Both stories reference max s persecution and his friendship with liesel. The war ends and hitler has given himself to death. The book thief critical essay tallus gibson liesel acquires many books throughout living in molching with the hubbermans but three that stick out are mein kampf, the stand over man and the word shaker. The story is an early affirmation of their friendship. At the beginning of the story, liesel was nine years old almost ten. The book thief cliffsnotes study guides book summaries. Meanwhile, max vandenburg, a jew, is hiding in a storage closet in stuttgart and receiving help from his friend walter kugler. They both rely on each other for comfort, friendship, and trust as well. The book thief part six summary and analysis gradesaver. The rest of the book is spent explaining these subjects. As liesel is helping max to hide from the nazis, max is in turn helping liesel realize the importance of words.
The book max wrote liesel is extremely special, and symbolizes their tight bond and relationship. The relationship between max and liesel is a great marvel in markus zusak s, the book thief, and is a huge turning point in the book as well. The hubermanns protect him from the nazi regime by hiding him in their basement under the staircase with a bed of tarpaulin sheets and a wall of paint cans max was born on. The stranger turns out to be max vandenburg, a jewish man with a unique connection to the hubermanns, and they proceed to hide him in their basement. Max vandenburg and liesel meminger are characters in the book thief, a novel written by markus zusak. Her reunion with max is somewhat reminiscent, too, of how she and rudy once fell to the floor in alex steiners shop, both of them longing for their fathers. I think max saw liesel as a pure, innocent figure and this helped cleanse him and give him hope in the world. These are lines from, the standover man, maxs loving gift to liesel on his birthday. Max writes these words in a fable called the word shaker. They go for walks together, often to dachau after its liberation, but are kept out by the americans. Death visits himmel street, but he doesnt take max s struggling soul, and he doesnt see liesel. Hans has true strength of character, as shown by his hiding of max and his other acts of resistance against the nazis.
These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of the book thief by markus zusak. I really enjoyed the book thief which i found compelling throughout. Perhaps the reason that these two characters gravitate towards each other is because of their incredible similarities. Feb 26, 2015 the stranger turns out to be max vandenburg, a jewish man with a unique connection to the hubermanns, and they proceed to hide him in their basement. Aug 31, 2015 this is a fanvid of the book thief by markus zusak. Taught to read by her kindhearted foster father, the girl begins borrowing. Liesel often helps alex steiner in his tailor shop. In the book thief, compare and contrast the lives of liesel. The protagonist of the book, liesel is also its moral center. Liesel benefits from max because she learns a lot about suffering and he is someone with whom she identifies. Maxs book, the word shaker, describes how liesels words give him strength and have the ability to cut down forests of hate. It would really defile the purity of their relationship.
The film is about a young girl living with her adoptive german family during the nazi era. When she first comes to live with her foster family, the. These three stuck out because they represent so much to her behind the actual words in the books. This is a fanvid of the book thief by markus zusak. Finally rosa makes liesel go out and play soccer to take a break. When max and liesel have a joyful reunion, its almost like the jewish fighter is punching hitler right in the face. The standover man is a more heavily illustrated story that max gives to liesel as liesel is still just starting to read. Once a reluctant soldier during world war i, he is a house painter and accordionist. The stand over man is a book that max wrote for liesel using the blank pages of mein kampf.
Get an answer for in the book thief, compare and contrast the lives of liesel and max. The book thief had struck for the first timethe beginning of an. Hardworking, intelligent even with her inability to read at the beginning of the story, brave, bold character summary. At the end of the day, its still up to you, and thats the beauty of books. He was more grateful to her than anything, it was hardly romantic. Writing and reading was liesel s comfort and ilsa provided her with it in multiple ways. The idea of a jewish male and a german girl becoming good acquaintances is an unimaginable, punishable thought in the time that the book thief is written. Aug 12, 2015 the book that was thrown into the river in the novel, was a book liesel had stolen to read to max. Unlike all the other jews, max keeps his head raised, hinting that he has hope for something, arousing the curiosity of the observers. She is in the centre and all of these things revolve around her. For max, simply surviving is an act of resistance against hitler. The film is based on the 2005 novel of the same name by markus zusak and adapted by michael petroni. What is the impact of max in liesels life and what is the importance of max as a character.
