The Book Thief Setting:
Where It All Goes Down
Molching, Germany during World War II
Most of The Book Thief takes place in the small, and fictional, town of Molching, just outside of
non-fictional Munich, Germany. Molching is on the way to the concentration camp Dachau (which
the novel does not enter). Himmel Street, where the Hubermanns and Steiners live, is where
much of the action takes place. "Himmel," Death informs us, translates to "heaven":
Whoever named Himmel Street has a healthy sense of irony. Not that it was a living hell. It
wasn't. But it sure wasn't heaven, either. (5.87)
Yet, because of the acts of kindness occurring inside 33 Himmel Street, the Hubermann home,
and because of the tenderness of Rudy and Liesel's friendship, there is something heavenly
about Himmel Street.
Other important action takes place on Munich Street, the main street in town. It is on Munich
Street that Rudy is beaten by Franz Deutscher, the sadistic Hitler Youth leader, and it is on
Munich Street that Liesel and Max are reunited when he's being made to march to Dachau. This
is a clue that the city of Munich is very important to the setting of the story, and we'll talk about
this city in a moment. First, here's a run through of some of the times and places covered in the
novel.
The Run Through
The bulk of the novel takes place from 1939 to 1942. In January of 1939, Liesel comes to live
with the Hubermanns on Himmel Street. The story traces her life over the next four years, up to
the night Himmel Street is bombed and (almost) everyone she loves dies in their sleep. 1945
brings the end of Hitler, the end of the war, and the reunion of Max and Liesel. The epilogue
takes us far into Liesel's future, to the time and place of her death in Sydney, Australia.
The story of how Max's father, Erik Vandenburg saves Hans's life in 1916 takes us (briefly) to
France during World War I. It explains some of why Hans takes Max in. In Max's life story
(beginning with his birth in 1916 – the year his father dies) before coming to Himmel Street, we
see (briefly) Max's hometown of Stuttgart. We return to Stuttgart and visit nearby Essen when
Hans is conscripted into the "LSE – Luftwaffe Sondereinheit – Air Raid Special Unit" (65.2), or
Leichensammler Einheit – Dead Body Collectors" (65.3), as punishment for giving bread to a
Jewish man.
The other places mentioned – Poland, Cologne, and Stalingrad – are shown in Death's diary.
They are places where he's working overtime and thinks we need to know about. Stalingrad is
important to our knowledge of World War II. As Death implies, Russia is still reeling from Joseph
Stalin's "murder of his own people" (45.15) when Hitler invades Russia.
Stalin is still in power when Hitler invades Stalingrad (named after guess-who), resulting in over
16 million civilian casualties (source) on top of the soldiers on all sides and war-related deaths
elsewhere in Russia. But, Russia with Stalin at the helm did manage to hold back the Nazis. In
fact, the Russian victory at Stalingrad marked a turning point in the war. When minor character
Michael Holtzapfel comes back from Stalingrad, missing three fingers and his brother, the
"snows of Stalingrad" (72.69) come into the houses on Himmel Street.
Munich, Germany
When a Jew shows up at your place of residence in the early hours of the morning, in the very
birthplace of Nazism, you're likely to experience extreme levels of discomfort. Anxiety, disbelief,
paranoia. (33.4)
It happened in a small town of Hitler's heartland. (80.1)
It's easy to see that both of these quotes refer to Molching. It's obvious to readers there's lots of
Nazi activity in Molching, but "birthplace of Nazism" and "Hitler's heartland"? Death is being a bit
cryptic. Some research into the history of Nazism show that Death places these labels on
Molching because it's close to the city of Munich. It's not at all hard to see Munich as "the
birthplace of Nazism" and "Hitler's heartland." Here are a few reasons why:
1. Hitler (a native Austrian) moves to Munich in 1913.
2. The 1923 "Beer Hall Putsch," where Hitler, leading the
Nazi party, tries to seize power of the German
government by marching on a beer hall where
government officials are gathered. The attempt fails and
Hitler is jailed. (While in prison Hitler writes most of his
book Mein Kampf, which we hear about so much in The
Book Thief.)
3. Where does Hitler go when he gets out of jail? Munich.
4. When Hitler successfully takes power in 1933, Munich
becomes the headquarters of the NSDAP. NSDAP
stands for Nationalsozialistische Deutsche
Arbeiterpartei, or the National Socialist German Workers
Party (Nazi Party).
5. Dachau, one of the first concentration camps, is
established some ten miles from Munich in 1933 when
Hitler takes power.
So, as you can see a lot of Nazi activity was definitely centered around Munich, which makes the
nearby town a pretty good setting for a novel exploring the effects of Nazism.
Zusak has a few things to say on the matter as well:
I […] hope that readers of any age will see another side of Nazi Germany […]. I wanted them to
see people who were unwilling to fly the Nazi flag and the boys and girls who thought the Hitler
Youth was boring and ridiculous. If nothing else, there's another side that lives beneath the
propaganda reels that are still so effective decades later. Those were the pockets I was
interested in. (Source: Zusak, Markus. "A Reader's Guide" found in The Book Thief. )
Laws and Propaganda of Nazi Germany
Laws and propaganda are important aspects of The Book Thief's setting in Nazi Germany. The
laws and the propaganda set the mood of the times, and a sick mood it was, as the novel shows
us. Before the war, Nazis passed laws to effectively legalize the crimes they were committing
and the crimes the intended to commit. From 1933 (when the Nazi Party took power) to 1939
(when the war began), the Nazis issued thousands of laws restricting every aspect of Jewish life
(source).
The novel alludes to many of these laws and restrictions, such as Jews being required to wear
yellow stars and otherwise identify themselves as Jewish. Jews were barred from government
jobs, from being teachers, from attending school, from practicing their professions, from joining
the military, from admission to hospitals, and from living among non-Jewish people. The
Nuremburg Laws stripped Jewish people of their German citizenship and their right to vote, yet
barred them from leaving the country. Laws authorized the confiscation of all Jewish property,
the arrest, detention and torture of Jews in concentration camps, and, ultimately, the large scale
murder of Jewish people.
As we discuss in the theme "Language and Communication," Hitler and the Nazi Party used
mass communication technology – radio, film, and print material – to involve the German people
in carrying out the Holocaust. In this propaganda, Jews and other groups were spoken of in
dehumanizing terms, referred to as vermin, cockroaches, as "a world plague," and represented
as dangerous to society.
Nazi propaganda is also heavy on the euphemism. A euphemism is "an inoffensive or indirect
expression that is substituted for one that is considered offensive or too harsh" (source). Nazis
used words like "cleansing," "evacuation," "resettlement," "special treatment," and
"extermination" to refer to the murder of Jewish people (source). The US Holocaust Memorial
Museum's Propaganda site and the German Propaganda Archive are loaded with visual material,
writings, speeches, a wide range of Nazi propaganda. Check it out these resources deeper look
at the world Liesel is living in.
Basements
There are two basements in the novel, both on Himmel Street. One is in the Hubermann house,
and the other in the house of the Fielders. On a practical level, both basements are places to
hide, stressing the culture of fear and hiding afflicting everybody in Germany. Jewish people, like
Max, if they are 'lucky,' are hiding from the Nazis in basements. German citizens, like the
residents of Himmel Street, are hiding from the Allies' air raids. The basements are cold,
uncomfortable and cramped. Life in the basement is uncertain. Each breath might be your last.
There is a fine line between safety and danger in these basements.
But, something special, something besides hiding, fear, and temporary safety is going on in
these two basements. The basement is where Liesel and Max forge their friendship, where Liesel
learns to read, where Max writes his books, where Rosa, Hans, and Liesel have their snowball
fight. There is love in the Hubermanns' basement. Similarly, in the Fielders' basement/bomb
shelter, Liesel realizes that she can use her love of reading to provide much needed comfort to
those around her. In the Fielders' basement, she becomes "the word shaker," when she begins
reading to her friends and neighbors. Later, in the days leading up to the bombing of Himmel
Street, the basement becomes a seat of creativity for Liesel as she writes her life story, as it was
for Max when he wrote The Word Shaker.
Now, basements are under houses, right? Creativity and artistic expression are often believed to
come from the subconscious, that place under the surface of our conscious thoughts. In addition
to the practical uses of the basements in the story, Zusak seems to be drawing on that symbolic
meaning of the basement as well. Basements are being used to help draw the mood of the story,
but also to highlight the creativity of characters like Liesel and Max. There is also a bitter irony
here. Liesel and Max are creative, loving people in spite of their circumstances, not because of
them. They did not need to be locked in a basement to do creative work. At the same time, deep
suffering and knowing they could die at any moment adds urgency and power to their work. We
can celebrate that, while acknowledging that it would be better if they weren't in the positions
they are in.
Imagery, Allegory
The Accordion
The Accordion
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
The accordion starts off as a symbol of hope and comfort. When Liesel begins reading to the
residents of Himmel Street during the air raids, she feels like she's giving them what Hans gives
her when he plays the accordion – distraction, comfort, and hope.
For Hans, the accordion is a symbol of the man who gave it to him, the man who saved his life.
That man is Erik Vandenburg, Max's father. For Max, the accordion symbolizes the possibility
that he'll survive the Holocaust. It's the link between him and Hans Hubermann, the man willing
to risk his life to help him.
When Hans leaves for Essen, he leaves the accordion behind. For Rosa in particular it becomes
a symbol of Hans himself. When Liesel sees her wearing it ever night, but never daring a note,
she realizes how much Hans means to her foster mother.
When Liesel finds the accordion among the wreckage of Himmel Street after Hans has died, it is
a symbol of great loss, but one which carries much of her story within it. It is yet another symbol
of the novel's argument that literature, music, and other arts can provide sustenance in times of
great suffering.
Adolph Hitler, The Swastika, and The Nazi Flag
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Hitler and the Nazi Party used mass communication, like radio, film, and print, to involve the
German people in carrying out the Holocaust. To get the job done, Hitler employed a Minister of
Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels. Hitler, reproduced in photos, film, and radio broadcasts,
becomes a symbol of power and leadership for those who follow him, and a symbol of horror and
terror for his targets.
Through the reproduction of his image, his voice, and his symbols – the Swastika and the Nazi
flag – Hitler becomes an omnipresent force for everybody in Germany. These are the symbols by
which the people are enlisted to support Hitler, and they are backed up by some of the most
horrific actions you've heard of. They are, ultimately, symbols of fear, irrational prejudice, and
terror.
Today, the swastika, the symbol featured in the Nazi flag, has come to symbolize Hitler and the
Holocaust and Nazism, but this wasn't always so. The word "swastika" comes from Sanskrit (an
ancient language of India) and means "good fortune" (source). The symbol itself is over five
thousand years old. Due to its misuse by Hitler, it will be a long time, if ever, before it can be
used effectively to positive ends.
Books
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Much of the novel's symbolism derives from the books it features. Check out Liesel's "Character
Analysis" for lots of discussion on how these books comment symbolically on Liesel, and how
book stealing functions as a symbol of resistance against the Nazi regime.
