The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
"The Book Thief," authored by Markus Zusak, is a poignant novel set in Nazi Germany, narrated from the unique perspective of Death. The story follows Liesel Meminger, a young orphan who is sent to live with the Hubermann family in the fictional town of Molching after the death of her brother. Liesel grapples with her loss and feelings of abandonment while forming a close bond with her caring foster father, Hans, and her neighbor, Rudy Steiner. As she adapts to her new life, she discovers a passion for reading, stealing books even amidst the oppressive regime that seeks to control knowledge and expression.
The narrative intertwines Liesel’s life with the struggles of her Jewish friend, Max Vandenburg, who hides in the Hubermann's basement from the Nazis. The story captures the horrors of World War II, the hardships faced by civilians, and the profound impact of friendship and love amidst tragedy. As Liesel navigates the challenges of her environment, including book burnings and the looming threat of war, she ultimately finds solace in storytelling and the written word. The book concludes with Liesel surviving a bombing that claims the lives of her loved ones, leading her to a new chapter in life with the Mayor’s family. "The Book Thief" serves as a powerful exploration of humanity, loss, and the transformative power of words.
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Subject Terms
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
- Born: June 23, 1975
- Birthplace: Sydney, Australia
First published: 2005
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Historical fiction
Time of plot: 1939–45
Locale: German; Europe
Principal Characters
Liesel Meminger, young, orphaned girl growing up in Molching as the foster child of the Hubermanns
Hans Hubermann, her foster father, husband to Rosa Hubermann
Rosa Hubermann, her foster mother, wife to Hans Hubermann
Rudy Steiner, her best friend and neighbor in Molching
Max Vandenburg, Jewish fighter who hides in the Hubermann’s basement during World War II
The Story
The story begins in 1939 in Germany when the narrator, Death, meets Liesel Meminger for the first time. She, her mother, and her brother are traveling to Molching because the two children are going to live with a foster family there. (Liesel is told that her mother cannot take care of them because she is constantly sick.) However, Liesel’s brother dies on the train during the trip. At the end of the funeral in a small town along the line, one of the gravediggers drops a book on grave digging, and Liesel steals the first of many books that earn her the titular name.
When they arrive in Molching, Liesel is sent to live with the Hubermanns, who are an older, poor couple who have adopted her in part for the monthly stipend they will receive from the state. Having lost her brother and feeling abandoned by her mother, Liesel is haunted by the death of her brother and cannot sleep at night. While the wife, Rosa, seems a bit uncaring, the husband, Hans, is a calm, loving, caring man and he sleeps in a chair at Liesel’s bedside to calm her when she wakes up screaming.
Liesel does not adjust quickly to the town, but she makes friends quickly with Rudy Steiner, a young boy who lives down the street from her. Liesel’s introduction to school does not go as well, and she is alienated because she has had no education and cannot read. She is teased and disciplined often, but when Hans learns that she is illiterate, he offers to help her by reading the book she stole from her brother’s funeral: The Gravedigger’s Handbook. As Liesel begins to adapt to her new home and grows increasingly fond of reading, Nazi Germany continues to grow around her, and World War II begins to take shape. There are book burnings in the street, fierce demonstrations of German nationalism, but the financial stress of war also begins to show in the town.
Rosa earns money doing other townspeople’s laundry. However, when money starts to become scarce, customers begin to cancel their laundry service. The Hubermann household relies on the income, and believing customers will find it harder to fire a small child, Rosa sends Liesel out on her own to collect and drop off the town’s laundry.
On Hitler’s birthday, Liesel rescues a book from the smoldering remains of the bonfire, an act that goes unseen by everyone except the Mayor’s wife, Ilsa Hermann. Terrified, Liesel will not approach the Mayor’s house, although they are Rosa’s customers. When she finally must to go to the door, Ilsa answers and leads Liesel into the house and into her private library. Here, Liesel comes to read until the Hermanns stop their laundry service as well. Furious, Liesel takes to stealing books from the library.
One night, there is a knock on the Hubermann’s door. It is a young Jewish man named Max Vandenburg, who is the son of a soldier Hans served with during World War I and to whom Hans owes his life. It is now 1941 and it is no longer safe to be a Jew in Germany, so Hans is obligated to hide Max in the basement. Max and Liesel slowly begin to bond. On her twelfth birthday, she gives Max a hug, a gift, he believes, that needs to be reciprocated. He creates his own short book for Liesel titled The Standover Man.
With this gesture, Liesel and Max become very close friends. When she returns home each day, she tells him about her day and the appearance of the outside world since he can no longer see it for himself. One day, while playing soccer in the street, a group of uniformed Nazis come to check the quality of basements in the town. Liesel fakes an injury and manages to warn Max and the Hubermann’s before the soldiers reach their house. One of the soldiers inspects the basement, but Max stays hidden and the basement is too small to be of any use.
The Hubermanns live with Max safely in the basement for many months until one day a group of starving Jews is marched through the streets of Molching. As the town watches, Hans cannot help himself and steps into the street to give a piece of bread to one of the Jews. Both are whipped, and that night Max must leave in case the Gestapo come to the house. However, rather than be taken away, Hans’s application into the Nazi party is granted, and he is drafted into the army.
Hans is assigned to the Special Air Raid Unit, a detested job that includes the cleanup of destroyed towns and the collection of dead bodies. Air raids have become a part of life in Germany and in Molching, and the sirens are well known to Liesel and the others living on Himmel Street. After a few months, Hans breaks his leg while on duty and is sent home. Liesel is overjoyed, but this happiness is later countered when Max is one of the Jews marched through the street from Dachau. She cannot stop herself from running to him, and she is finally subdued by Rudy before she can get in any trouble. Furious, Liesel returns to the Mayor’s house and destroys a book from the library. Rather than be upset, Ilsa comes to the Hubermann house and gives Liesel a lined notebook so that she can write her own story. One night, she sneaks into the basement to edit her story, "The Book Thief," and Molching is bombed without warning. Rosa, Hans, and Rudy all die in the blast, while Liesel, being in the basement, is spared. She goes to live with the Mayor and Ilsa and leads a very long life.
Bibliography
Adams, Jenni. "Into Eternity’s Certain Breadth": Ambivalent Escapes in Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief." Children’s Literature in Education 41.3 (2010): 222–33. Print.
Koprince, Susan. "Words from the Zusak’s ‘The Book Thief.’" Notes on Contemporary Literature 41 (2011): 8–11. Print.
Smith, Scot. "The Death of Genre: Why the Best YA Fiction Often Defies Classification." ALAN Review (Fall 2007): 43–50. Print.
Zusak, Markus. "The Book Thief: A Young Girl in Nazi Germany Looks to Words for Solace and Escape." Read 56.3 (2006): 18–23. Print.