Analysis of The Book Thief Essay

Markus Zusaks The Book Thief is a story about a young girl named Liesel as she struggles to find friends and family in World War II. In the story Zusak uses Liesels feelings and bonds with her family and friends to show how forming ties with others can be a life changing event.

At the beginning of the story Zusak, shows Liesel as a shy, stubborn, and timid girl, but when she opens up to Hans she starts to talk and interact with more people. Liesel would not get out of the car, and, she clung to, she held on and refused to go inside. When reading these lines I understood that she was not yet ready to let go of her old life. She was not ready to let go of her biological family, a brother who had just died not long ago, a mother who left for her safety and well being, and a father that she never knew.

With the unknown help of Hans, her foster father a kind soul, who was willing to except anyone no matter what theyve done, and her foster mother, Hans wife, a brash, outspoken, warm hearted woman, Rosa. One of the fist things that Hans said to her was You know how to roll a cigarette? which was right after Rosa hade yelled at her to have a bath with some unkindly words, You filthy pig! Why wont you get undressed? Rosas harsh words and criticism helped her come out of her shell. They helped her become more out spoken like how you see her with Rudy and her relationship later in the book. With Liesel and Hans it was a bit different. He was warm and kind from the first day. He didnt say anything about her not taking a bath, he understands that she was in an unfamiliar place and it can be frightening for a young girl, especially after everything she has been through. He understood that she needed time to mend and when she was ready she would open up. As she comes to know him more she finds that he provides a sense of security and that father figure that she has been yearning for but has never had.

As the story starts to unfold, Zusak presents another character that has more of an impact on Liesel than any other character; Max. They started off as complete strangers like anybody else and they gradually became friends, best friends even. Dont diePlease, Max, just dont Die were some of the words said to Max from Liesel. Even after knowing Max for such a small amount of time she seems to care about him a lot. Towards the end of the book, when Max is being taken away by the Germans, Liesel cries out to him and runs up to him, even though that was bad in her part, and hugs him and tells him to come back to her no matter what happens and no matter what time. In the end, Max and Liesel are reunited and are happy to see each other after such a long time.

Although the story is set in a time during war, Markus Zusak shows that no matter what you can have loved ones and people to help you. Every day we face new problems and are trashed with the challenge of solving them but nobody said that we cant have people by are side guiding us and helping us though our bad times.