Theme

         Imagine your mother is hauled away by the Nazis because she is a Communist, and you are sent to live with foster parents. Liesel Meminger, in The Book Thief, by Marcus Zusac, has lived this exact story.

         This book is about coping with extreme tragic events. Liesel, a girl orphaned by her mother, overcomes tragic events by exhibiting strength and courageousness throughout the book. Her story is one in which many terrible things happen. One way she copes with tragedy is by reading books. When she reads a book, she becomes a part of the book’s world, and reality of her own world is lost. In the beginning of the book her brother dies right next to her. Liesel deals with her brother’s death by stealing her first book. This book, The Gravediggers Handbook, is something she cannot read, but eventually her foster father, Hans Hubermann, teaches her to read. As she reads this book, she finds that the book is a great way to escape from reality. Second, when Liesel finds out that her original mother is dead, she reads the book that she stole from one of the bonfires that celebrated Hitler’s birthday. This shows her bravery because she doesn’t believe in what Hitler is doing in Germany. In The Book Thief, she says, “I hate the Fuher.” Then, her foster father tells her that she can’t say that in public, but it’s fine in private. She is rebelling against Hitler by stealing a book at his celebration. Lastly, she shows courage because at the end of the story when everyone on her block dies, including her foster parents and her best friend, in a bombing, she walks proudly out of the mayor’s office and down into the street, so that people would see she is a survivor. She also leaves a letter of apology to the librarian for stealing books. One way that Liesel continues on with her life is she starts writing a diary. To conclude, Liesel has had a hard life. Her original mother was a communist and was taken away by the Nazis when she was only 9 years old. She falls in love with reading when her foster father teaches her how to read.
        She uses reading to cope with tragedy. She develops a great friend, Rudy, and has many adventures with him. She loses her parents, her brother and her best friend. Liesel shows strength by defying Hitler’s government and tries to start her life over by writing down her anecdotes.