‘The Book Thief’, written by Markus Zusak is a novel set in Nazi Germany that demonstrates the hardships, danger and threatening experiences faced by the German families and Jews during that time in comparison to the rewards obtained due to such experiences and how they compare in relation to each other. Liesel Meminger, the main character experiences death and loss for the first time when her father is ‘taken away’ as an alleged communist. These experiences become more common as Liesel, with ‘One eye open, one still in a dream’ witnesses her brother Werner’s death on a train to Molching. Liesel’s mother cannot financially support and provide for her and therefor makes the difficult decision to place Liesel into the care of Rosa and Hans Huberman. Liesel’s initial reluctance to accept her new home is stimulated by the reoccurring nightmares which she endures. ‘She would wake up swimming in her…
Markus Zusak’s sanguine novel The Book Thief illustrates the austere story of a Jewish foster girl living amidst the cruelty and devastation of World War II. Liesel Meminger, an intelligent and kind-hearted youngster stricken by family tragedy, must contend with both physical and emotional conflict as she and her friends cope with the atrocities of life in Nazi Germany. In spite of the chaos encompassing their lives, Liesel and her allies manage to find peace and resilience through love and compassion.…
Because it is used to help her achieve being able to read, this book represents her academic growth. Liesel and her foster father, Hans, bond greatly over his help with her reading of this book. Because it brings her and Hans closer together, it symbolizes growth in their friendship, and a new beginning with her new family. Her first stolen book is used to teach her how to read and brings her more comfort with her new life. This causes it to symbolize her growth; a new beginning from a bitter…
The Book Thief takes place in Nazi Germany with a girl named Liesel Meminger. Her mother gives her up to the Hubermanns because they are being persecuted for their communist beliefs. The Hubermanns are nice people; there is Rosa who is a stout and abrasive woman and then there is Hans who is an affable and kind man. Liesel loves to read and learn new words. One day Hans gets a letter from the army saying they need him for battle. That night Hans is at the bar drinking away his fears and sorrow when he takes out his accordion. Hans performs for everyone who is able to hear.…
Stealing her first book opened Liesel up to a world filled with words and grammar. As she stared at The Grave Digger’s Handbook, “touching the print inside, she had no idea what it was saying.”(38). Because Liesel could not read or write, as a nine-year-old, she was forced to attend school with children who just started learning the alphabet. There was a stolen book hidden under Liesel’s bed and she didn’t know what any of the words said. That inspired her to have “sudden desire to read it that she didn’t even attempt to understand” (66). However, it was also ironic that she asked her foster father to teach her these skills, when he could not comprehend them himself. It all became beneficial for Liesel because his lack of ability “would cause less frustration in coping with the girl’s lack of ability” (65). Because Hans could not read acutely, he understood what she was going through, and he was patient. In a few years, she was able to pick up a book and read…
by indigenous Hutu extremists. While most of the world took no action to stop the bloodshed, Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager, curtained more than a thousand Tutsis inside his hotel. Similarly in The Book Thief, one such man, Hans Hubermann, put his own and his family's life at risk to save a Jew. Hans Hubermann took a Jew, named Max Vandenburg, into his home to save him from imprisonment even when it went against everything he was taught about. At that time, the Jews, according to Hitler, were regarded menial; moreover, they were constrained to work and immured at concentration camps, where at one point they were murdered. By April 30, 1945, most of Europe’s Jews had been executed. Four million had been gassed in the labor camps while another two million had been shot dead. At the same time, somewhere in Krakow, Poland, an entrepreneur named Oskar Schindler hired 1700 workers for his factory, 1200 whom were Jews. By the end of World War 2, Oskar and his wife became penniless after having used his fortune to bribe authorities and save his workers.…
In The Book Thief, guilt can be found as a recurring theme, especially in the cases of Hans Hubermann and Max. In a deeper analysis, the reason as to how and why can be answered.…