The book burning scene is important to Liesel, but symbolically, it goes beyond her story. First of
all, it's a symbol of the countless other book burning in Nazi Germany. It's a bit of a reduction to
call these events "book burnings." As the novel indicates, it's not only books being burned, but
also art, pamphlets, anything authored by a Jew, or which speaks favorably about Jewish people.
These burnings don't target a single author, or even a single idea, but the collective body of
creative and intellectual work of a large group of people. This goes beyond censorship or protest,
and it goes beyond books. For the Nazis, Jewish books symbolize Jewish people. The
destruction of these books symbolized their goals, the destruction of the Jewish people. The
crematoria, chambers where the bodies of Jewish people were incinerated, are notorious. The
book burning in the novel reminds us of those crematoria, and helps keep us from getting too
comfortable in the story. It also reminds us that Nazi propaganda techniques included destroying
information, as well as spreading it.
Colors
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Death's fascination with the colors of the sky functions as imagery. It helps cast the mood of the
story, and creates much of the atmosphere. By focusing on the sky-colors at the times of human
deaths, Death suggests that there is a connection between a person's death and the natural
world. The idea that each person dies with their own color of sky presents a vision of a universe
which cares about humans, and isn't indifferent to them. For Death, the colors are also edible,
and he sucks on them for distraction while he's on the job.
The Book Thief Theme of Love
The Book Thief focuses on characters who are learning to love in the face of great hatred. There
is also romantic love in the novel. Of course, it's an innocent childlike romance that tragedy cuts
short. The novel is set in a Nazi Germany, where giving another person something as seemingly
small as a crust of stale bread or even a smile could be seen as act of immense kindness. These
acts almost always involve penalty. To love in such a harsh world is both a necessity and a
triumph for the characters of The Book Thief.
Questions About Love
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Does Liesel love Rudy romantically? Is there romantic love between Max and Liesel?
Why does Liesel love Hans so much?
How is Hans's accordion connected to the idea of friendship?
What makes Walter love Max enough to risk his life for him?
Is Death a loving character? Why or why not?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.
Liesel begins to love Max when he gives her The Standover Man.
Death is the most loving character in the novel.
Quote #1
From the toolbox the boy took out, of all things, a teddy bear.
He reached in through the torn windshield and placed it on the pilot's chest. (3.9, 3.10)
Though we don't know it until the end of the novel, that boy is Rudy. By this time in the novel, he's dedicated
himself to acts of kindness and love, small and large. Ironically, a plane like the one he sees crashed here, with
its pilot barely alive, is like the one that will drop a bomb on Himmel Street, ending Rudy's life.
Quote #2
Liesel observed the strangeness of her foster father's eyes. They were made of kindness, and
silver. […] Upon seeing those eyes, understood that Hans Hubermann was worth a lot. (6.22)
We understand it too. The novel seems to argue that it's easy to be loving, when we take the time to see the
worth in those around it. Of course, Hans makes this really easy.
Quote #3
As long as both she and Rudy lived, she would never kiss that miserable, filthy Saukerl. (9.9)
Liesel does change her tune, but doesn't reveal the change to Rudy, until it's too late. The fact that she never
kisses Rudy when he's alive will haunt Liesel for a long time to come.
Quote #4
"You know, Liesel? I nearly wrote you a reply and signed your mother's name. […] But I
couldn't. I couldn't bring myself." (16.1)
Hans demonstrates that sometimes love simply means telling the truth. Love is behind Hans's desire to shield
Liesel from the fact that her mother is dead, but the truth is much more helpful. When she learns that Hitler is at
the root of her mother's disappearance, she learns to see Nazism for what it is.
Quote #5
"Do you still play the accordion?" (29.4)
This is the second line Max speaks to Hans when he finally makes it to Himmel Street. Bringing up the accordion
evokes the relationship between Hans and Erik, Max's father. They are words that foreshadow the father-son like
relationship that will develop between Hans and Max.
Quote #6
"Bring nothing," Walter said. "Just what you're wearing. I'll give you the rest." (31.74)
Walter commits a huge act of love by taking Max into hiding and helping him find his way to Hans. And that's
what friends are for.
Quote #7
Now I think we are friends, this girl and me. On her birthday it was she who gave a gift to me.
(35.21)
These are lines from The Standover Man, Max's loving gift to Liesel after she hugs him on his birthday. The hug,
at that point, is more out of pity than love. But, The Standover Man changes all that.
Quote #8
He must have loved her so incredibly hard. So hard that he would never ask for her lips again
and would go to his grave without them. (44.42)
Rudy's premature death keeps Liesel and Rudy from ever truly discovering whether their love is confined to
friendship, or whether it extends into the romantic realm. We are sure it's a romantic love for Rudy, at least in his
imagination, but he's only fifteen, with much more to learn and see and grow.
Quote #9
They hugged and cried and fell on the floor. (87.4)
This is a moment from the end of the novel, when Max and Liesel reunite. We don't know what happens to their
relationship after this, but we can be sure it has lots to do with love.
Quote #1
The book thief has struck for the first time – the beginning of an illustrious career. (5.119)
By the end of the novel, Liesel does have a career – in reading the books she steals. She wins the love of fellow
Himmel Streeters by reading to them during the air raids and expresses her love for Max by reading to him when
he's in a coma. When she reads to Frau Holtzapfel, she actually earns flour and coffee for Rosa
Quote #2
Then they discovered she couldn't read or write. (7.25)
This is important to note, in terms of Liesel's growth and change throughout the novel.
Quote #3
Unofficially, it was called the midnight class, even though it commenced at around two in the
morning. (7.30)
Liesel and Hans trade sleep for reading and writing, and the pleasure of one another's company. These activities
help forge the tight bond between them.
Quote #4
Beneath her shirt, a book was eating her up. (21.56)
Liesel's love for books is very apparent in this moment, after she's stolen the smoldering The Shoulder Shrug
from the book burning, she'd rather let it burn her skin than abandon it.
Quote #5
"What trash is this girl reading? She should be reading Mein Kampf." (17.31)
This is Hans Junior talking. His words give Hans the idea to use Hitler's book to help Max reach Himmel Street in
safety.
Quote #6
That such a room existed! (22.57).
This is Liesel's first glimpse of Ilsa Hermann's library. Maybe we take our libraries for granted these days.
Though, still, doesn't the sight of a library fill you with a little of Liesel's wonder? No matter how common place
the library may be?
Quote #7
From a Himmel Street window, he wrote, the stars set fire to my eyes. (55.78)
This is Max, writing in his scrap book, expressing how it felt to see the stars for the first time since he's come to
Himmel Street. In fact, he hasn't seen anything of the outside world. The passage is an intense expression of his
confined state.
Quote #8
Out of respect, the adults kept everyone quiet, and Liesel finished chapter one of The Whistler.
(56.30)
Liesel is becoming "the word shaker." She's finding ways to use words for good, like here, when she comforts the
people in the bomb shelter by reading to them.
Quote #9
The words. Why did they have to exist? Without them, there wouldn't be any of this. Without
words, the Führer was nothing. (82.28)
In this moment, Liesel is so disillusioned with the words that she tears up a book. What do you think about her
statement, though. Is it true that Hitler needed words to do what he did?
Quote #10
"I thought if you're not going to read any more of my books, you might like to write one instead.
[…] You can certainly write. You write well." (82.48)
This marks the moment of Liesel's transition from reader, to reader and writer.
Quote #11
The fingers of her soul touched the story that was written so long ago in her Himmel Street
basement. (88.7)
Bet you didn't know souls had fingers. But the point is that Liesel is reunited with her book in the afterlife, when
it's almost disintegrated. It makes us wonder if Liesel wrote more books after she left Himmel Street. What do you
think?
Quote #1
You are going to die. (1.6)
Death presents dying as a unifier, the one thing that ties all humans together.
Quote #2
I'm nothing if not fair. (1.8)
Death won't take you before you're body is dead. No matter what you did or didn't do in life, this Death will treat
you just like he does everybody else.
Quote #3
[…] at some point on time I will be standing over you, as genially as possible. Your soul will be
in my arms. A color will be perched on my shoulder. I will carry you gently away. (1.12)
See. Death is saying this too all us. He doesn't discriminate. His vision of the moment after Death is rather
comforting. But, do you think it's plausible? Why or why not?
Quote #4
I am a result. (2.3)
This is an important aspect of Zusak's Death. He doesn't cause death, but, rather, exists because people die. He
doesn't want people to die. It just means more work for him, and he would prefer to be sunning it up on a tropical
island sipping strawberry daiquiris.
Quote #5
With one eye open, one still in a dream, the book thief, also known as Liesel Meminger could
see […] that her younger brother, Werner, was now sideways and dead. His blue eyes stared at
the floor. Seeing nothing. (5.21-5.22)
This image of her dying brother will haunt Liesel for many years and come to her every night as she sleeps. It's a
very traumatic experience that shapes her life in many ways.
Quote #6
Then he read the title, with concentration, aloud: "The Grave Digger's Handbook." (10.17)
All the references to Liesel's first book cast a spooky, morbid cast over the novel. It's a great way to highlight the
theme of death and book stealing in one fell swoop.
Quote #7
He'd have been glad to witness her kissing his dusty, bomb hit lips. (37.11)
One of the saddest parts of the novel is when Liesel misses out on kissing Rudy when she's alive, and kisses him
instead when he's dead.
Quote #8
For me, the sky was the color of Jews. (52.3)
This is to accentuate the number of Jewish people dying during the Holocaust, in Germany, and other locations in
Europe. Normally, Death sees colors like, black, white, blue, etc. But, during these times, there were so many
Jews being murdered, that they overshadow the other colors as Death takes them across the sky.
Quote #9
Please believe me when I tell you that I picked up each soul that day as if it were newly born.
[…] I listened to their last, gasping cries. Their vanishing words. I watched their love visions and
freed them from their fear. (52.15)
This is a good one. This makes dying sound not half bad. But, the big mystery is, where does Death take us after
all this gentleness? For some clues, see the novel's final chapter.
Quote #10
It kills me sometimes, how people die. (70.7)
Death can get just a tad sarcastic, especially when people he doesn't approve of die. This is his comment on
Reinhold Zucker, the man who dies after forcing Hans to swap seats with him, and thus, unwittingly, saving
Hans's life.
Quote #11
They hugged and cried and fell on the floor. (87.4)
We quote this passage to show you those who didn't die – Liesel and Max. Were you surprised when Max walks
through the door of Alex Steiner's tailor shop. If not, how did you see it coming?
Quote #1
You are going to die. (1.6)
It might be unnerving to hear Death addressing us so plainly. But he's not really telling us anything we don't
know. Rather, he's expressing his vision of humans as sharing a common identity in our mortality.
Quote #2
Kommunist (6.6)
That's German for Communist, as you can infer. The Communist Party was a legitimate political party in
Germany with sizeable membership. Communists were definitely against Hitler and the Nazis and therefore
would suffer a squashing. Although the facts are murky on this topic, Liesel's family is punished because of her
father's identity as a Communist.
Quote #3
He was not the junior misogynistic type of boy at all. (8.23)
Rudy is just too loveable. Misogyny, dislike of females, is a good character for any guy not too have, whatever
the age. We like that this is part of his identity.
