Liesel s book stealing never quite qualifies as criminality, unless youre being strict. Rudy s act serves as a statement against the nazis aryan belief system. Rudy retains his traits of loyalty, rebelliousness, and selfconfidence despite testing throughout the story. Liesel then steals books from book burnings by the nazis and from the mayors house. One such cause and effect relationship in the book thief is when liesel s brother, werner, suddenly died on the train and liesel discovered the gravediggers handbook on the ground while watching her brother waiting to be buried. This is particularly true for liesel, as the books she steals help form her own story. Empowerment in books liesel meminger expresses her feelings, independence, and power through books, whether it is through stealing, reading, or writing them.
Because of wartime rationing, rudy and liesel rarely have enough to eat and are hungry all the time. What sets viktor chemmel apart from the other members of the fruit stealing gang. It is the gravediggers handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. We need to understand that everything was in short supply, including food. Rudy sees a light go on in the house and warns her, and liesel grabs the whistler and runs. In this fanfic rudy and liesel get the happy ending that they deserv. Get an answer for why does liesel steal books in the book thief. She reads to the residents of himmel street in the bomb shelter during air raids, steals with rudy, and. What are the books liesel steals in the book thief answers. The story of book thief is about liesel meminger and is told by the death, who is haunted by humans. The book thief part three summary and analysis gradesaver. He shows kindness to liesel and rudy, and proves to be fair.
In the care of the hubermans, liesel befriends rudy steiner and together they steal books. Trust me, though, the words were on their way, and when they arrived, liesel would hold them in her hands like the clouds, and she would wring them out like rain. The book thief is a 20 war drama film directed by brian percival and starring geoffrey rush. Books play a crucial role in the development of liesel s character and. When rudy insists that liesel deserves a turn to read in class, she goes to the front of the class and does this. Explain how liesel s own attempt to write a book saves her life. Despite her inability to read, however, liesel is determined. Liesel begins by stealing books which,to her, is as necessary as food. He was the crazy one who had painted himself black and defeated the world.
She believes that rudy refused the fourth medal as a tribute to jesse owens, the black american athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 berlin olympics, much to hitlers dismay. The lucky book that gets saved by liesel is called the shoulder shrug. Rudy and liesel join a fruitstealing gang, and on the first day they steal twelve apples. First, rudy attempts to steal one of the biggest potatoes at mamers, the local grocery store. The whistler is the first book she steals from ilsa. Instead, shell start coming through the window to steal the books. The book thief, by markus zusak, takes place in 1940s nazi germany in the small town of molching. A song in the dark is the book liesel stole from ilsas library,before liesel received the duden dictionary and thesaurus.
There are many examples of guilt showed in the book thief, liesel showed quite a bit of that selfconflict. They also devise a plan to steal from otto sturm, a boy from school who delivers food to the priests every friday. In markus zusaks book, the book thief, liesel has to face many obstacles in order to see that she just. Explain rudy s reaction when he discovers that liesel is a book thief. While subjected to the horrors of wwii germany, young liesel finds solace by stealing books and sharing them with others.
Leader of gang of kids who steal fruits and potatoes. She also meets a young boy named rudy steiner, who goes on to be her best friend and lover. Zusak page 289 meaning behind the quotes the book thief the. Do not read this if you havent read the book because there are things in it that you wont understand unless youve read it. While at a nazi book burning ceremony, liesel and rudy are harassed by franz into throwing books onto the. The book thief ar test study guide flashcards quizlet. Liesel character since the beginning of time, people have used bravery to continue fighting in order to overcome the hardest things in life. This is the setting of the book thief city, country, and time period. Liesel and rudy knock otto off his bike and take the package, which contains eggs, bread, and a ham. They fall in with a gang of kids who steal apples from an.
What do liesel and rudy do with him and the group of older kids he hangs out with. Liesel goes through the window and looks for the whistler. In chapters twentyfour through twentyseven of the book thief, liesel and rudy s stealing increases in volume and frequency, and a lone struggler finds his way to the hubermann household. Summary liesel and rudy continue to steal from farmers with their gang of friends.
Liesel then realizes that rudy left her shoes by the house. They take the package to arthur, who calls the rest of the boys and cooks the food. Liesels book stealing never quite qualifies as criminality, unless youre being strict. In the book, liesel starts to steal books and feels bad for stealing them because she knows it is wrong.
As rudy points out, its almost silly to call taking books from ilsa hermanns library stealing. With hans and max gone, liesel does her best to go on. Liesel and rudy sad song the book thief jocelyn castillo. He returns after a while, and halfheartedly asks for a kiss, which liesel refuses as usual.
When he was set upon, he was slapped and clawed and obliterated by a girl who was utterly consumed with rage. The book thief of the title is a schoolgirl named liesel meminger, and the meaning of her stealing is not left unexplained. Not much is known about a song in the dark except that she stole it without rudy s help, and she picked the book because it was green. Sometimes, rudy would help liesel steal one book from the mayors wifes library for she only stole one book at a time.
