecone and a feather. While Max is in his coma, Leisel continues reading The Whistler aloud, while convinced that once she finishes reading the book Max will wake up. Once she finishes reading the book one afternoon, Max does not wake up. Rudy and Leisel then ride their bikes to the Mayor's house, to steal another book. They sneak out undetected with a new book called The Dream Carrier which she chooses because the title suits both Liesel
Liesel ends up being viciously whipped by one of the soldiers because she wasn’t supposed to be near the Jews. This disturbing part took place on page (512). ‘The whip continued from the soldier’s hand. It landed on Max’s face. It clipped his chin and carved his throat. Max hit the ground and the soldier now turned to the girl. His mouth opened. He had immaculate teeth. A sudden flash came before her eyes. She recalled the day she’d wanted Ilsa Hermann or at least the reliable Rosa to slap her, but neither of them would do it. On this occasion, she was not let down. The whip sliced her collarbone and reached across her shoulder blade. “Liesel!” She knew that person. As the soldier swung his arm, she caught sight of a distressed Rudy Steiner in the gaps of the crowd. He was calling out. She could see his tortured face and yellow hair. “Liesel, get out of there!”. The book thief did not get out. She closed her eyes and caught the next burning streak, and another, till her body hit the warm flooring of the road. It heated her cheek.’’’ The fact that Liesel was willing to get beat with a whip several times just to keep Max going was truly an impeccable amount of kindness. Liesel has always been known
The trauma Leisel experiences throughout the book shapes who she becomes as a person and young woman during the war. Many characters have had traumatic experiences throughout the book. For example, Max, he had to fight to survive as a kid and he went through a hard time being a Jew in Nazi Germany during the war. As it is known that trauma is a heavy part of Liesel's life, here is an example: “The book thief and her brother were traveling down Munich where they would soon be given over to foster parents; we now know of course that the boy didn’t make it”. This is one of the very early signs of trauma in Liesel's life.
After spotting her old friend Max, Liesel rushed into the crowd of Jews being marched through her city: “Liesel shrugged away entirely from the crowd and entered the tide of Jews, weaving through them till she grabbed hold of his arm with her left hand” (Zusak 510). Soldiers were present nearby, but Liesel’s sense of justice pushed her through the danger to meet Max; her age did not stop her from realizing she had to try to help him. Similarly, Rudy and Liesel took some bread to give to another group of Jewish people that were marched through the streets. While they were waiting in the bushes, Liesel watched Rudy and wondered how he went from stealing food to giving it, even though he was still hungry (Zusak 440). Despite the risk of almost being caught and Rudy’s hunger, they still wanted to help.
“Liesel Shrugged away entirely from the crowd and entered the tide of Jews, weaving through them till she grabbed hold of his arm with her left hand”(510) At that moment Liesel wasn’t thinking about getting a beating, she was thinking about Max, and how she needed
Liesel would nourtier Max every night to help him with his nightmares. Later on in the rising action Max left the Hubermanns house since it was becoming too dangerous, and it was too much of a hassle for them to not just keep Max safe but themselves. For the next 100 pages give or take Liesel had no idea where Max was. She had millions of ideas of where he could be, but none of them were for sure. The Nazi’s started to do parades of Jews were making there way to a concentration camp called Dachau.
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.
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
There is a part where we watch as humans are so ugly that it is hard for us to imagine that what they had done is possible. Liesel is playing soccer in the park and all of a sudden all the kids stop because of a noise they hear coming down the street. They think it could be a herd of cattle, but that not what it is. It is a group of Jewish people being led, or forced, to the death camps by German soldiers. On there way we watch a man die “He was dead. The man was dead. Just give him five minutes and he would surely fall into the German gutter and die. They would all let him, and they would all watch”(Zusak 393). This is talking about how when a Jewish person would die, the Germans wouldn’t do anything. They wouldn’t care that a man died right in front of them. While the Jews are walking Hans, Liesel adopted father, gives them bread. While Hans is giving this man bread a German soldier notices what is going on. He walks over to the man and, “The Jew was whipped six times. On his back, his heart, and
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