Quote #4
He smeared the charcoal on, nice and thick, till he was covered in black. Even his hair received
a once over. (9.5)
This is Rudy, getting ready to take on the identity of his idol, Jesse Owens, a black American who won four gold
medals in the 1936 Olympics held in Germany. Hitler was not pleased with Owens' triumph, but Rudy definitely
was. To Rudy, black is definitely beautiful. He's sees past the propaganda surrounding him even at a young age.
Quote #5
Hang on a second, he was German. Or more to the point, he had been. (26.20)
The Nuremburg Laws http://cghs.dadeschools.net/holocaust/laws.htm were passed in 1933 and 1935. They
stripped Jews of their German Citizenship and right to vote. Legally speaking, all Jews in Germany were in the
country illegally. This manipulation of the legal system was an integral part of the Nazi technique. Read more in
"Setting."
Quote #6
In front of him, he read from the copy of Mein Kampf. His savior. Sweat was swimming out of his
hands. Fingermarks clutched the book. (26.2)
Max knows that if he can "pass" as a non Jew long enough, he can get to Himmel Street, his best change for
survival. The very best way to establish this identity temporarily is to carry a copy of Hitler's book.
Quote #7
In sloppy lettering, the words JEWISH FILTH were spilling over at their edges. (29.75)
Hans gets into trouble for painting over the slur. Such slurs, painted across Jewish homes, shops, synagogues,
were part of the campaign to identify Jewish people as subhuman.
Quote #8
They were French, they were Jews, and they were you. (52.18)
Death is talking about the death of a group of French Jews murdered in a Polish prison. He's reminding us that
we are all human, all united by Death. It's ridiculous to kill another human, when the job will be done on its own in
due time.
Quote #9
She was a Jew feeder without a question in the world on that man's first night in Molching. She
was an arm reacher, deep into a mattress, to deliver a sketchbook to a teenage girl. (84.25)
Although Liesel never completely gets over Rosa initial beatings, she does, on Rosa's death, see into the core of
Rosa identity. Liesel remembers Rosa's kindness to Max and her excitement when she presents Liesel with
Max's sketchbook.
Quote #1
Her brother was dead. (5.24)
Yes, Werner's death is criminal. It could have been prevented. Six year old Werner, along with the rest of the
family, is being punished for having Communist affiliations. He's being punished with poverty and lack of medical
treatment. He is not alone.
Quote #2
The book thief had struck for the first time – the beginning of an illustrious career. (5.119)
Liesel's book stealing never quite qualifies as criminality, unless you're being strict. As Rudy points out, it's
almost silly to call taking books from Ilsa Hermann's library "stealing." Her book thievery presents a pleasant
counterpart to the very real crimes of the Nazis.
Quote #3
The Star of David was painted on their doors. The houses were almost like lepers. At the very
least, they were infected sores on the German landscape. (8.43)
Being a Jew in these times means being a criminal. There is no move a Jew in Nazi Germany can make that isn't
considered a crime.
Quote #4
Although something inside her told her that this was a crime – after all, her three books were the
most precious items she owned – she was compelled to see the thing lit. (18.12)
She's at the Hitler's birthday celebration book burning, of course. Humans will be fascinated with crime so long as
it exists. But, Liesel could have at least thought about stopping the books from being burned. Why doesn't this
occur to her?
Quote #5
"Did the Führer take her away?" (19.15)
With Hitler's birthday comes a grim realization for Liesel. Her mother's disappearance can be traced back to the
birthday boy himself. This realization is very important to all her future actions and her general development.
Quote #6
"Sorry it's taken so long. I think people have been watching me. And the man with the identity
card took longer than I thought […]." (23.19)
Max's best friend Walter Kugler is about to go to Poland to fight on the side of the Germans. Of course, he's been
drafted and wouldn't have gone of his own accord. It must make him feel like a criminal. By helping Max, he's
committing a crime with a death penalty. But, we bet this doesn't make him feel like a criminal in the long run.
Quote #7
[…] but it was the stealing that cemented their friendship completely. […] it was driven by one
inescapable force – Rudy's hunger. The boy was permanently dying for something to eat.
(24.63)
This highlights Himmel Street poverty, which has only increased since the war began, due to rationing. It's also
due to the fact that there were no more Jewish customers. Again, Rudy and Liesel's criminality seems the
opposite of criminal, other than the ham-stealing incident.
Quote #8
She also realized it was most likely these sodden days at the Hitler Youth that fed his, and
subsequently her own, desire for crime. (39.82)
We see this pattern over and over again. The crimes committed against Rudy by Hitler Youth leaders help cause
Rudy to commit some crimes of his own.
Quote #9
"When a Jew shows up at your place of residence in the early hours of the morning, in the very
birthplace of Nazism, you're likely to experience extreme levels of discomfort. Anxiety, disbelief,
paranoia" (33.4)
This one is pretty self explanatory. In Nazi Germany, crime takes on all kinds of new meanings.
Quote #10
Liesel Meminger was a criminal. But not because she'd stolen a handful of books through an
open window. (54.134)
Here, Death is referring to Liesel's inability to do what she thinks she should – apologize to Ilsa Hermann. In
Liesel's code, failure to apologize is a great crime. So, she does apologize to Ilsa in the long run.
Quote #11
[…] Hans Hubermann held his hand out and presented a piece of bread […]. (58.62)
Feeding the Jewish prisoners on their way to Dachau, is obviously considered a crime by the Nazi guards. It can
also be seen as an act of non-violent resistance to what the Nazis are doing. It might seem like a small thing, but
it was big to the Jewish people who saw it as an act of true kindness.
Quote #1
In the beginning, it was the profanity that made an immediate impact. It was so vehement and
prolific. Every other word was either Saumensch or Saukerl or Arschloch (6.14)
Death explains to us that sau means a pig. Saumensch is an insult for women, Saukerl is an insult for men.
Arschloch is "asshole" (6.14). These terms become terms of endearment between the characters as the novel
progresses.
Quote #2
"Saumensch. You call me Mama when you talk to me. (6.32)
At this early stage, though, being called a pig-girl isn't exactly endearing. Liesel soon learns that calling Rosa
"Mama" is one big way to stay on her good side.
Quote #3
Not leaving: an act of trust and love, often deciphered by children. (7.8)
Death tells us that this is a definition that isn't found in the dictionaries. As we see when we get into the Duden
Dictionary sections of the novel, it's sometimes hard to find the right words to express what we see and feel.
Quote #4
The world talked it over. Newspaper headlines reveled in it. The Führer's voice roared from
German radios. We will not give up. We will not rest. We will be victorious. Our time has come.
(12.6-8)
This refers to Hitler's invasion of Poland in 1939. We put it under this theme because it points to the importance
of communication technology to the Nazis' techniques.
Quote #5
He slapped Liesel Meminger squarely in the face. (19.23)
This is Hans, in a rare moment of violence. Hans does not hit Liesel in anger, but because he wants to
communicate the seriousness of her situation. Saying such a thing within the hearing of the wrong person could
mean a death sentence. Hans is also motivated by the knowledge that he'll soon, if things go as planned, be
hiding a Jew in his home. In which case, such statements would be doubly risky. Could he have found a way to
impress this upon Liesel without violence?
Quote #6
"When death captures me," the boy vowed, "he will feel my fist in his face." (31.26)
This is young Max communicating his desire to live. This fighting spirit probably has a lot to do with his ultimate
survival.
Quote #7
"If you tell anyone about that man…" (33.51)
Normally, if a grown-up tells a kid to keep a secret, it might ring our alarm bells. But, this is anything but an
ordinary situation. Max, Liesel, and the Hubermanns' survival depends on secrecy.
Quote #8
In the basement of 33 Himmel Street, Max Vandenburg could feel the fists of the entire nation.
One by one they climbed into the ring and beat him down. (38.112)
This is how Max perceives the majority of German people. It refers to the fact that the Holocaust could not have
been carried out without the consent of the majority of the German population.
Quote #9
"'Is it really you,' the young man asked […]. Is it from your cheek that I took the seed?'" (80.44)
When Liesel sees Max marching to Dachau she recites passages from The Word Shaker, the book he leaves for
her when he flees. This is interesting because Liesel is able to best communicate her feelings to Max using his
words. She's also being economical. She has to chose her words for maximum impact, since she might not get to
say very many of them. She's acknowledging Max's gift and telling him she understands it.
Quote #1
I witness the ones that are left behind, crumbled among the jigsaw puzzles of realization,
despair, and surprise. They have punctured hearts. They have beaten lungs. (1.22)
From Death's point of view, living with the loss of a loved one is much worse than dying.
Quote #2
Still in disbelief, she started to dig. He couldn't be dead. He couldn't be dead. He couldn't –
(5.60)
The death of Liesel's brother causes her great suffering. It also seems to create empathy and prepares her to
understand Max's suffering.
Quote #3
There was a chaos of goodbye. (5.83)
This tiny sentence helps us feel Liesel's utter dismay at being forced to leave her mother on the same day she
buries her brother.
Quote #4
Every night, Liesel would nightmare. (7.2)
These nightmares are bitter-sweet kind of suffering. They terrify her. She can't control them. But, they bring her
just a little closer to her dead brother. A major turning point for Liesel is when she lets go of the nightmares and
learns to carry Werner in her heart and memory.
Quote #5
The road of yellow stars. (8.43)
This refers to the now abandoned and forlorn Jewish section of Molching. If Liesel had arrived in Molching
sooner, she would have witnessed the suffering of its previous residents as they were abused and then forcibly
removed from their homes.
Quote #6
How could he show up and ask people to risk their lives for him? How could he be so selfish?
(28.21)
Much of Max's psychological suffering involves guilt. As we note in the theme of "Criminality," Max can't take a
non-criminal step, so long as he's in Germany. Plus, anyone who he makes contact with is an instant criminal.
This takes an enormous toll on his psyche.
Quote #7
To live. Living was living. The price was guilt and shame. (35.19-21)
This theme is repeated over and over in the novel, by anyone who survives. Michael Holtzapfel's guilt over his
brother's death (which he had nothing to do with) drives him to suicide.
Quote #8
The man did not breathe. He did not move. Yet, somehow, he traveled from the doorway to the
bed and was under the covers. (33.13)
The passage does a lot to highlight Max's suffering. Two years hiding in dark sheds has made him an expert at
the art of pretending not to exist.
Quote #9
The suffering faces of depleted men and women reached across to them, pleading not so much
for help, but for an explanation. Just something to subdue this confusion. (58.35)
This passage suggest that human beings crave understanding even more than food. The situation of the Jews
being marched to Dachau is unimaginable. They never in their wildest dreams thought it would come to this. If
someone came to you and told you you'd soon be moved to a Death camp, would you believe it?
Quote #10
They should have come by now and swept through the house, looking for any evidence of Jew
loving or treason, but it appeared that Max had left for no reason at all. He could have been
asleep in the basement or sketching in his book. (60.21)
Hans suffers a great deal for his bread giving moment. And he sends Max away in vein. But really, how could he
possibly have known they wouldn't come? In any case, Hans couldn't let Max stay to die like a fish in a barrel. He
couldn't take the chance.
