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.
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.
In the beginning of The Book Thief, the reader meets Liesel Meminger, her mother, and her brother, Werner Meminger. The father is never introduced. It is only said that he is a communist. Werner dies on the train to Himmel Street, the place that Liesel is left with a couple, Hans and Rosa Hubermann. Liesel’s mother is never seen again, but the reader assumes that she was taken away for being one of the Nazi’s targets. According to The Book Thief, “What came to her then was the dustiness of the floor, the feeling that her clothes were more next to her than on her, and the sudden realization that this would all be for nothing—that her mother would never write back and she would never see her again.” Nazis were the epitome of evil. They tore families apart and killed millions of innocent people.
Liesel Meminger is the main character in Marcus Zusak's novel, "The Book Thief". She had hair that was "a close enough brand of German blond, but she had dangerous eyes. Dark brown" (Zusak 31). From the age of nine, Liesel had to overcome many hardships during Hitler's rein of power. The fact that her real parents were communists made the situation worse. However, she still managed to be a loyal, caring, courageous, understanding, strong-willed girl who loved stealing books to flourish her love of words.
Liesel Meminger aka the book thief is not any ordinary kid. She lived without a father and lost both her mother and brother at the age of 9, while being sent away to a new family the Hubermann at the Himmel Street. In the Hubermann's home Liesel finds two loving, caring, and opposite people, Hans and Rosa Hubermann who would help and teach her to survive and grow. While foster mother, Rosa is loud, harsh, and likes to use the word saumensch or female pig to address Liesel, foster father Hans is softer and shows more affectionate to Liesel.
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
Liesel Meminger is a main character described in “The Book Thief”. After her mother can no longer support her Liesel and her brother, although he does not make the journey, are sent to a foster home in a small town in Germany called Munich were Liesel meets Hans and Rosa Hubermann or Mama and Papa. Although the initial warming up is hard Liesel soon becomes very close to her Papa. “Over the next few weeks and into summer, the midnight class began at the end of each nightmare” (Zusak,69). Hans teaches Liesel each night how to read and write to ease her mind when all Liesel can think about is her dead brother. Hans truly becomes Papa when Liesel trusts Hans will never let her be
Markus Zusak ended up rewriting the first 90 pages of The Book Thief 200 times before it was published. This book is about a young German girl named Liesel Meminger who has to move suddenly to Germany to live with a new family, and a new mother, Rosa. Markus Zusak's The Book Thief contains many memorable characters. However, the character that is the most memorable is Rosa Hubermann because she has a very distinct personality.
In this section of The Book Thief we learn many new things about some of the lesser characters. We learn that Hans is helping a Jewish man escape. This man's name is max. We also learn about the mayor's wife. One day when the book thief Liesel goes to pick up the laundry for them the mayor's wife invites her in while clutching a stack of books. At first she thinks she is I'm trouble but once she goes in she sees books all around her and is awestruck at the site if so many books. She leaves quickly after getting the laundry and doesn't say anything to the mayor's wife she later comes back and says Thank you to the kind lady. Liesel comes back to get the laundry and goes in to visit and try to read a few more times. In a picture book she finds
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.
In Markus Zusak novel “The Book Thief,” a little girl named Liesel serves as the protagonist. The plot of the story takes place in Germany during the late thirties, early fourtees while the anti-jewish sentimant is most prominent and Hitlers is at his peak in terms of power and followers. The book revolves around the life of Leisel and how these attrocious conditions shaped her life. This book does a great job of demonstrating many aspects described in “How to Read Literature Like a
The Book Thief’s main character is Liesel Meminger throughout the book she develops more and more by opening up and doing new things. At first she was very shy and would not do hardly anything for example, “It took nearly fifteen minutes to coax her from the car. It was the tall man who did it. Quietly.”(28) That is when she first got out of the car “There was the gate next, which she clung to.”(28) This shows all the more how shy she was at the beginning of the book when she first arrived on Himmel Street. Then as the book goes on she starts to adopt her foster-mother, Rosa or Mama’s style of speaking and starts cussing some when talking to her best friend, Rudy and even the mayors wife when she terminated her mothers washing and ironing
The Book Thief is about a young, sheltered German girl learning to read. Through her relationship with other characters, particularly Max, she grows and becomes more understanding of what happens in the world and the hardships that people have to face, especially in the time period of Nazi Germany. The Book Thief explores the ideas of death and war, but above all, the good qualities of humans and their worth. Leisel and Max are two very different people. A German and a Jew, young and old, accepted and marginalised. Through her relationship with Max, Leisel demonstrates great support, trust and kindness, all examples of human worth in times of great difficulty.
Since The Book Thief is a historical fiction text, the fictitious characters interact in a realistic WWII setting in Germany. Three characters in the book, Liesel, Max, and Ruby develop their identities within the parameters of the Nazi controlled society. However, if Liesel, Max, and Ruby were characters in today's society, their lives would be different.
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.