What is a friend? A common response to this question seems to be someone who accepts another for who they are. Another less used response to the same question is someone who leave another better than they once were. These two half definitions of friendship come to gather to explain that friend is someone who takes another how they already are and leaves that better than their previous state. True friendship often adds loyalty to ones character resulting in acts of courage. One of the strongest examples of the previous statement in found in the friendship of Liesel Meminger and Max Vandenburg in Markus Zusak’s writing, The Book Thief. Through her friendship with Max, Liesel’s rebellious behavior changes and she becomes more loyal, resulting …show more content…
This may be the reason why death sees in colors as explained by Zusak, “A single hour can consist of thousands of different colors. Waxy yellows, cloud-spot blues. Murky darkness. In my line of work, I make it a point to notice them” (Zusak 4). One such scene includes the building of the snowman in the Hubermanns basement. Max accepts Liesel’s child-like sense of entertainment. While Liesel loyally builds a snowman for Max. When the snowball scene turns out wrong, Liesel loyally tried to nurse him back to safety. Liesel had the courage to accept befriend Max and loyal enough to keep it a secret. Courageously, Liesel went ahead and befriended Max. Liesel made Max feel wanted and his whole attitude changed. Instead of feeling like an unwanted Jew that represented everything wrong with Germany, Liesel made Max feel like a human. In other words, Liesel took Max how he already was and left him better than he was previous to their relationship. Liesel courageously developed loyalty toward Max in a time when she could have seen him as an enemy. For this reason, Liesel best illustrates courage in The Book Thief by befriending
After her mother learns she cannot look after Liesel and her brother anymore, she decides to take them to a foster family. Her brother, Werner dies on the train ride there. Liesel meets her new foster parents Hans and Rosa Hubermann. Hans and Rosa Hubermann find a purpose during the war by protecting and caring for Liesel. Liesel found joy and comfort in reading to Max while he was in the coma.
He talked about how her words and tears had saved him and gave him the strength to fight. Max writes “liesel- I almost scribbled this story out. I thought you might be too old for such a tale, but maybe no one is. I thought of you and your books and words, and this strange story came into my head. I hope you can find some good in it.”
Friendship offers numerous blessings that enrich life. A good friend makes happy days brighter and sad days more tolerable by demonstrating loyalty, optimism, and a spirit of adventure. Loyalty is staying faithful to a friend through both good and bad times. Optimism is looking on the bright side no matter how bad the situation may be. An adventurous spirit is being willing to take risks and try new things.
Firstly, after moving into a different town, she makes a lot of new relationships. In the beginning of the novel, Liesel starts having a hard time trusting and allowing herself to be vulnerable
Both these protagonists happen to be political refugees avoiding Nazi persecution: Liesel’s parents were Communists and Max is a Jew. Max and Liesel alike have recurring nightmares about the last time they saw their families and these help Max and Liesel link themselves in areas where no one would understand their pain due to the loss of their family. Unlike most relationships theirs is based on their similar past and personalities as well as unspoken understanding along with the trust for each other. These similarities form a strong bond between Max and Liesel and this makes “The Standover Man”, a book compiled by Max using pages from “Mein Kampf” important, as Max helps Liesel realize that the power of words can be used to delight as well as harm others. “The best standover man I’ve ever known is not a man at all...”, a line within “The Standover Man” implies that Max believes that Liesel and he need each other and this friendship is unique to both of
“Friendship isn’t about who you’ve known the longest. It’s about who walked into your life, said “I’m here for you and proved it.” These words perfectly describes the beginning to Liesel and Rudy's friendship. In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Rudy and Liesel, younger teenagers, create an unbreakable bond that keeps them together through Germany during World War II. Rudy's outgoing, caring, and loving personality is shown in The Book Thief when he sticks up for his friends, he jumps into the winter water to save Liesel’s book, and how he keeps all of Liesel’s secrets.
Just a few little things someone does can make it all worth it, to keep living, like bringing someone a snowman. The final quote I chose for Max and Liesel is another moment of closeness for them. It happens just after Max wakes up from being sick and asleep for days and days, and he confides in Liesel. “Trepidation found its way onto his face and he made a
Liesel came out. They hugged and cried and fell to the floor” (Zusak, 365). This quote is when Liesel and Max are grown up. Max survived the concentration camps and came back for Liesel, even after all that time. This demonstrates their strong relationship and how much they meant to each other.
So when Liesel read his story after he left it still made their relationship grow stronger and stronger. “And she walked over and hugged him for the first time. ‘Thanks, Max.’ At first, here merely stood there, but as she held onto him, gradually his hands rose up and gently pressed into her shoulder blades. ”(Zusak 222) When after Liesel embraced him and said thank you, Max decided that he should give her a gift.
The theme of this book is learning to love and care for the people around. How I came to this conclusion is by how Liesel acts towards Max, her foster parents, Rudy, and her neighbors. Liesel cares for people even if they weren't like her and she doesn't understand why there is hatred in this world. She wanted the world to be a happy place for everyone including Jews to be friends with one another. On page 426 in ‘The Book Thief’, when Rudy’s father went to war Liesel could relate to Rudy because “her mother.
To love is to risk. Whether that is risking life, belief, health, or reputation, it is still a risk at any rate to give devotion to another. No era in history knows this better than during the Holocaust. Still, the most unexpected of people would die trying to help Jews escape persecution, they would help others who didn't share the same moral foundation as they did, they would share food rations when they barely had enough for themselves, or they would risk their public standing and forever be labeled as a sympathizer just to help a suffering soul regain his balance. Similarly, Markus Zusak's The Book Thief demonstrates a complete comprehension of how humans act against self preservation and individual comfort when challenged with harrowing situations that appeal to their own personal connections.
A main reason Liesel develops into the character she is by the end of the novel is due to the individuals she meets and her relationships with them. When Hans Hubermann becomes
After years of being lonely, Max feels like he has a friendship with Liesel. They try their best to protect each other as they both go through this hard time
‘That [Death] in a way was a metaphor for the idea that this book is about people doing beautiful things in a really ugly time.’ (Zusak, 2010) One of the central themes presented in The Book Thief is the idea of family. It is evident in the text that the idea of a family is not just limited to those in which we are inherently connected; it encompasses those we care for. Her arrival on Himmel Street, leaves Liesel struggling to face the abandonment she has experienced with her mother leaving her for a reason she does not understand and the devastating loss of her brother, Werner, whose ghost haunts her throughout the novel.
In the novel, Liesel’s behavior shows justice and love through her friendship with Max. Although her relationship with Max in the beginning of the book was rather awkward, soon her perspective towards Max soothes and their relationship bonds to a friendship. There are some times when Liesel’s actions were unbelievable, especially during the Jew parade. “ ‘ You have to let go of me Liesel.’