Quote #11
On Munich Street, a boy and a girl were entwined. They were twisted and comfortless on the
road. Together, they watched the humans disappear. (80.94-96)
Rudy has fought Liesel to keep her from chasing after Max, and has probably saved her life and Max's in the
process. The scene is loaded with suffering for all involved.
Quote #1
At school, Rudy made a special point of seeking Liesel out during the breaks. He didn't care that
others made noises about the new girl's stupidity. (8.47)
It takes courage not to care what people think. It seems to come naturally to Rudy. When he starts trying to
impress the wrong people, it will take courage to deal with consequences.
Quote #2
In 1933, 90 percent of Germans showed unflinching support for Adolph Hitler. That leaves 10
percent who didn't. Hans Hubermann belonged to that ten percent. (10.9)
Scary statistic, especially for Hans and people like him. Do you think Death's figure is accurate? Where might you
go to verify his information?
Quote #3
I just wish I was like Jesse Owens, Papa. (9.45)
Rudy's identification with people who Hitler despises, in this case, black people, is natural, not courageous. But,
to maintain it as he grows older will take courage.
Quote #4
Look proud, he advised himself. You cannot look afraid. Read the book. Smile at it. It's a great
book – the greatest book you've ever read. Come on, Max, you're only a few hours away. (26.6)
Max is making an ultimate voyage of courage. Imagine how he must feel, being in public after two years of hiding.
Ironically, Hitler's book is the only thing between him and a complete freak-out. Courage usually includes some
amount a fear.
Quote #5
Walter opened Mein Kampf and slid [the ticket] inside, next to the map he'd bought with the
book itself. (26.11)
Walter is another courageous character, even though we don't get to know him. His courage in helping Max truly
does save Max's life. It also takes courage for Max to go with him, leaving his family behind.
Quote #6
Max Vandenburg […] closed his eyes and drooped a little further into safety. The very idea of it
was ludicrous, but he accepted it nonetheless. (30.5)
At this moment, Max is finally able to let go of his courage and do something kind of like relaxing.
Quote #7
She was a good woman for a crisis. (35.59)
Rosa is a courageous woman, even though she might seem an unlikely candidate for bravery when we first meet
her.
Quote #8
He let his mouth kiss her palm. "Yes, Liesel, it's me," and he held the girls hand in his face and
cried onto her fingers. (79.51)
This act also takes courage. Max knows that it will be much "safer" for himself and Liesel if he ignores her. But he
also knows that some things are more important than safety.
Quote #9
He accumulated the loud, clumsy specks of saliva and tears as if they were lovely to his face,
and more important, he was able to hold her down. (80.93)
It takes lots of courage for Rudy to stop Liesel from following Max and the other Jewish prisoners en route to
Dachau. But, as is often the case with Rudy, the courage flows out of him naturally, like a stream of love.
Quote #10
In those camps, many people were still made to work, and walk. Max Vandenburg was one
such Jew. (79.9)
It must have taken great courage for Max to survive Dachau. It's amazing that he survived after the incident with
Liesel. We hope that after the war, he doesn't have to be quite so brave all the time.
Death
Character Analysis
Death and Humanity
Death is our guide and narrator to The Book Thief. Interestingly, he in some ways seems pretty
human. For example, he has real feelings. We see him experience both sadness and joy in the
novel. He even gets depressed. It seems like the poor guy hasn't had a vacation since he started
working. He might not even have had a coffee break. And, let's face it, his job is about as
depressing as it gets. To help distract him from his sad and never-ending work, he often fixates
on the color of the sky at the time of each human death.
Like many humans, Death tries to find ways to give meaning to his work. One of the main things
he does is collect stories of courageous humans. Liesel is particularly interesting to him because
of her courage and her personality. Stories like hers help keep him going. He retells these
stories, he says, "to prove to myself that you, and your human existence, are worth it" (4.33). In
other words, he looks for hope in the gathering, reading, and telling of stories. This quest for
meaning seems like a very human thing indeed.
On the other hand, though Death has lots of human qualities, he'll never be totally human. In the
end, he's still the being that comes to separate our souls from our bodies, Death's final line, "I'm
haunted by humans" (88.17), shows that he'll always be separate from us. He tells us at the
beginning of the novel that the most painful part of his job is seeing "[t]he survivors," "the leftover
humans," "the ones who are left behind, crumbling among the jigsaw puzzle of realization,
despair, and surprise" (1.20, 1.21, 1.22). You could argue that Death is in the unlucky position of
having human-like emotions, but never being allowed to be a part of humanity.
Of course, though Death may not be an actual human being, he's totally linked to all of humanity.
It's important to note that he doesn't cause people to die, but is "a result" (2.3). He exists
because people die, to help them transition to the afterlife. Also, note that Death isn't your typical
grim reaper with "sickle or scythe" (45.2). He tells us that if we want to see what he looks like, we
should, "[f]ind […] a mirror" (45.2). In other words, all humans die, and so we all look like Death.
In a way, we're all united with Death, and he's the thing that unites all of us. He's part of what
makes us essentially human.
Now, check out what Markus Zusak has to say about his oh-so-humane version of Death:
I guess there's a little bit of death in me, but it's probably true for everyone. I think I just applied
the thought of how scared I am of death and reversed it. I thought, 'What if he or she or it is
haunted by everything he sees humans do?' In that way, he's also like all of us, because we all
have the same reactions to each other's behavior. Also, I had more empathy for Death when he
was vulnerable like that. (source)
Death and the Afterlife
We have another question. Where does Death take the souls? This isn't quite specified, though
he does seem to cross the sky to get to wherever he's going. A conception of the afterlife isn't
fleshed out, though Death seems to know the secret and drops some hints. He's elusive about
the afterlife, but does seem to imply that there is one.
3When he comes for Liesel years into the future, he takes her to Anzak Avenue, which is a real
place in Australia, but maybe Death means an afterlife version? It's confusing and playful, and
made even more confusing when death tells us that, "A few cars drove by, each way. Their
drivers were Hitlers and Hubermanns, and Maxes, killers, Dillers, and Steiners…" (88.13). Those
are all names of the dead. What's surprising is that everybody, including Hitler, seems to be in
the same place.
This means that Death probably doesn't believe that what we do in this life necessarily impacts
where we go when we die. As far as Death is concerned, living a good or bad life is its own
reward or punishment. If you have strong beliefs regarding the afterlife, this idea of Death as a
great equalizer might really strike a nerve.
Liesel Meminger
Character Analysis
Liesel Meminger is the hardworking, book-thieving, kind-hearted star of the novel. She loves
books so much, she steals them. Even before she knows how to read! Like many of us, Liesel
doesn't have an easy time reading, at least not at first. In fact, without her foster father Hans
(who, with his fourth-grade education, doesn't read so well himself) and his dedication to
teaching her, she might never have learned to read at all. At school, her lack of education is, at
first, mistaken for lack of intelligence.
Why hasn't Liesel, at ten years old, gotten any education? Well, the answer is a little murky, just
like Liesel's past and family history. But, it definitely has to do with Liesel's father's communist
affiliations. The German Communist Party (KPD) was a legitimate and popular political party in
Germany when Hitler took power. As such, the Nazis saw communists as a threat.
Likely, Liesel's father in some way voiced his opposition to the Nazi Party and was arrested
shortly after the Nazis took power in 1933. His family was likely left with no money, no way to
make money, no medical treatment, and no home. Liesel remembers a series of boarding
houses and blurry institutional settings. Whatever the precise situation, education is simply not
available. Although we don't have the details for a full analysis, we can see an important main
point – be careful not to mistake lack of education for lack of intelligence.
Now, we have a question for you. If you had to pick ten books to help tell the story of your life (or
at least four years of it) what would they be? This question isn't hard for Liesel Meminger. As you
probably already know, Death tells her story in ten sections, each one given the title of a book or
story. According to Death, Liesel's book, The Book Thief, is divided in this way as well. So, we
think a good way to analyze Liesel's character. We'll look at how she grows and changes
between 1939 and 1943 by looking at what each of the books mean to her.
The Gravedigger's Handbook
This book is just what it sounds like, a handbook for digging graves. It's the first book Liesel
steals and the first book she reads. As with all her books, this one is bittersweet. It's bitter for
obvious reasons. She steals the book from the snowy graveyard where her little brother Werner
has just been buried. It's her only tangible memento of her brother, and also of her mother, whom
she never sees again after that January day in 1939. So, for the Liesel, the book represents
great loss, great sorrow, and her feelings of abandonment. It represents the end of one phase of
her life, and the beginning of another.
The Gravedigger's Handbook also has some very positive associations for Liesel and marks her
transformation from illiterate to literate. It also represents Hans and the beginning of Liesel's
loving relationship with him. Liesel has nightmares about her brother dying almost every night,
but the night Hans finds The Grave Digger's Handbook she has the additional embarrassment of
wetting the bed. Hans doesn't just make this difficult situation easier by comforting her and
changing her sheets. He turns it into a life changing opportunity for them both. His discovery of
the book, hidden beneath her mattress, inspires all their reading and writing lessons. So, while
The Gravedigger's Handbook represents great sadness and loss, it also represents great
friendship and learning to read, which is one of the most thrilling things that happens to Liesel.
The Grave Digger's Handbook also helps establish Liesel as "THE HEAVY WEIGHT CHAMPION
OF THE SCHOOL-YARD" (12.title) which isn't necessarily a good thing. She recites a passage
from the book in class, when she isn't able to read the assigned material. Poor Liesel gets
teased, of course. Then she becomes a bully for a few moments. She even turns her wrath on
innocent Tommy Müller, in addition to the boy who teases her, Ludwig Shmeikl. In fact, she
almost kills Ludwig. Walking home with Rudy afterwards, Liesel admits that her reaction was
driven by all the suffering, humiliation, and loss she's been experiencing (especially by the loss of
her brother, Werner). This realization helps her to not fall into violent and bullying ways. This
would be easy to do in an atmosphere where violence and bullying are the norm.
The Shoulder Shrug
We don't know much about the actual contents of The Shoulder Shrug, Liesel's second stolen
book, other than that it features a Jewish protagonist. This is why the novel is sentenced to burn
in Hitler's birthday book burning in Molching. Somehow, this book is too strong, or too wet, or too
lucky to burn up quickly. It's only smoldering when Liesel steals.
The timing is important here. Liesel steals it from the bonfire after getting confirmation from Hans
that Hitler is likely behind the disappearance of her parents – not to mention the poverty that led
to Werner's death. Stealing the book is a way for her get revenge on her new sworn enemy,
Adolf Hitler. Sure she wants a book to read, but she also wants to take back some of what Hitler
is destroying. Pretty heady stuff for an eleven-year-old (she's eleven now).
Stealing The Shoulder Shrug also opens the doors to a whole word of books. If Ilsa Hermann,
the mayor's wife, hadn't seen Liesel steal the book from the fire, she might never have invited
Liesel into her library. Liesel might have been hard-up for books. Books aside, Liesel's
relationship with Ilsa is complicated, but, we have to say, the woman proves to be a true friend.
