Character Analysis: The Book Thief

Imagine living in a world where nobody's safe. Where loss and death happen everyday, but love is foreign and trusting someone is probably the biggest mistake they would ever make. The lives the characters in The Book Thief by Markus Zusak have to live are full of fear that they are either going to get killed or they did something to anger the Nazi soldiers or their supreme leader. Liesel Meminger and others overcome abandonment and loss, learn the effective and dangerous powers of words, experience love and trust (some for the first time in ages), and feel guilty. In the novel, Liesel and others feel abandoned and lose family members. First, Liesel lost her brother, Werner, at the beginning of the book, and then gets abandoned by her mother when she's put up for adoption. In the middle of the book, Hans and Rosa Hubermann, Liesel’s foster parents, lose their son to cruel Nazi warfare. Near the end, Max Vandenburg, the Jew they were hiding in their basement, leaves the Hubermann residence because he feels he was putting them in
One example is when Liesel felt guilty of stealing a book. She thought of giving it back, but didn’t. Another example is when Rudy throws Liesel’s book in the water. They were having an argument when Rudy decide to throw Liesel’s book over the ledge of the bridge and into the river. He felt so bad, that he swam in freezing water to retrieve the book. A final example is when Max feels guilty for putting the Hubermanns in danger. Hiding a jew in Nazi Germany was an offense punishable by death. He decided to gather all his belongings from the basement and be on his way. He didn’t care that he could be captured by a soldier (which does end up happening) as long as he would put Liesel and the Hubermanns back in a safe position. The characters in the book feel so guilty about something, that they go to extremes to make it