Liesel is a young girl who is the main character of the story “ The Book Thief” The end of the “Book Thief” consisted of the death of her loved ones and its afterlash. As Nazis in Germany became stronger they started to take Jews to concentration camps where they often crossed Himmel street. Here Hans gave some bread to an old man where he and the old man got whipped by a Nazi soldier. Hans already notorious for feeling pity for the jews, realized that he had stirred attention and decided that it was no longer safe for Max, a jew they were harboring, to stay in their house. Unfortunately, only a little while after Max had to leave did Himmel street get bombed and everyone that she loved and cared about was killed.
Prior, She often visited Frau Hermann , the mayor’s wife, to read books in her library when she went to collect the laundry from her house but one day Frau Hermann tells her she can no longer send the laundry because they can’t afford it. Liesel upset and confused decides that she would start stealing books from her too and crept in through an open window. She would consistently do this until she realized that the window was open on purpose. She found a blank book on the table with a note saying that Frau Hermann knew of her stealing the books and wanted her to write her own. She eventually went down to the basement and started writing a book she would call “The Book Thief”.
This was when the bombing happened and she survived because she was in the basement, however her papa, mama, and Rudy died. She gave Rudy the kiss he had always wanted and went to live with the mayor and his wife. Many years later after the holocaust she and Max meet once again. The end brings together all the somewhat random events that happen throughout the book such as the importance of Frau Hermann which was not evident until much later in the book. In the end small events cause major effects. This effects then ending in a big way because if she had, per say, never met Frau Hermann, she would have probably died as well in the bomb blast and if Hands had never tried to feed the old man, Max would have never left which could have ended in him getting caught.The small and seemingly insignificant events affected the ending in a large way.
There were quite a few connections that I could make between the text from before and after. In the very beginning of the book, the narrator was hinted to be as “Death” and said that he would see Liesel 3 times later. However since this was from the beginning of the book I had forgotten for a long while and only when I revisited the start of the book did I notice a big piece of foreshadowing in the book for the events to come. Another time I can make a connection was when Hans Huberman asked if he could always trust Liesel with a secret. We later find out that he meant to harbor a jew which is why he asked is he could trust her. At this point in the book, their relationship was extremely strong, yet still he asked if he could trust her meaning that whatever was going to happen was going to be very serious. We later found out that he was talking about harboring a jew. And finally, another connection I made between Max and Liesel is how suffering brought them together. They both lost their families at a very young age and they can relate their suffering with each other in a short time.
“It makes me understand that the best standover man I’ve ever known is not a man at all” p.235 I like this quote a lot for many reasons. Not only does it cover Max’s life but also his relationship with Liesel. Throughout his entire life he had always been scared of people dominating him. He felt that he had something to prove to all the other people who thought that he was just weak. Due to this he would always have people “standing over him” meaning, there would always be someone who is better than him in some sort of way. He mentioned some example as his parents and they boys he would get into a fight with. However after meeting Liesel he realizes that having a standover man is not a bad thing. He realizes that you can learn from them and they can learn from you creating the unique bond between Liesel and him. Through similar tragedies that happen to them, they lift some pain off of eachother.
“The young man rushed to the woman and embraced her. “Words!” he grinned”
I feel that this is another interesting quote because the young man referred in this quote is Hitler and he and Liesel both love words so much but they are completely different people. Hitler wanted to control all of Germany with the power of words while Liesel just wanted to view the world a little differently. This shows that when there is something with great power, how you use it will deeply affect you and others. In Hitler’s case, all of Germany, I believe that this quote really shows how bad Hitler was. Liesel used words to solely get rid of the pain of her life but Hitler on the other end used it to cause cause suffering all around Germany.
“A DEFINITION NOT FOUND IN THE DICTIONARY Not leaving: an act of trust and love, often deciphered by children”
This quote is a quote found well in the beginning of the book that gives the reader a little bit about how Liesel feels. This was our first view into Liesel as a character. Even if we can’t relate we know she must feel confused, angry, upset, and tensioned among a jumble of feelings. Comparing this form then and now we can see that “it was a blessing in disguise” for a while because of the many people she was able to meet and make a relationship with. This does in the end take a turn for the worst as all her family and loved ones except Max are killed but she was able to make precious memories that she would carry on for the rest of her life.
One big literary device in the text would be Foreshadowing. It was present throughout the entire book where something seemed insignificant but turned out to be very important later on such as the blank notebook. There were many foreshadowing pieces that the author hinted at in a very light manner which was not noticeable in the end. I was very surprised at max having to leave in the beginning but I realize the impact now, assuming that he would survive the bomb blast we would have immediately been caught and moved to a concentration camp. I was wondering how giving bread to an old man could have such a big reaction to how writing a book could save your life. Those small bits shocked me because it had such a lasting impact.
My personal experience with the text went well as it is a riveting book and the narrator being Death was a really interesting concept. There were some parts in the story that I found very boring so I started skimming and scanning but it later came back to haunt me as I didn’t have an idea as to what was happening. Even though it was a rather sad book, I loved the book because it sparked emotions that make you feel what the main character is feeling throughout the book.