Most importantly, perhaps, Liesel's theft of The Shoulder Shrug "inspire[s] Hans Hubermann to
come up with a plan to help the Jewish fist fighter" (13.5). That Jewish fist fighter is Max. Liesel's
very special friendship with Max comes to define her in many ways. It certainly makes her a
sympathetic character, but more importantly, it helps her see the difference between right and
wrong.
Mein Kampf, The Standover Man, and The Word Shaker
[Hans Junior:] "What trash is this girl reading? She should be reading Mein Kampf." (17.31)
[…] in a way, she's stealing the words back, and she's rewriting her own beautiful story through
this ugly world that surrounds her. – Markus Zusak (source)
Mein Kampf (My Struggle) is Adolph Hitler's infamous book. He began dictating it to fellow
prisoner Rudolph Hess (Hitler's Deputy) in 1923 when they were in Landsberg prison after a
failed attempt to overthrow the Weimar Republic. For a detailed discussion of the book, click
here.
Liesel neither reads nor steals this book, but it's incredibly important to who she is. For one thing,
she's living inside it, so to speak. Hitler has made his words come to life, and they shape Liesel's
reality. Second, when Liesel is reading The Shoulder Shrug in Hans Junior's presence, he
speaks the lines quoted above (even though he doesn't know it's a rescued book about a Jew).
This is what gives Hans Senior the idea to use Mein Kampf to help Max. He realizes that Hitler's
book can be used as a shield, a disguise; it can be used for the exact opposite of its intended
purpose. Holding Mein Kampf in his hand is the best way for Max to deflect suspicion.
So, for Liesel, this book definitely means Max, and Max's life, but it goes deeper than that. Max
hits on the idea of painting the pages of Hitler's book white and using the pages to write The
Standover Man and The Word Shaker. Liesel learns that kind words can be used to combat
hateful ones. These two books are about friendship and the power of words to make a difference.
Although this knowledge doesn't keep her family and friends on Himmel Street from dying in
bomb blasts, it pushes Liesel to act as courageously as she can.
These three books also point to the development of Liesel's secret life during most of her time on
Himmel Street. The fact that she was able to keep these books – and Max – a secret (until she
finally tells Rudy, after Max has been captured) is a testament to her courage and strength.
The Word Shaker also alludes to Liesel's own calling, shaking words, shaking them from books,
from her own lips, and from the lips of others. It reminds her to plant and shake words of
friendship and love, especially where hate is thriving.
The Whistler
The Whistler, a book about a murderer on the run from the police, is important to Liesel's
character in several ways. This is the book she's been reading in Ilsa's library when Ilsa breaks
the news that she can no longer pay Rosa to do her laundry. She's the last customer they have,
and Liesel is furious. We see a very angry side of her. She uses words against Ilsa and refuses
to take The Whistler when it's offered. This marks another change in her life. She'll no longer
enter Ilsa's library through the door. Instead, she'll start coming through the window to steal the
books.
The Whistler is the first book she steals from Ilsa. In part, she steals it for Rudy, even though he
would have preferred something edible. In general, we see this book as connected with Rudy
and Liesel's relationship. For most of the book, they have a close friendship. Though, it does
seem like Rudy is in love with Liesel, whereas Liesel isn't so sure.
When Rudy victoriously rescues The Whistler from the Amper River, where it's been thrown by
Viktor Chemmel (leader #2 of the fruit stealing gang), he shows Liesel his love for her. Death tells
us, "He must have loved her so incredibly hard. So hard that he would never ask for her lips
again and would go to his grave without them" (44.42). As the end nears, Liesel's feelings for
Rudy do grow stronger, but Rudy is killed before we can see whether she'll act on them. In bitter
irony, Liesel finally kisses Rudy when he's dead. This stamps something painful on her character
– regret. It's not the first or the last time she'll feel it, but probably one of the most intense.
The Whistler is also the first book Liesel reads to the residents of Himmel Street to the bomb
shelters. These public readings help Liesel see that her passion can be used to help those
around her on a large scale.
The Dream Carrier
The Dream Carrier, a book about "an abandoned child who wants to be a priest" (48.51), is
another one of the books Liesel (now thirteen) steals from Ilsa Hermann's library. Even though
Rudy's with her when she steals it, it's more closely associated with Liesel's relationship with
Max. She steals this book in 1942 when Max is gravely ill and in a coma. For obvious reasons,
no doctor can be called, and Liesel offers the only cures she knows – prayer, gift-giving and
reading to him from The Dream Carrier. The combination of reading The Dream Carrier and
spending all her free time with the comatose Max changes Liesel's dreams. One night, Max's
face and body take the place of her brother Werner's in her recurring nightmare.
All of this points to her increasing sensitivity and ability to draw parallels between seemingly
disparate situations, like a six year old boy dying on a train and the comatose young man before
her. She's also feeling a deep burden of guilt. By bringing snow to the sub-zero basement-bound
Max, she contributes to his current state of illness. But, as his writings and words later show her,
the gift of snow was worth it. Perhaps, just perhaps, Max's comatose state is a relief from his
own guilt and suffering, giving his body a chance to heal a little.
The Dream Carrier also alludes to the fact that Liesel has been having the same nightmare, of
her brother dying on the train, every night for over two years. She's literally carrying the moment
with her in her dreams. A year later, when she's able to stop carrying him in her nightmares, and
instead carry him in her heart, we can see her reaching deeper levels of psychological maturity in
spite of her trauma.
The Complete Duden Dictionary and Thesaurus
This invaluable reference book is a gift to Liesel from Ilsa Herman. It marks an important phase
in their relationship. Ilsa leaves it in the window of the library for Liesel to "steal." Liesel sees Ilsa
watching from inside the library as she takes it, and the two share an awkward wave. This opens
the window for a future friendship between them and a healing of the old wounds they've inflicted
on each other.
Now, you might have asked yourself, "Why are we given all those definitions from the dictionary
in a part of the story that happens before Ilsa gives Liesel the dictionary?" Well, Death is telling is
the story the day after Liesel's death, and he's using her book as a reference. When Liesel
begins writing her book, she already has the dictionary. She's using it while she writes one of the
most difficult parts of her story – the part where Hans gives bread to a Jewish prisoner who is
being marched to the nearby concentration camp, Dachau.
The reason this is painful for her to write about is because the incident leads to a) the Jewish
man and Hans being whipped on the street; b) Max fleeing the house on Himmel Street; and c)
Hans being conscripted into the military. Meaning, it leads to Liesel losing two of the most
important people in her life. When Liesel is writing, Hans is back home, but Liesel doesn't know if
Max is alive.
The use of the dictionary definitions in this section highlight the fact that Liesel is searching,
anguishing over the right words to use in telling this most painful part of her story. As you'll
notice, sometimes the words and the definitions fail. When Max leaves the house, there is
"Schweigen – Silence" (59.11), which the dictionary defines as "The absence of sound or noise"
(59.11). Fair enough, but it's with the "Related words: […] calmness, peace" (59.11) that Liesel
runs into a problem. Again, we see her awareness of words and their nuances sharpening as her
character deepens and becomes more defined. So, in addition to a gesture of friendship, Ilsa
Herman is giving Liesel tools to pursue her calling as a word shaker when she gives her the
dictionary.
The Last Human Stranger
There were people everywhere on the city street, but the stranger could not have been more
alone if he were empty. (72.14)
That's a quote, from The Last Human Stranger. We don't know much more about it other than
that it's the last book that Liesel steals from the mayor's library. Of course, the title and the quote
do tell us plenty. They sum how Liesel is feeling as the number of days since Max left pile up,
and as she finally lets go of the nightmare of Werner. She's frustrated with her world and is
having trouble keeping up hope. We also see allusions to Hans, Rudy, and Liesel giving bread to
Jewish prisoners marching to Dachau. Each Jewish person walking is a stranger, surrounded by
people but all alone.
Similarly, people publically resisting, with even something as small as a crust of bread, are
strangers in a crowd of indifference. Being strange in this context means being alone, being
lonely, being alienated, being hungry and cold, as so many people are during these times. But,
being strange also means looking for unusual ways to cope in the strange world.
But what does it mean to be the last human stranger"? We think it could mean a few things. First
a hopeful one – once the last human stranger is no longer strange, no human will be strange to
any other human. But there's another way you could look at it. Assuming that all humans are
strangers, when the last human stranger is dead, there will be no more humans. Put another
way, if Hitler succeeded in killing all the people on his current strange list, he would make
another list, and then another, until nobody's left. The complexity of this book's title alone alludes
to the growing complexity of Liesel's way of looking at and living in the world, in addition her
loneliness and alienation.
It almost always conjures images of Max. The book prepares her to make contact with him, at all
costs, when she sees him marching to Dachau after being captured by the Nazis. In that scene,
we see Liesel risk her life when she tries to follow him. This is a complicated moment for her. On
the one hand, she's being brave and making a stand against injustice. On the other hand, her
behavior could have cost her and Max their lives. Luckily, Rudy intervenes. The irony here, of
course, is that Max survives the war and Rudy does not.
The Book Thief
The Book Thief is the name of the book Liesel writes over the period leading up to the bombing
of Himmel Street. It's the book Death rescues from the garbage and returns to Liesel when she
dies. It's the book that literally saves her life. If she hadn't been editing it in the basement on the
night of the Himmel Street bombing, she would have died along with everybody else. The
concentration Liesel summons points again to her strength of character. Her ability to find a
positive outlet for her emotions also says a lot about her. Of course, she didn't just decide to
write a book all on her own. She has a little help from Ilsa Hermann. This points to the irony of
the title.
Ilsa gives her the blank book after Liesel has given up book thievery and books in general.
Though we're sure she reads again, her book marks her graduation from reader to serious
author. What we want to know is if Liesel writes more books when she grows up, and if not, why.
Liesel Meminger Timeline and Summary
Liesel's brother Werner dies when she's ten.
On the same day, she has to say goodbye to her mother forever.
She goes to live with her foster parents Hans and Rosa Hubermann.
She begins learning to read and developing friendships with Hans and Rudy.
Upon learning that Hitler is behind her family's suffering, she steals a book from a book
burning and is seen by Ilsa Hermann.
Soon after, she's invited into Ilsa Hermann's library.
Max arrives.
The Whistler is rescued for Liesel by Rudy, who asks her, for the last time, for a kiss.
Max and Liesel's friendship begins to grow when she gives him a hug, and he gives her
The Standover Man.
One day, Liesel brings snow down to the basement for Max.
Afterwards, he falls ill and unconscious, and she feels like it's her fault.
She spends lots of time reading to him and praying him back to consciousness.
Liesel has a falling out with Ilsa Hermann and begins stealing books from her.
During the air raids, Liesel begins reading aloud to the people.
After Hans is caught giving bread to a Jewish man, Max is forced to flee, causing Liesel
considerable desperation.
Then her papa is drafted, and she stays with Rosa.
She continues reading to the people in the bomb shelters and stealing books.
Rosa gives her Max's book, The Word Shaker.
After Hans returns, she sees Max among a group of Jewish prisoners being marched to
Dachau.
She is able to communicate with him and is whipped by the Nazi guards.