Sure, shes a book thief, but shes no ordinary criminal and is more relatable than one might expect. Mar 01, 2011 some of the differences about max and liesel are that liesel got away from being treated bad well somewhat. Death visits himmel street, but he doesnt take maxs struggling soul, and he doesnt see liesel. Taking place in wwii, with characters liesel and max from the book thief by markus zusak. In the book thief, compare and contrast the lives of. The book thief essays are academic essays for citation. She stood up and took the book from him, and as he smiled over her shoulder at some other kids, she threw it away and kicked him as hard as she could. This chapter serves as a moment of lightness during a very dark time for liesel. I do not own any of the movie clips, all rights go to fox and markus zusak. These two books use juxtaposition to help shield max from the nazis as well as connect max and liesel in a better way. What were the two books that max wrote for liesel called.
The book thief is their way of seeing the sky and the clouds again, to listen to the accordions music and to feel the dripping sun. A stunning tale of adolescence in nazi germany, the book thief follows the life of liesel meminger as she grows up in the home of her adoptive parents. Ilsa also encouraged a young liesel to start writing, even provided her with a blank book. As a boy, he enjoys fighting, and whenever he loses another boy would be. The book thief featurette a story unlike any other 20 geoffrey rush movie hd duration. It is a warm hearted,emotional film with fantastic acting by all the cast,likeable characters and a great storyline. Liesel is the book thief referred to in the title because liesel is fascinated by the power of words. The two stories max wrote for liesel were the standover man and the word shaker. In the book thief, the man hiding a jew named max vandenburg is decorator and parttime accordion player hans hubermann. After tragedy strikes her family, liesel is adopted by kindhearted workingclass painter hans hubermann geoffrey rush and his strict but loving wife rose emily watson. Liesel sits and talks to max, but he keeps sleeping for days.
Death tells that as liesel looks for max in the parade of jews, max also looks for liesel in the crowd of onlookers. Max, like liesel, comes to the story fresh from experiencing great loss. Other than the nightmares, liesels connection to max stems from the fact that he has a book. Liesel doesnt know about mein kampf or its significance she just wants to talk about books. When death captures me, the boy vowed, he will feel my fist in his face. These are lines from, the standover man, max s loving gift to liesel on his birthday. The standover man is one of two complete illustrated stories that appear within the book thief. Max and liesel are alike in many ways, one of which is the reoccurrence of nightmares about trauma they experienced in their childhood. In the basement of her home, a jewish refugee is being protected by her adoptive parents.
Ilsa knew that liesel was stealing her books, yet she never confronted or told on her. When the war was over and hitler had delivered himself to my arms, alex steiner resumed work in his tailor shop. Rudy becomes liesels best friend and falls in love with her, always trying to get a kiss out of her. Having lost her father because of his communist sympathies, and soon thereafter her brother and mother, she understands the pain of loss, and these experiences inform her actions and attitudes towards the other characters. He feels deeply guilty for leaving his family to save himself, an act he sees as a choice. The book thief was magically brought to life by 20th century fox. If it had been the whistler, the hubermanns secret would have been kept long after max safely escaped the basement. Zusak 161 max on the other hand had to go into hiding not seeing daylight in a long time always with a fear that someone would find him and take him away. Her adoptive father teaches her to read, and when the family hides a fleeing jew named max, liesel takes to borrowingstealing books that she reads to help keep his hopes and spirit alive.
Ilsa hermann sees liesel take the book and decides to share her own love of books with liesel by inviting her into her library. Based on the novel by the same name, the book thief is a 20 american drama. The book thief part four summary and analysis gradesaver. What is the impact of max in liesel s life and what is the importance of max as a character. His father saved hanss life during world war i, and later hans tries to save maxs life, which puts the hubermanns lives in great jeopardy. Hans hubermann papa liesel s foster father and husband of rosa, hans is a former german soldier during the first world war, accordion player, and painter. Liesels purpose contrast liesels purpose max liesel comparison max is an inspiration max writes stories for liesel has a friend 247 learned from each other max gives liesel courage liesel relates to max both went through similar life look out for each other shows her the real. This quote symbolizes max s strong and determined character. Liesel and max the friendship that develops between liesel and max is touching, heartwrenching, and extremely powerful. Max vandenburg click the character infographic to download. When he was set upon, he was slapped and clawed and obliterated by a girl who was utterly consumed with rage. For max, these times are loaded with conflicting emotions. Without ilsas library liesel would not have been labeled the book thief.
