The Book Thief Quotes

20 July 1944, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg placed his briefcase beside the Fuhrer and left for a phone call. Moments later an explosion rocked the compound but the Fuhrer was alive and Stauffenberg paid with his life later that very same day. Although Hans Hubermann is just a character in Marcus Zusak’s novel, The Book Thief, he too resisted the Fuhrer and his party. Hans was an anti-Nazi much the same as Stauffenberg, although they went about their resistance in radically different ways, they both worked against the oppression that the Third Reich instilled upon the land it occupied.

Reflection: The Book Thief contains many important concepts, but three of them play major roles in developing the characters and creating themes. One key concept discusses the power and significance of words. As seen in the novel, words can be used to influence people in negative and positive ways. For example, reading and writing save the lives of Hans, Max, and Liesel in the form of letters, a copy of MKPF, and Liesel’s life story. On the other hand, Hitler uses words to encourage the German people to hunt down and kill Jewish people. This shows how words can kill people and save people’s lives. Another important concept in The Book Thief is that life is unpredictable, and it can’t be meticulously planned out. Fate and chance will make a difference. This is shown when Hans switches seats with Reinhold Zucker in the military vehicle. Neither of them knows that the bus will crash, and the person in that seat will be killed. But fate isn’t tested, so Hans’s life is spared, and Zucker’s life is taken away. The last major concept, and perhaps the most important, is used as the framework for one of the most crucial themes. It is that humanity displays its duality in extreme ways. From Hans risking his life to give a piece of bread to a frail, old man, to Hitler killing six million Jews in cold blood, humans are capable of the amazingly kind and the incredibly

Liesel Meminger is a main character described in “The Book Thief”. After her mother can no longer support her Liesel and her brother, although he does not make the journey, are sent to a foster home in a small town in Germany called Munich were Liesel meets Hans and Rosa Hubermann or Mama and Papa. Although the initial warming up is hard Liesel soon becomes very close to her Papa. “Over the next few weeks and into summer, the midnight class began at the end of each nightmare” (Zusak,69). Hans teaches Liesel each night how to read and write to ease her mind when all Liesel can think about is her dead brother. Hans truly becomes Papa when Liesel trusts Hans will never let her be

Challenge: The truth that he is used to these words. Anti-semitism prejudice against jewish people is a fact of life in warsaw as many european cities, warsaw 350,000 jews, Ben doesn't dwell on the petty hatreds of ignorant people. (6 )

According to Napoleon Bonaparte, courage isn’t having the strength to go on … it’s going on when you don’t have strength. Liesel, Max and Hans are the main characters in “The Book Thief” that have acts of courage entirely change their lives. This novel takes place during WWII in Germany. Countless Jews are desperately looking for the courage to endure the harsh rule of the Nazis. On the other hand there are some Germans who use their courage to stand against the Nazis in their own exceptional ways. The characters in “The Book Thief’ show acts of courage and this greatly affects the course of their life and relationships with other characters.

Characteristics and significance – He is a cruel man that runs the Nazi party, which is responsible for the air raid that bombed Himmel Street. He is also the reason Max was hiding and living in fear.

Markus Zusak uses setting and perspective to express theme in his novel, The Book Thief. Zusak uses setting and perspective to express theme by showing books being burned because they went against Adolf Hitler’s political views, Hans joining NSDAP, and Max having to stay in the basement because he was a Jewish man and Jews were not allowed to live in Germany. The Book Thief follows a young girl named Liesel who is stripped away from her mother and given to her foster parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann. Throughout her stay with the Hubermann’s she steals many books from book burnings and the Mayor’s library. This becomes a major point of conflict between her character and Hans and Rosa Hubermann. Markus Zusak uses setting and perspective to express theme in The Book Thief by having the story take place in Nazi Germany, a place that frequently suppressed points of view.

Hope is elusive and one needs courage to ensure it does not fly away. In The Book Thief, Markus Zusak develops the theme of courage and hope throughout the novel, showing people need both to survive. He portrays the theme effectively through the characterization of Liesel as well as the symbolism of Hans Hubermann’s accordion.

In Nazi Germany, the axis fought extremely hard to oppress Jews and dehumanize them. These ideals were pushed upon the German citizens relentlessly during Hitler's reign through laws. In the book, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, the author presents the readers with characters who are under Nazi rule. These characters are all affected by the government in different ways, but the overarching theme of the book is the dehumanization of good people. Hans, Rudy, and Liesel all give humanity back to someone who has been dehumanized, even in the face of adversity.

In “The Book Thief”, there are many characters that show love between each other, such as Death and Liesel, Liesel and Hans, Liesel and Rudy, Liesel and Max. Each of these loves are very different, each shows a different kind of love, many of these are very important towards Liesel. There are many caring characters in this book but there must be a kindest. In my opinion, the kindest character in “The Book Thief” is Hans Hubermann. Hans was the most caring person in the book— he was always kind to Liesel. There are many reasons why Hans is the kindest person in this book, at least to Liesel.

Heartbreak and sadness is all around, but so is beauty, love, and triumph. Which should people choose to focus on? In Markus Zusak’s, The Book Thief, the main character, Liesel Meminger constantly is being reminded of the grief that comes with living in the 1940s, the prime of Hitler’s power. But, she also endures light and beauty during this period in her life. Two dominant contrasting ideas entered her world, and for Liesel, she focuses on each of them. Liesel Meminger endures multiple heartbreaking darknesses in her few years on Himmel Street, from her brother dying when she first arrived, to Max Vandenburg and Hans Hubermann leaving, and then almost everyone she grew to know on Himmel Street dying. However,

Notwithstanding the theme of consequences, The Book Thief plays on the causes and effects that shaped Liesel’s life all while informing the reader of the travesties that occurred during the Holocaust.

“When a Jew shows up at your place of residence in the early hours of the morning, in the very birthplace of Nazismn, you’re likely to experience extreme levels of Discomfort, Anxiety, Disbelief and Paranoia.”, The propaganda of Hitler was the most important aspect in the The Book Thief because it often set the mood that I was feeling and that feeling was sick and cringing while reading the Novel. Before the war, The Nazi’s passed laws to effectively get rid of the Jews Human Rights and basically stripping and restricting them from being “human”. Max, The “Jewish Fist Fighter”, was a victim of the Propaganda and his presence served and reminded me the vast superiority that the German’s had against the Jews during the Holocaust.This made me think so negatively on the Propaganda that was set against the Jews and completely disagreeing with the way Hitler was seeing things because of the fact that for Max to be, “lucky”, lucky meant that his home was the Hubermann’s freezing basement

Hans is the most courageous person, in the Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, for he helps others, no matter the risk, and is able to keep smiling through difficult times.

Guilt is one of the predominant themes in the novel The Book Thief. Many characters in the novel undergo the feeling of guilt. One particular character who experienced guilt was Hans Hubermann. Throughout much of his life, Hans has felt responsible for the death of Erik Vandenburg. Erik and Hans were serving in the same German battalion in World War I when the incident occurred. A deadly conflict had erupted near the two friends’ locations. The sergeant of the battalion asked for a single soldier to stay behind to write letters. Each soldier knew this volunteer would be the sole survivor. Out of pride, no soldier volunteered, but out of nowhere Erik volunteered Hans. Hans as predicted was the only soldier to survive. This is where Hans’ guilt began. He often thought about how he could have volunteered Erik instead. Hans felt like the lesser friend. His guilt, however, is what leads him to accepting Max, Erik’s son and a Jew, into his home. This act of sacrifice relieved Hans from a portion of his guilt.