Rudy stops her from taking further risks. She wants him to kiss her, but doesn't say so.
Afterwards, she tears up a book in Ilsa's library and forsakes writing.
When Ilsa brings her a blank notebook, she begins writing the story of her life, called,
The Book Thief.
She's editing it in the basement when the bombs strike Himmel Street. Everybody she
knows dies in their sleep.
After the war, she's reunited with Max.
We meet her again, many years in the future, after she's just died.
Death gives her back her book, which he rescued from a trash truck all those years ago.
Rudy Steiner
Character Analysis
Rudy is Liesel's lemon-sunshine-haired sidekick. He's the Saukerl (pig boy) to her Saumensch
(pig girl), as they affectionately refer to each other. He starts off in the novel as a ten-year-old
boy with "bony legs, sharp teeth, gangly blue eyes, and hair the color of a lemon" (8.21). Bony
legs aside, Rudy wants to be a star runner, like Jessie Owens. Owens, a black American man,
won four gold medals in the 1936 Olympic Games, held in Munich, Germany. Needless to say,
Hitler was not pleased. Jessie Owens was trampling on his theories of white supremacy.
Seven-year-old Rudy so admired Owens that he painted himself with charcoal and tried to
reenact the race in down town Molching. We know immediately that Rudy probably won't grow
up to be a Nazi. Notice how the novel stresses Rudy's appearance. Physically, he is the picture
of the Nazi ideal. Mentally, he is the opposite. Jessie Owens is included in Rudy's vision of the
ideal. Rudy identifies with Owens because of the shared love of athletics, which cuts across
racial, ethnic, and religious lines, and other lines of difference. For Rudy, difference is not
something to be feared or eradicated.
Rudy's Growth
Before his death at fourteen, Rudy has met his goal. Not only has he become a really smart kid,
but he's also great athlete. He grown as a result of his efforts to balance staying alive and
resisting the injustices he sees around him. A horrible lesson is learned when this resistance
wavers, and ego takes over. To show off to his new Hitler Youth leaders and to show everybody
that he's becoming a success, he wins too many races at the Hitler Youth carnival.
As a result, he draws the attention of the Nazis, who are recruiting the best and the brightest for
a special school. Rudy's parents are horrified and have to make a terrible bargain. Rudy's father
Alex is conscripted into the military in exchange for Rudy staying in Molching, on Himmel Street.
Of course, these things aren't really Rudy's fault. Like the other characters, he's walking on egg
shells. One wrong move could mean his death, or the death of another.
But, before his death, he's stepped up his resistance activities. Following the example of Hans
Hubermann, Rudy takes bread to give to the Jewish prisoners marching to Dachau. He leaves
the food on the ground in the hopes that much of it can be eaten before it's detected by the Nazi
guards. Now he's not showing off, just trying to do a little good.
Rudy exercises similar judgment when he uses all his strength to stop Liesel from following Max
after she and Max have been whipped. He probably saves her life, and Max's as well. We see
him becoming more serious, more thoughtful. We see his intelligence blooming, as he processes
his world through sharp and kind eyes. His death is one of the most painful aspects of the novel
for the readers, for Liesel, and perhaps especially for his father, who returns to Himmel Street to
find his family dead.
Rudy and Liesel
Rudy, "the boy who refuses to fear the opposite sex" (8.23), loves Liesel from the moment he
meets her. His love grows and grows to the bitter end. We're talking both friendly love and
romantic love, in Rudy's case. This is a boy who's not afraid to ask for a kiss. Until, that is, the
day he rescues The Whistler from the Amper River. On that day Liesel's refusals hurts too much
to bear, and he stops asking.
We know Liesel loves Rudy as a best friend. We know that after she's whipped on the street
along with Max, she wants Rudy to kiss her. But this desire might have been born of all sorts of
conflicting emotions. Romantic interest was surely one of them, but not necessarily as romantic
as his love for her. Her feelings for him are never precisely revealed. Why? Because Rudy dies
before she can find out. Liesel is just fourteen when Rudy dies. Rudy is fourteen, too, but seems
much more sure of his feelings in that area. We have a hard time imagining him falling out of love
with Liesel at any point, but that might just be because he'll be forever fourteen in our eyes.
We are also told that after Rudy's death, Liesel enters the Amper River with all her clothes on.
She's heard talking about a kiss and saying the word "Saumensch" (86.34). "How about a kiss,
Saumensch," (45.41) are the words Rudy said to her that day he rescued her book from the
Amper River. The day he stopped asking. Liesel's moment in the river and her kissing Rudy's lips
when he's dead definitely suggest that she regrets not kissing him.
Rudy Steiner
Character Analysis
Rudy is Liesel's lemon-sunshine-haired sidekick. He's the Saukerl (pig boy) to her Saumensch
(pig girl), as they affectionately refer to each other. He starts off in the novel as a ten-year-old
boy with "bony legs, sharp teeth, gangly blue eyes, and hair the color of a lemon" (8.21). Bony
legs aside, Rudy wants to be a star runner, like Jessie Owens. Owens, a black American man,
won four gold medals in the 1936 Olympic Games, held in Munich, Germany. Needless to say,
Hitler was not pleased. Jessie Owens was trampling on his theories of white supremacy.
Seven-year-old Rudy so admired Owens that he painted himself with charcoal and tried to
reenact the race in down town Molching. We know immediately that Rudy probably won't grow
up to be a Nazi. Notice how the novel stresses Rudy's appearance. Physically, he is the picture
of the Nazi ideal. Mentally, he is the opposite. Jessie Owens is included in Rudy's vision of the
ideal. Rudy identifies with Owens because of the shared love of athletics, which cuts across
racial, ethnic, and religious lines, and other lines of difference. For Rudy, difference is not
something to be feared or eradicated.
Rudy's Growth
Before his death at fourteen, Rudy has met his goal. Not only has he become a really smart kid,
but he's also great athlete. He grown as a result of his efforts to balance staying alive and
resisting the injustices he sees around him. A horrible lesson is learned when this resistance
wavers, and ego takes over. To show off to his new Hitler Youth leaders and to show everybody
that he's becoming a success, he wins too many races at the Hitler Youth carnival.
As a result, he draws the attention of the Nazis, who are recruiting the best and the brightest for
a special school. Rudy's parents are horrified and have to make a terrible bargain. Rudy's father
Alex is conscripted into the military in exchange for Rudy staying in Molching, on Himmel Street.
Of course, these things aren't really Rudy's fault. Like the other characters, he's walking on egg
shells. One wrong move could mean his death, or the death of another.
But, before his death, he's stepped up his resistance activities. Following the example of Hans
Hubermann, Rudy takes bread to give to the Jewish prisoners marching to Dachau. He leaves
the food on the ground in the hopes that much of it can be eaten before it's detected by the Nazi
guards. Now he's not showing off, just trying to do a little good.
Rudy exercises similar judgment when he uses all his strength to stop Liesel from following Max
after she and Max have been whipped. He probably saves her life, and Max's as well. We see
him becoming more serious, more thoughtful. We see his intelligence blooming, as he processes
his world through sharp and kind eyes. His death is one of the most painful aspects of the novel
for the readers, for Liesel, and perhaps especially for his father, who returns to Himmel Street to
find his family dead.
Rudy and Liesel
Rudy, "the boy who refuses to fear the opposite sex" (8.23), loves Liesel from the moment he
meets her. His love grows and grows to the bitter end. We're talking both friendly love and
romantic love, in Rudy's case. This is a boy who's not afraid to ask for a kiss. Until, that is, the
day he rescues The Whistler from the Amper River. On that day Liesel's refusals hurts too much
to bear, and he stops asking.
We know Liesel loves Rudy as a best friend. We know that after she's whipped on the street
along with Max, she wants Rudy to kiss her. But this desire might have been born of all sorts of
conflicting emotions. Romantic interest was surely one of them, but not necessarily as romantic
as his love for her. Her feelings for him are never precisely revealed. Why? Because Rudy dies
before she can find out. Liesel is just fourteen when Rudy dies. Rudy is fourteen, too, but seems
much more sure of his feelings in that area. We have a hard time imagining him falling out of love
with Liesel at any point, but that might just be because he'll be forever fourteen in our eyes.
We are also told that after Rudy's death, Liesel enters the Amper River with all her clothes on.
She's heard talking about a kiss and saying the word "Saumensch" (86.34). "How about a kiss,
Saumensch," (45.41) are the words Rudy said to her that day he rescued her book from the
Amper River. The day he stopped asking. Liesel's moment in the river and her kissing Rudy's lips
when he's dead definitely suggest that she regrets not kissing him.
Rudy Steiner Timeline and Summary
Rudy meets Liesel and immediately befriends her.
He also immediately proclaims his romantic love for her.
They become friends and join an apple stealing gang together.
When a bully tosses Liesel's book in the Amper River, Rudy saves it for her and asks her
for a kiss for the last time.
Rudy begins having problems with the sadistic leader of his Hitler Youth troupe.
After said leader breaks his ribs, he is able to move to another troupe.
He wins races in the Hitler Youth carnival and draws the attention of the authorities.
The authorities show up at his house and want him for an elite Nazi school.
Rudy learns that his father is going to war, so that Rudy doesn't have to go to the school.
Rudy and Liesel put bread on the road for the Jewish prisoners headed to Dachau.
Rudy stops Liesel from chasing after Max as he's being marched to Dachau with another
group of prisoners.
The next day, Liesel finally tells him about Max and shows him his own picture in Max's
book.
Rudy dies when Himmel Street is bombed.
Max Vandenburg
Character Analysis
The Jewish Fist Fighter
Max is only 22 years old when he enters the story as "the struggler" (Chapters 23, 26, 28). At first
his age is a bit surprising, because he almost seems like an old man. Later we learn that when
he was Liesel and Rudy's age, he was "the Jewish fist fighter" (Chapter 31). This might seem
surprising too, because Max is so beaten down by the time we meet him. On second thought,
though, we see this guy fight hard throughout the novel. Two years of hiding and starvation
requires considerable fight and endurance.
Even on Himmel Street, in the kindness of his new-found family, we see Max fighting in whatever
ways he can. Since he's now trapped in the basement, most of these battles must take place in
his vivid imagination. We see him fighting the Nazis by painting over that pages of Hitler's Mein
Kampf and writing his own stories over Hitler's words. Though, this may seem small in the grand
scheme of things, Max is fighting with the tools he has before him. For Max, simply surviving is
an act of resistance against Hitler. In the end, Max's fighting spirit wins out. He survives Dachau
and the Holocaust. When Max and Liesel have a joyful reunion, it's almost like the Jewish fighter
is punching Hitler right in the face.
Max's Survivor Guilt
For Max, these times are loaded with conflicting emotions. One of the most intense of these is
guilt. Before arriving on Himmel Street, he's already swarming with it. His fighting buddy, Walter
Kugler, is a conscripted German soldier, but offers to hide Max anyway. Max is forced to leave
his family. Even though his mother and the others push him out the door, he can't forgive himself
for leaving them behind. When Walter brings the sad news of his family's disappearance, Max
feels extra guilty about even being alive. His family almost surely has been taken to their deaths
at a concentration camp. Max finds it very hard to live with this knowledge.