There are some particularly fine performances from the actors who play liesel sophie nelisse and her adoptive father geoffrey rush, and their. The book thief by markus zusak contains a number of characters. However, max vandenburg and liesel meminger went against this abomination during this time and during their friendship max vandenburg gave many things to liesel. Max recognizes that because liesel had to fight to gain her power over wordsonly learning to read at age tenshe understands their importance better than most people, which in turn gives her more power. Max and liesel have many similarities that help nurture their friendship. The mayors library becomes an even more important shelter now that liesels home life has become so suspenseful. He is telling us here the book is about liesel, her books, hans, erik and their shared accordion, the nazis, max eriks son, and the books liesel steals. Although liesel is nervous meeting max at first, they quickly become good friends. It tells the tale of a young german girl living in nazi germany who goes to live with new foster parents as the outbreak of world war two approaches. Sophie nelisse is set to star as liesel meminger and geoffrey rush as hans hubermann. He is one of six children and is obsessed with american track athlete jesse owens. They both have nightmares about their pasts, and they both see hans hubermann and his. There is more than meets the eye with the protagonist of the book thief, liesel meminger. Each liesel, max, rudy, hans or rosa who lived in the nazi germany and suffered the horrors of the war get the chance to a new life in this book.
In the film, it was the blank book max had given liesel. Max vandenburg is a german jew who takes refuge in the hubermanns household in molching germany on himmel heaven street during the events of world war two, developing a close friendship with liesel meminger. She shows him the word shaker, and he sees where he was. After this, liesel stays in bed for several days, then finds rudy and explains to him who max is.
At this age, liesel was unfortunately separated from her family, her father and brother died and her mother was most likely brought to a concentration camp. His father saved hanss life during world war i, and later hans tries to save max s life, which puts the hubermanns lives in great jeopardy. While subjected to the horrors of world war ii germany, young liesel finds solace by stealing books and sharing them with others. Markus zusaks the book thief, set in germany during world war ii, follows young liesel meminger as she struggles with the loss of her mother and brother and must go to live with foster parents, hans and rosa hubermann. Nov 22, 20 max ben schnetzer and liesel sophie nelisse the book thief while the restricted scope of the film helps to tell the main book thief storyline, the movie falls short of developing many of the presented events beyond interconnected, but mostly surfacelevel, displays of exposition and tension. The first standover man is his father, who vanishes at a young age.
Max vandenburg is the jewish man who hides in the hubermanns basement. The main characters are the teenage protagonist liesel meminger, her friend max vandenburg, and the narrator death. Rebellious in nature, liesel feeds her hunger for stories by stealing books from book burnings. The relationship of max and liesel by sharon lu on prezi. Max recognizes that because liesel had to fight to gain her power over wordsonly learning to read at age tenshe understands their importance better than most people, which in. These acts, along with his general kindness, have a huge effect on liesel and even on rudy. Get free homework help on markus zusaks the book thief. After finishing the book with tears in my eyes, i decided to rent the book thief movie from my local. The book thief is a 20 world war ii war drama film directed by brian percival and starring geoffrey rush, emily watson, and sophie nelisse. He boxes the fuhrer in the basement and is constantly aware of how the fuhrer manipulates the crowd with his words, turning the entire audience on max in his daydreams as well as in. They also both share a love of language and max writes many books for liesel including the, the word shaker and the standover man. Unfortunately max must hide in their basement cellar. Max needs liesel to brighten his life with stories from the outside world and to bring him the energy of youth. First, in many ways i felt that the book is about liesels different kind of loves for hans, for rosa, for rudy and max, and for books and living in general.
Also, the biggest thing max has bestowed on liesel is showing her the power of words. Max opens his eyes twice but both times falls back into his coma. She is 9 years old at the beginning of the story, when after the death of her brother she is taken in by the hubermann family. Liesel stole books from a grave digger, a bonfire and the mayors wife, ilsa herman. Feb 17, 2019 the secondlast chapter in the book theif is titled max and is shown below. They are metaphors for max and how important kind words are for. The book that was thrown into the river in the novel, was a book liesel had stolen to read to max. Both max and liesel had family members taken away from them as a result of world war ii. There was no money in it, but he busied himself ther. Max and liesel max vandenburg and liesel have a lot of similarities in there lifes they both have nightmares about something horrible that happened to them and they still cant heal from that experience. Rudy steiner is liesels neighbor and eventual best friend. This is my fan fiction that tells a story through the letters that liesel and max write to each other while being apart. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Both have left their respective families and have been adopted by the hubermans.