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Liesel Quotes In The Book Thief

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Over the summer I read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. The novel contains many memorable quotes, with powerful meanings that can be applied to the reader’s life. The novel is the story of Liesel Meminger’s journey through the eyes of the narrator, Death. Liesel has many hardships in her life, but also a lot of good fortune. The novel shows both Liesel and Death’s reactions to each situation she encounters. The first quote is said by Liesel Meminger, the main character of the novel. It is the last line of Liesel’s novel titled The Book Thief. She acquires the blank book from Ilsa Hermann, and uses it to write her life story. She talks about all of her experiences, both the positive and negative. She ends the book with these words: “I have hated the words and …show more content…

The quote comes in when Liesel is watching books being burned by the Nazis. The following is said to describe human nature: “I guess humans like to watch a little destruction. Sand castles, houses of cards, that’s where they begin. Their great skill is their capacity to escalate.” (90) Death uses the quote to talk about Liesel when she is compelled to watch all of the books burning. Liesel does not agree with the books being burned, especially since the books she owns are her most prized possessions. However, she needs to see the pile of burning books out of curiosity and awe. I chose this quote because I believe that Death’s observation is correct. I think that as much as humanity strives to build and progress, they cannot help being destructive. There have often been times in our history when we have aimed to destroy instead of build, such as wars. Death said it can be traced back to our childhood, for example little kids always enjoy knocking down objects such as sand castles or blocks, It could be that for some individuals the need to destroy grows, causing devastating results. Throughout the novel Death makes many accurate observations on human

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