On the walk to Himmel Street his guilt grows. Now he feels selfish for letting the Hubermanns risk
their lives by hiding him. Once he comes to know and love them, you can imaging he goes on
guilt overload. But, luckily, his pleasure over their company, overcomes the guilt. Max puts his
energies into creating the work of art that not only allows him an outlet for his imprisoned state,
but brings immense joy into the lives of those around him.
Max Vandenburg Timeline and Summary
Max is seen in hiding.
He's given a copy of Hitler's book and the other tools he needs to get to Himmel Street.
He arrives in Himmel Street and sleeps for three days.
Fairly quickly, he develops a close friendship with Liesel.
When Hans publically shows his sympathy for Jewish people, Max is forced to leave
Himmel Street, because Hans is afraid the Nazis will search his house.
We next see Max on the road to Dachau where he's reunited, briefly, with Liesel.
At the end of the novel, he comes to Alex Steiner's tailor shop looking for Liesel.
Max and Liesel have a joyful reunion.
Hans Hubermann
Character Analysis
Hans is Liesel's foster father and one of the great loves of her life. He's a super nice guy. Early in
the novel, this is how Death describes him:
To most people, Hans Hubermann [is] barely visible. An un-special person. […] Somehow […]
and I'm sure you've met people like this, he was able to appear as merely part of the background
[…]. He was always just there. Not noticeable. (1.22)
Considering how memorable a character Hans is, Death's statement might seem a bit puzzling at
first. But, we see what he means. If we saw Hans walking calmly through town, winging his paint
cans and harmonica, we might not see the hero inside him. We might see just another poor man
in a dreary, poor town.
But there's more to Hans. Perhaps, it's his gentle humility that hides him from the attention of
most. And Hans's ability to be "[n]ot noticeable" (1.22) is a huge asset in this novel. A flashier guy
might not have been able to successfully hide a Jew in his basement during the Holocaust. Even
when Hans is caught giving bread to the Jewish prisoners marching to Dachau, the authorities
don't search his house. Why? Because they can't imagine he would go that far.
Hans has true strength of character, as shown by his hiding of Max and his other acts of
resistance against the Nazis. These acts, along with his general kindness, have a huge effect on
Liesel and even on Rudy. Hans gives them a positive role model. He's a rare example of an adult
that they can really aspire to be like in the ways that matter.
Rosa Hubermann
Character Analysis
Rosa is Liesel's foster mother. When we first meet her, we don't necessarily trust her with Liesel.
We're nervous. And let's face it, Rosa is down-right abusive with her wooden spoons and her
constant scolding and criticism.
When Max arrives on the scene, we, and Liesel, see a very different side of Rosa. She's always
super-kind to Max and clearly believes that hiding him is the right thing to do. She shares her
food, her love, and everything she has. Helping to care for Max and seeing his suffering produce
an all-around change in Rosa, especially in terms of her relationship with Liesel.
In the end, Rosa stops the abuse, though not the endearingly foul language that she, Hans,
Liesel, and Rudy all use. Although she will never be to Liesel what Hans is, she becomes a
beloved figure. Rosa goes from wicked foster mother to comforter and even role model.
Frau Ilsa Hermann
Character Analysis
Ilsa Herman becomes a very important figure in Liesel's life. Through much of the novel she
remains a mysterious figure, fond of Nazi bathrobes and matching slippers. Later we learn that
Ilsa is in mourning for the son she lost some twenty-odd years earlier in an accident involving
barbed wire and freezing temperatures.
Ilsa knows Liesel because Liesel helps Rosa deliver laundry to her. When she sees Liesel steal
The Shoulder Shrug, Ilsa becomes intrigued by the girl and invites her into her library. When Ilsa
has to stop using Rosa's services, Liesel starts climbing through the library window and stealing
books. Liesel's provocative behavior helps coax Ilsa from her suffering. The girl gives Ilsa a
reason to reach out to another human.
In a way, Ilsa saves Liesel's life by encouraging her to write and giving her the blank notebook to
write in. If Liesel hadn't been in the basement writing when Himmel Street was bombed, she
probably would have died along with her family and friends. Afterwards, Ilsa saves the day again
by taking Liesel in after the terrible bombing leaves the girl traumatized and alone.
The Book Thief Narrator:
Who is the narrator, can she or he read minds, and, more importantly, can we trust her
or him?
First Person (Limited)
The Book Thief is narrated by an extremely overworked being who identifies himself as Death.
Some readers love Death as a narrator; others not so much. We tend to think it's an interesting
choice. Markus Zusak needed a narrator who could provide Liesel's point of view, but also
provide information that Liesel, as a young girl in a relatively isolated town, wouldn't know about.
He needed a narrator who could provide snapshots of the World War II outside of Himmel Street.
Zusak could've just used a third-person narrator, but by using Death the author is able to offer a
unique perspective on all the death and dying occurring during this historical period.
Now, Death is not omniscient – he doesn't know and see everything that's going on in the world.
He's gets his information just like we do – from his personal experiences and from what he reads
and hears about from others. In this story, much of what Death relates to us falls into the second
category. His chief source for the story he's telling is The Book Thief, the book Liesel writes
about her life.
But, for Liesel's story to make sense to us, Death needs to tell us about what's going on in other
parts of Germany, Poland, and Russia during World War II, to provide us with details Liesel
would have no way of knowing at the time she's writing her book. Dying is one of the main things
going on. He interweaves this larger context with the story of Liesel and the people she loves and
loses.
Check out Zusak had to say about why he chose Death as the narrator for The Book Thief:
Well, I thought I'm writing a book about war, and there's that old adage that war and death are
best friends, but once you start with that idea, then I thought, well, what if it's not quite like that?
Then I thought what if death is more like thinking, well, war is like the boss at your shoulder,
constantly wanting more, wanting more, wanting more, and then that gave me the idea that
Death is weary, he's fatigued, and he's haunted by what he sees humans do to each other
because he's on hand for all of our great miseries. (source)
Now what do you think? Was Death a good choice for the role of narrator? What would the book
have been like if it was narrated by a third-person narrator? Or by Liesel?
The Book Thief Genre
Young Adult Literature, Coming of Age, War Drama, Historical
Fiction
The Book Thief tells the story of Liesel Meminger, a young German girl coming of age in Nazi
Germany. The novel focuses on the joys and sorrows of Liesel, her foster family, and the Jewish
man they hide from the Nazis. While it's set during a historical time period, The Book Thief
doesn't give us a fact-based history lesson. We have to go outside the novel to get details on
many of the complex events discussed. Rather, the novel is more concerned with looking at the
Holocaust and Word War II from a particular point-of-view – the point-of-view of Liesel Meminger,
as told by Death, the narrator.
The Book Thief Tone
Take a story's temperature by studying its tone. Is it hopeful? Cynical? Snarky? Playful?
Desperately Hopeful
The novel focuses on characters in very dark and difficult situations. Just like how Death, the
story's narrator, is hoping to "to prove to [himself] that you, and your human existence, are worth
it" (4.33), the novel seems to be looking for glimmers of hope. The characters of the novel do
despair, but always manage to rise again with renewed courage. The novel makes us want to
believe that humans can grow, learn, and change. Yet, the tone admits that a world without the
fear and hatred that led to the Holocaust may be a long way off. Even, so the novel seems to
hope to inspire readers to take a stand against injustice whenever opportunities to do present
themselves.
The Book Thief Writing Style
Foreshadowing, Spoiling, Illustrated, A Book-Within-A Book-Within
a Book
The Book Thief features innovative stylistic techniques. The most obvious innovation (which
some readers love and others can't stand) is narrator Death's use of boldface text to relay certain
information, as here:
*** A SMALL ANNOUNCEMENT***
ABOUT RUDY STEINER
He didn't deserve to die the way he did. (37.9).
As in the example provided, these sections are used for a few of Death's favorite pastimes:
foreshadowing and plot-spoiling. Of course, he doesn't confine this to the boldfaced passages
the novel is laced with it. Death is aware of his habit, and after revealing Rudy's imminent death,
Death explains:
Of course I'm being rude. I'm spoiling the ending […]. […] I don't have much interest in building
mystery. Mystery bores me. It chores me. I know what happens and so do you. It's the
machinations that wheel us there that aggravate, perplex, interest, and astound me. (38.1)
But, be careful not to trust Death too much. He's a decent guy and all, but he fools us into
thinking there are no surprises left for us at the end. When, in actuality, he withholds from us the
fact that Liesel and Max will be reunited after World War II ends. Well, we can sure forgive him
for that. The foreshadowing of the other events makes us let down our guards and be surprised.
Death isn't all talk – he also provides illustrations. He gives us books within his books. The Book
Thief, the novel we are reading, contains two complete, illustrated stories written by Max
Vandenburg. These are The Standover Man and The Word Shaker, both written on painted-over
pages of Adolph Hitler's Book, Mein Kampf.
You should really see this. We can still see the traces of Hitler's book, peeking through the white
paint. Plus, there are excerpts from the other books that are important to Liesel. This includes her
own book, The Book Thief, the story of her life, which Death rescues from a trash truck and
reads over and over again before returning it to her when she dies.
What’s Up With the Title?
The title most obviously refers to Liesel Meminger, the chief book thief of the story. She's
officially given the title by her best friend Rudy Steiner at the end of Chapter 42. In this chapter,
Liesel steals The Whistler from Ilsa Hermann's library, the first of many such library raids. But,
since Rudy is her accomplice, isn't he a book thief, too? Come to think of it, he's more than just
an accomplice. He actual re-steals The Whistler from the Amper River, where the second leader
of the fruit stealing gang has thrown it after stealing it from Liesel (who stole it from Ilsa Herman).
Death, our narrator is also a book thief. When Liesel drops her newly completed memoir, The
Book Thief, after learning that all those she knows and loves on Himmel Street have died from
bomb blasts, Death steals the book from a trash truck.
And then there's Max Vandenburg, the Jewish man hiding from the Nazis, who commits an
ultimate act of figurative book thievery. He paints the pages of Adolph Hitler's book, Mein Kampf,
white and then sketches loving and frightening words and pictures of his life over the paint.
Hitler, while we're on the topic, is actually the biggest book thief of the novel. This becomes
apparent in Part 2, which features a massive book burning in celebration of Hitler's birthday in
1940. (You can watch footage of an actual Nazi book burning here.) Of course, this is no isolated
incident. Book burnings occurred throughout Germany, throughout Hitler's reign. Destroying the
books was symbolic of the desire to destroy the people who wrote the books and the people
represented in the books. Hitler's targets were primarily Jewish people, but he also went after
communists, disabled people, homosexual people, Jehovah's Witnesses, Gypsies and others
considered "undesirable" by the Nazi regime.
With every act of book-thievery, Liesel and her crew steal back whatever words and books they
can from Hitler, and even steal his book from him (though he doesn't know it!). Although this
doesn't (arguably) make a huge difference in the grand scheme of things, it makes a huge
difference in the lives of these tortured characters. The novel cautions us – don't take your books
for granted. Someone could steal them from you at any moment. And if someone does steal your
books, will you be ready?