Although in this story the friendship is more of rudy in love with liesel, but liesel was also filled with a brotherly love. Soon she is stealing books from nazi book burnings, the mayors wifes library, wherever there are books to be. The grave diggers handbook is the first book that liesel stole. When liesel moved to 33 himmelstreet rudy became her next door neighbour.
Rudy explains to liesel that he disqualified on purpose but never explains why. They take their substantial earnings back to frau dillers candy shop, where they buy a whole bag candy. Under the stairs in her home, a jewish refuge is being sheltered by her adoptive parents. Rudy and liesel return to their applestealing activities, but the gang has a new leader, viktor chemmel, who takes a disliking to them. The boys let liesel and rudy come along to steal apples and tell them that if they get caught on the guard fence they will be left behind. The main character, liesel meminger, takes on a role as the foster child of hans and rosa hubermann. He wants to be a thief, and stealing things cheers him up when something bad has happened, but he ends up being better at leaving things behind. Even though rudys with her when she steals it, its more closely associated with liesels relationship with max. Trying to make sense of the horrors of world war ii, death relates the story of liesel a young german girl whose book stealing and storytelling talents help sustain her family and the jewish man they are hiding, as well as their neighbors. Liesel and rudy continue to steal from farmers with their gang of friends.
They went to school together, and played soccer together,and got into some kid trouble together. She found it lying in the snow on the day of her brothers burial. The book thief by mark zusak showcases a friendship of two people named rudy and liesel along with how their friendship had matured over the course of time and how it will continue to evolve. Hans hubermann papa liesel s foster father and husband of rosa, hans is a former german soldier during the first world war, accordion player, and painter. A few days later, liesel and rudy go stealing again but are confronted with an axwielding farmer. In march of 1942, liesel and rudy make plans for liesel to steal another book from the mayors library. Asked in books and literature what is an example of falling action in the book thief. Liesel steals money from rosa so that she can do this. The reason being because she didnt own any books whos covers were green. As liesel and her best friend, rudy steiner, trade dubious. A group of women point him out, and thomas mamer snags him by the scruff of his neck.
What does rudy do to earn his extra laps and drills from franz deutscher. Her book thievery presents a pleasant counterpart to the very real crimes of the nazis. Ever since i read the book thief, i desperately waited for a movie to be made and once it came out, i wasnt very. Rudy steiner is liesel s neighbor and eventual best friend. Therefore, that scene in the book explained that liesel just wasnt ever ready to confirm that she loved rudy. Rudy feels an initial interest in liesel upon meeting her that, as readers learn, becomes unwavering, only deepening as he gets older. She brings it to the hubermanns house, and hides it under her bed. How does stealing books from the mayors house lead to a friendship with the mayors wife. Arthur berg is the leader of a group of young thieves who steal food. When liesel and rudy steal books and food it is a small way of defying hitler, empowering themselves, and building their identities. There are many cause and effect relationships in the book thief.
In her mind, stealing the books is worth it because she wants them so desperately. Set in germany in the years 19391943, the book thief tells the story of liesel, narrated by death who has in his possession the book she wrote about these years. In the book thief how does liesel and rudys friendship. They run around a corner and pause, and rudy is confused by the book, but he immediately senses that liesel never intended to steal any food. Rudy wants to be the one to go in this time, but liesel wont let him. Liesel is the book thief referred to in the title because liesel is fascinated by the power of words. Rudy has his own unique relationship with stealing and giving. Liesel has a thirst for knowledge and the books provide her with both knowledge and escape from the sadness of. Liesel s book theft is explored more in the book, and the mayors wife even tries to catch her doing it. The theme of stealing and giving in the book thief from. He is wowed by liesel and her strength, and the two of them become friends and start hanging out together quite a bit. The thievery of the novels title also seems like less of a crime in the context of the story. Liesel steals her first book, titled the grave diggers handbook, when it falls out of the gravediggers pocket.
So begins a love affair with books and words, as liesel, with the help of her accordianplaying foster father, learns to read. That is, she has an obsession with stealing books and the first book she steals, the grave diggers handbook, was stolen before she could even read. At first it is liesel s shoes, but then he purposefully leaves the teddy bear for the dying pilot and bread for the starving jews. Rudy and liesel join a fruit stealing gang, and on the first day they steal twelve apples. They only stole from people who could afford to lose it. Afraid to tell their families about what they are doing, they eat all the apples and get bellyaches. With hans hubermmans teaching, it is the first book that she learns to read. Liesel stole books from a grave digger, a bonfire and the mayors wife, ilsa herman. These petty thefts were also a bonding experience for the two. A few weeks later the leader of the stealing ring gives liesel and rudy a bag of chestnuts, which they sell door to door. Afraid to tell their families about what they are doing, they eat all the apples. The book thief why is rudy and liesels friendship a.
255 709 68 310 814 207 414 1577 550 598 959 1031 554 1284 570 287 1480 513 861 1107 462 649 671 466 503 829 875 509 1334