In times of war things can get ugly fast. War wounds, it scars, it kills, it devastates, and it hurts. The Book Thief written by: Markus Zusak is not just a book about those things, but rather a book about a girl named Liesel Meminger, and her life during WWII. But in Liesel's life, Markus Zusak shows us something else but all the ugliness in WWII, instead he shows us the beauty in times of ugliness in Liesel's life. Some examples of this are, when Hans reads to Liesel after she has nightmares, Liesel reading (using the power of words to calm people down in the bomb shelter, when bombs are dropping, and Liesel reading Mein Kampf with Max in the basement.…
Throughout the story, Liesel, meets new faces with good, soft, bad, or/and hard attitudes. take for example Mama (Rosa Hubermann), Papa ( Hans Hubermann), Ilsa…
Upon Liesel’s arrival to Himmel Street, she has no desire to meet Hans: her new Papa. Hans notices her stolen copy of The Gravedigger's Handbook and offers to teach her how to read and write. From then on, a lively friendship presents itself as “Liesel made her way down to the basement.…
Therefore, Liesel evolves from a lonely character that had nobody to a character who creates many incredible bonds with her new family and friends. Even though Liesel has a hard time trusting and allowing herself to vulnerable, she easily starts an incredible and amazing bond with her foster father, Hans Hubermann. When Liesel was getting to know him, “Liesel observed the strangeness of her foster father’s eyes. They were made of kindness, and sliver... Upon seeing those eyes, understood that Hans Hubermann was worth a lot” (Zusak 34). No one has ever played her music, and no one has ever taught her how to read till Hans came along. No one has ever cared for her like Hans has. This is why Liesel loves Hans the most out of everybody. Liesel also starts an amazing and a heartwarming relationship with Max Vandenburg, who is a Jew surviving in Hubermann’s basement. “You could say argue that Liesel Meminger had it easy. She did have it easy compared to max Vanderburg... anything was better than being a Jew.” (Zusak 161). Liesel was a lost girl who had nobody till her new family found her. Max has also lost his family but he is also by the Nazis. Liesel and Max are both broken people living in a broken world. They both have lost many important things in their lives, this is what makes them bond really easily. Liesel did not care that Max was Jewish; they still create…
Liesel Meminger’s (the book thief) life’s story symbolizes beauty in the midst of inhumanity through love, friendship, morality, and resilience. For instance, in "The Snowman" chapter, Liesel, with her little act of kindness brings down handfuls of snow for Max as a present and to give him a taste of the outside world. She wanted to give Max hope so bad that she gather more snow and builds a snowman. She wanted Max to find the will to keep going despite his horrible situation. Hans, and surprisingly, along with…
Liesel Meminger once said: “I have hated words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right,” (538). Liesel Meminger (sometimes known as “The Book Thief”) is my hero. Liesel was girl in Nazi Germany who was given to a foster family when she was only nine. Her mother was a Communist and was taken away days after she was given away. Liesel is a brave, happy, and hardworking young girl that everyone should strive to be like.…
In Homage to Catalonia, George Orwell describes what the conflict was like. He provides the following details to show exactly this as well as conditions on the ground and fighting: • “It was the first time that I had ever been in a town where the working class was in the saddle. Practically every building of any size had been seized by the workers and was draped with red flags or with the red and black flag of the Anarchists; every wall was scrawled with the hammer and sickle and with the initials of the revolutionary parties” (Orwell 2). • “The town had a gaunt untidy look, roads and buildings were in poor repair, the streets at night were dimly lit for fear of air—raids, the shops were mostly shabby and half-empty. Meat was scarce and milk…
The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, has caused me to have multiple reactions, to the story, characters, and themes. They have made me feel mad, sad, upset, happy, but most of all surprised; throughout the recent readings every night more gets added to the story and more just surprises me. What completely shocked/surprised me was when Liesel fought back against Ludwig Schmeikl and what followed afterwards. However, there has been far more things than just that, that have surprised me. A couple include Liesel receiving two books for christmas, Hans Junior leaving, and how Rudy has reacted to Liesel throughout the entire passage,…