What’s Up With the Ending?
From the beginning of The Book Thief, Death, the narrator, foreshadows the bombing of Himmel
Street. This terrible event kills all of Liesel's friends and loved ones. Well, not quite all. One
important person left in Liesel's life is Ilsa Hermann, the mayor's wife who gives Liesel access to
a whole world of books. Her street isn't bombed, and Ilsa takes Liesel in, briefly, after Himmel
Street is demolished. It's a pleasant and poignant surprise to see her reach out to Liesel in her
time of need.
But, the real surprise comes after World War II has come to an end, when Max walks through the
door of Alex Steiner's tailor shop, looking for Liesel. This happy reunion takes places in the
Epilogue. And it's brief. At this point, we've already learned that Liesel dies in Sydney, Australia
(Markus Zusak's hometown) after a long, happy life which includes a husband, three kids, and
even grandkids. But, Max's story ends when he and Liesel are reunited shortly after the war.
Some readers find this really exasperating. Max is such a loveable character and we want to
know about the rest of his life.
Other readers wonder if Max is the man Liesel marries and starts a family with. We think the
novel does leave open this possibility. Although the age difference (about ten years) makes this
scenario potentially problematic, it's easy to see Max and Liesel becoming a couple in the future.
It certainly seems like they can't live without each other, but whether this turns to romantic love,
we can only wonder.
We also find it intriguing that Max is the only major character whom Death doesn't describe
coming for. Death says he came for Liesel "only yesterday" (85.3). Since the novel was first
published in 2005, we can assume that yesterday is sometime in or around 2005. Liesel would
be about 76 years old, and Max about 86, so it's possible he's still alive at the end of the novel.
But then again, maybe not. At the very end, Death takes Liesel's soul to Anzak Avenue, which is
a real place in Australia, but maybe Death means an afterlife version. Anyhow, he takes her
there and shows her The Book Thief, her book. We are told, "A few cars drove by, each way.
Their drivers were Hitlers and Hubermanns, and Maxes, killers, Dillers, and Steiners…" (88.13).
Notice how Death seems to count Max among the dead. This means that Liesel must have
suffered from his death, but that everybody will soon be reunited in the afterlife, at least
according to Death's rather vague description of it.
Now, let's look at the novel's final lines, spoken of course, by Death: "I'm haunted by humans"
(88.17). First, this is a cute pun. Humans are haunted by ghosts, and some might even say by
Death. Death being haunted by humans is something to think about. Second, this is how Death
answers Liesel when she asks if her memoir, The Book Thief, (which he's finally returning to her)
makes sense to him. We take that as a "yes." Like Liesel, Death is haunted by what humans
have to go through, what they do to each other, but most of all by their acts of kindness and love.
At the start of the novel Death says that the most painful part of the job is seeing "the survivors,"
"the leftover humans," "the ones who are left behind, crumbling among the jigsaw puzzle of
realization, despair, and surprise" (1.20, 1.21, 1.22). In other words, according to Death, it's
easier to be dead than to be alive and deal with the loss of loved ones. Death is haunted by
those humans, because he can't forget the suffering they face. In some ways, this is what
Liesel's story, The Book Thief, is all about – even though she writes it before she loses Rudy and
the Hubermanns. So, in spite of our joy at finding Max alive, the novel ends on a rather
melancholy note, as it should, considering that almost all of the characters, and oodles of others
die in the story.
The Book Thief Plot Analysis
Most good stories start with a fundamental list of ingredients: the initial situation,
conflict, complication, climax, suspense, denouement, and conclusion. Great writers
sometimes shake up the recipe and add some spice.
Initial Situation
Liesel's loses one family, and gains another.
For reasons unknown to us at the time, Liesel's mother is taking Liesel and her little brother
Werner by train to live with foster parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann. The Hubermanns live on
Himmel Street in the town of Molching, Germany. Sadly, Werner dies on the train. Before Liesel
arrives in Molching, she attends her brother's burial in a snowy graveyard. She steals The Grave
Digger's Handbook from the cemetery after it falls from a young grave digger's coat. The kicker
is, Liesel can't read.
After arriving on Himmel Street, Liesel takes an immediate liking to her foster father, Hans, who
begins to teach her to read. Her foster mother, Rosa, at first seems scary and abusive, but as we
get to know her better, we can see love behind Rosa's coarseness. In addition to her foster
parents, Liesel meets her soon-to-be best friend and neighbor, Rudy Steiner. He will soon
become the Clyde to her Bonnie in the stealing of books, and, occasionally, food.
Conflict
The book burning…
Until the book burning organized by the Nazis to celebrate Adolph Hitler's birthday on April 20,
1940, Liesel isn't really aware of what it means to be living in Nazi Germany. Liesel hears a Nazi
spokesman calling for death to Communists as well as Jews, a light bulb goes off. The only thing
she knows about her father is that he was accused of being a communist. She realizes that Hitler
is likely behind her father's disappearance, her brother's death, and her mother's recent
disappearance. When Hans confirms her suspicions after the book burning, Hitler becomes
Liesel's sworn enemy. This conflict helps drive Liesel to steal her second book, The Shoulder
Shrug, from the burning pile.
Complication
Enter Max Vandenburg.
Turns out that Erik Vandenburg, a Jewish man, saved Hans's life during World War I, giving up
his own life in the process. Erik's son, Max, is now 22 and is running from the Nazis. Upon
learning of his plight, Hans readily helps arrange for Max's journey to Himmel Street. Hiding a
Jewish person in your home during World War II is one of the most dangerous things a German
person could do. It means a constant state of paranoia for all involved. Liesel forms a fast
friendship with Max.
During this time, Liesel also forms a complicated almost-friendship with the mayor's wife, Ilsa
Hermann. Ilsa saw Liesel steal the The Shoulder Shrug. She also pays Rosa to do her laundry.
When Liesel comes to her house on laundry visits, she invites Liesel into the library to read.
When Ilsa has to stop using Rosa's services, Liesel begins stealing books from her, though Ilsa
doesn't seem to mind.
Climax
Bread and Whips.
Everything changes in October of 1942 when "The parade of Jews" (55.4) comes through
Molching on the way to the nearby concentration camp Dachau. Hans feels compelled to offer
one of the Jewish prisoners a piece of bread and is whipped along with the prisoner by Nazi
guards. Hans is now desperately afraid the Nazis will search his house and find Max, so he
sends Max away that very night. His house is never searched, but Hans is conscripted into the
German army and has to leave Molching. Rosa and Liesel are left all alone.
Suspense
Will Hans return alive? Will Liesel ever see Max again?
These are the two most suspenseful questions for Liesel. She does everything she can to live life
well in spite of her missing foster father and friend. Liesel spends a lot of time thieving with Rudy
and helping Rosa. One night Rosa shows her the book Max left for her, a book written on
painted-over pages of Adolph Hitler's Mein Kampf. This amazing book only increases Liesel's
suspense over Max, even after Hans is sent back home after breaking a leg and barely escaping
death.
Denouement
Seeing Max, Liesel's book, and the bombing of Himmel Street….
In August of 1943, Liesel sees Max marching through Molching to the Dachau concentration
camp. She bravely walks with him in the procession. She learns he was captured some six
months earlier. The Nazi guards don't take well to Liesel's courageous display, and Liesel and
Max are both whipped. Rudy stops Liesel from following Max any further, and possibly saves her
life. Soon after, Liesel decides to give up books and Ilsa Herman's library. Ilsa presents her with
a blank book, and Liesel begins writing the story of her life, called The Book Thief. She writes in
the basement and is doing so when Himmel Street is bombed. Everybody she loves dies while
they sleep. In despair over the deaths, Liesel drops her book, but it's picked up by Death.
Conclusion
Reunions.
First we learn that Liesel has died after living a happy life with a husband, kids, and grandkids.
As the novel is about to close, we learn that she and Max are reunited at the end of World War II.
But, we don't learn what happens to Max after that. The novel ends with Death giving Liesel back
her book, The Book Thief, when he's taking her away. (See "What's Up With the Ending?" for
more.)
The Book Thief Allusions & Cultural References
When authors refer to other great works, people, and events, it’s usually not accidental.
Put on your super-sleuth hat and figure out why.
Literary and Philosophical References
Meinhe Book Thief Resources
Best of the Web
Websites
The Official Website of The Book Thief (US)
Your spot for the latest on Markus Zusak and The Book Thief.
The Official Website of The Book Thief (UK)
This website has some interesting information. It's fun to compare it with the US site.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
This site provides concise information and is a great quick reference for many of the events
alluded to in the novel.
The German Propaganda Archive
We can't recommend this site enough if you are interested in the propaganda aspect of the
Holocaust. Loaded with visual material, writings, and speeches, it helps us see the world that
Liesel and her friends were living in.
The Nazi Olympics, 1936
If you want some background information on Rudy Steiner's "Jessie Owens Incident," this is a
good place to start.
Indoctrinating Youth
Interactive slideshow about how the Nazi Party indoctrinated the German youth, including
educating German children and the Hitler Youth organizations that we hear about in The Book
Thief. Scroll over and click on images for more information. This is only a small portion of the
USHMM's exhibit on Nazi propaganda – the rest of the exhibit is definitely worth checking out
too.
The Holocaust Education and Archive Research Team (H.E.A.R.T.)
This site has lots of information about the Holocaust. A great source for your papers.
World War II: Behind Closed Doors
A provocative look at World War II, from PBS.
Documents
An Interview with Markus Zusak
Read about why, when, and how Markus Zusak writes.
An Interview with Markus Zusak
Our author muses about Death, the writing process, and so much more.
"Stealing to Settle a Score With Life"
Janet Maslin's review of the novel for the New York Times.
"It's A Steal"
A review from Philip Ardagh for the Guardian.
"Lost for Words"
A negative review of the novel for Times Online.
Videos
"Novel's Unique Look at the Holocaust"
An interview with Markus Zusak on ABC News.
Audio
"Call me Death: Odd Narrator of Girl's Story"
Click the "audio" button for NPR's interview with Markus Zusak.
The Book Thief Audiobook
SPONSORED
Purchase and download the Audiobook from Random House Audio
Images
Caught in the Act
Zusak is about to steal a book!
A Book Cover
On this cover, Death is shown looking like Death specifically says he doesn't look. What's the
deal with that?
A Book Cover
This one is very visually appealing, and shows Death with his trademark black hoodie-robe,
which he admits to wearing, but only when it's cold.
A Book Cover
This one is the standard American book cover.
Kampf (21.41, 21.44, 26.2, 26.3, 26.11, 26.34, 26.36, 28.16, 30.8, 35.164, 36.3,
Historical References
Adolf Hitler, also referred to as the Führer (throughout)
Jessie Owens (8.3, 8.21, 9.1, 9.3, 9.12, 9.16, 9.17, 9.22, 9.45, 9.47, 10.1, 27.64, 54.7,
54.66, 55.57, 84.56)
The 1936 Olympics (9.1)
Joseph Goebbels (15.34)
Joseph Stalin (45.15)
Musical References
Beethoven (43.73)
Mozart (43.73)
Strauss (43.73)
"Gloomy Sunday" (64.4)