Summer Reading Response
Lynn Dang
Pre-AP English II
The Book Thief 1. “His manner
The quiet air around.
When he turned the light on in the small, callous washroom that night, Liesel observed the strangeness of her foster father’s eyes. They were made of kindness, and silver. Like soft silver, melting Liesel, upon seeing those eyes, understood that Hans Hubermann was worth a lot.”
The significance of this passage is the description of Hans Hubermann’s eyes as the color represents his worth and personality. It contributes to the characterization of Hans Hubermann. His eyes are described as “made of kindness and silver”. Silver represents riches and valuables and as seen later in the story, Hans Hubermann is someone that is very valuable and close to Liesel’s heart. He also demonstrates a quiet kindness as he agrees to take in Max regardless of the dangers that lie within harboring a Jew in those times. 2. “She remained on the steps, waiting for Papa, watching the stray ash and the corpse of collected books. Everything was sad. Orange and red embers looked like rejected candy, and most of the crowd had vanished. She’d seen Frau Diller leave (very satisfied) and Pfiffikus (white hair, a Nazi uniform, the same dilapidated shoes, and a triumphant whistle). Now there was nothing but cleaning up, and soon, no one would even imagine it had happened.”
The colors in this passage, orange, red, and white, signify the destruction and death that was happening all around them at the moment even though the destruction was to a pile of books. It represents the turmoil in Liesel’s life and more to come. The “corpse of collected books” seems like a sort of foreshadowing as in the end, piles of corpses from Himmel Street. Then how everyone was completely ignorant to the burning of precious books, they are ignorant to the mistreatment of the Jews. The author’s use of similes joined together with heavy diction such as rejected, corpse, sad, and dilapidated leaves behind a mood of morose
Pre-AP English II
The Book Thief 1. “His manner
The quiet air around.
When he turned the light on in the small, callous washroom that night, Liesel observed the strangeness of her foster father’s eyes. They were made of kindness, and silver. Like soft silver, melting Liesel, upon seeing those eyes, understood that Hans Hubermann was worth a lot.”
The significance of this passage is the description of Hans Hubermann’s eyes as the color represents his worth and personality. It contributes to the characterization of Hans Hubermann. His eyes are described as “made of kindness and silver”. Silver represents riches and valuables and as seen later in the story, Hans Hubermann is someone that is very valuable and close to Liesel’s heart. He also demonstrates a quiet kindness as he agrees to take in Max regardless of the dangers that lie within harboring a Jew in those times. 2. “She remained on the steps, waiting for Papa, watching the stray ash and the corpse of collected books. Everything was sad. Orange and red embers looked like rejected candy, and most of the crowd had vanished. She’d seen Frau Diller leave (very satisfied) and Pfiffikus (white hair, a Nazi uniform, the same dilapidated shoes, and a triumphant whistle). Now there was nothing but cleaning up, and soon, no one would even imagine it had happened.”
The colors in this passage, orange, red, and white, signify the destruction and death that was happening all around them at the moment even though the destruction was to a pile of books. It represents the turmoil in Liesel’s life and more to come. The “corpse of collected books” seems like a sort of foreshadowing as in the end, piles of corpses from Himmel Street. Then how everyone was completely ignorant to the burning of precious books, they are ignorant to the mistreatment of the Jews. The author’s use of similes joined together with heavy diction such as rejected, corpse, sad, and dilapidated leaves behind a mood of morose