Max Vandenberg Thesis

Liesel and Max bond through their love of books. When Max becomes very sick, Liesel reads to him at any given moment. When Max was better, her wrote Leisel a

Max creates a story for Liesel, which serves as a form of escape. Zusak writes, "It was the story of the everlasting Jew, who lived forever and died at the hands of Hitler" (Zusak 365). Max's story provides Liesel with a sense of empowerment and allows her to confront the horrors of the war. Through storytelling, she is able to process her emotions and find comfort, demonstrating the freeing effect of words. By showing Liesel's connection to books and the power of storytelling, Zusak illustrates how words can offer solace, strength, and a sense of freedom in the face of

The Hubermanns are also hiding a Jewish man, Max, from Hitler and his devious Nazi regime. Hitler wants to kill off all the Jews, and create one supreme Aryan race. Throughout the course of the book, all of these characters have something to do with who lives or who dies, depending on the words they use. The power of words is so strong that they can save or destroy someone or something physically or emotionally. Max is saved by a collection of words by the book Mein Kampf when he is riding the train to the Hubermanns to try to get to safety from the wrath of the Naxi regime.

Liesel has realized she must respect the man who was the reason for her and her entire families suffering. She has realized she officially has lost her home, that she is completely isolated from the community. “It was quite a sight seeing an eleven year old girl try not to cry on church steps, saluting fuhrer”(Zusak 115). After losing all of these emotionally wrecking things Liesel learns and understands she needs to keep going forward. She refuses to give up she although times are rough manages to think, it could be worse.

Liesel grows through choosing to be different from most people by hating Hitler and the Holocaust as she expresses a few times. She also grows smart to realize that what is going on isn’t right. She also starts stealing books to read which also makes her guilty. Towards the end she loses almost everything to the bombing of her street where she is saved. After all of these tragic events in her life she has loosed

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

Their relationship dominates the middle section of the book, as Max comes to Himmel street just as part three starts, and Liesel thinks about him almost constantly as soon as he arrives. Consequently, the first quote I chose for them was when Liesel first catches a glimpse of Max in the kitchen. “She lingered a moment before her feet dragged from behind. When she stopped and stole one last look at the foreigner in the kitchen, she could decipher the outline of a book on the table” (Zusak 186). In this scene, Liesel sees Max’s book, and this is the start of the two of them and their connection with words that appears continuously through the rest of the novel.

- Liesel, knowing the outcome of running through a stream of Jews, wanted to find Max and see him for the last time before he would disappear for years. She wanted to see him and thank him for everything he 's done for her; the stories, the fun times they 've had. She willingly put herself in a bad situation because she loves him, and she knows that he loves her too. She knew that if Max saw her, it would make him the happiest

In The Book Thief, Liesel and her foster family fight against hate and intolerance by sheltering a Jewish boy named Max. Keeping Max in their basement is risky, and the Hubermanns know

Another important character in The Book Thief and in Liesel’s life is Max Vandenburg. Max is a Jew who loved to get in a fistfight in his younger years. Liesel and Max become good friends after realizing they have many things in common such as the love of words and nightmares. Hatred of Hitler runs deep in Max’s heart and he often writes about it. When Max first begins staying with the Hubermanns he feels ashamed and like a heavy weight on their backs.

Jews were being put in Concentration camps, but because of his knowledge he goes into hiding at the home of the Huberman’s. The book describes him as an introvert because in the book it states, “He was the type of person who worked quietly away for very little reward. He kept to himself...”(Zusak 188). Max has positive solutions that he wants to fulfill in a negative way. We can can determine this because Zusak expressed in his writing, “Punches are thrown, the crowd

Another moment that helped the connection between the two is when Liesel had nightmares and Hans would come in and comfort her by teaching her how to read or when they would go to the basement to teach Liesel how to spell and write. These moments shared between the two created a bond through books since Hans and she spent a lot of time together which developed the trust in Liesel towards

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.

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

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.’