Study Questions for The Book Thief
1. Read pp. 3-35. Who do you think the narrator is? Why? What impressions do you have the narrator in these pages? What is the narrator’s attitude toward Liesel?
I think the narrator is Death. I first realized it when it says “It suffices to say that at some point in the time, I will be standing over you, as genially as possible. Your soul will be in my arms. A color will be perched on my shoulder. I will carry you gently away. (2)” Then through three times that the narrator saw Liesel -- when her brother died, when she and Rudy watched a pilot died, when Himmel Street was bombed -- it is obvious that the narrator only see Liesel when someone dies, so the narrator is no one else but Death himself. However, …show more content…
They are both fighters, as Liesel had beaten up her classmate Ludwig Schmeikl for humiliating her; similarly, after Max’s father died when he was two, his uncle when he was eleven, he was disappointed. He would fight anyone, so he fight Walter, who actually helped him later escaping his persecution when Nazi was coming. He even vowed as a boy, that “When death captures me, he will feel my fist on his face (189)”. They both loves books, and later in the book Max would even help Liesel realize the power of words. They both nightmare at night and wake up, “one with a scream in drowning sheets, the other with a gasp for air next to a smoking fire. (219)” They dreamt different things, but both horrible -- Liesel dreamt about her brother Werner who died on the train, Max dreamt about him waving goodbye to his …show more content…
However, Tommy Müller, who had some ear problem, so when they called “Halt!”, Tommy could not hear it, so he kept failing it. Their leader, Franz Deutscher was “completely fed up (269)”, “his pale eyes cooked him (269)”. Now, Rudy stood up for Tommy; however, they were punished for 6 laps and doing drills in the mud. Another time, when Franz asked him the birthday of Hitler, he refused to answer it right, which made Franz beat him and cut his hair. He did not only make things difficult for himself with Nazi Youth, but also the fruit stealing gang, or to be more precise, their new leader, Viktor Chemmel. After stealing, Viktor only gave Rudy and Liesel one apple, Rudy said “What do you call this? One lousy apple? (275)” as complaints, which led the leader to fight with him. He then spit blood and saliva on Viktor’s feet, and Viktor threatened Rudy, “You’ll pay for that at a later date, my friend (276)” Rudy Steiner, as one of the main character in the book, always do what he thinks is right so that others won’t suffer from persecutions they do not deserve. He is very brave, so is Liesel, even under the pressure of Nazi
1. Read pp. 3-35. Who do you think the narrator is? Why? What impressions do you have the narrator in these pages? What is the narrator’s attitude toward Liesel?
I think the narrator is Death. I first realized it when it says “It suffices to say that at some point in the time, I will be standing over you, as genially as possible. Your soul will be in my arms. A color will be perched on my shoulder. I will carry you gently away. (2)” Then through three times that the narrator saw Liesel -- when her brother died, when she and Rudy watched a pilot died, when Himmel Street was bombed -- it is obvious that the narrator only see Liesel when someone dies, so the narrator is no one else but Death himself. However, …show more content…
They are both fighters, as Liesel had beaten up her classmate Ludwig Schmeikl for humiliating her; similarly, after Max’s father died when he was two, his uncle when he was eleven, he was disappointed. He would fight anyone, so he fight Walter, who actually helped him later escaping his persecution when Nazi was coming. He even vowed as a boy, that “When death captures me, he will feel my fist on his face (189)”. They both loves books, and later in the book Max would even help Liesel realize the power of words. They both nightmare at night and wake up, “one with a scream in drowning sheets, the other with a gasp for air next to a smoking fire. (219)” They dreamt different things, but both horrible -- Liesel dreamt about her brother Werner who died on the train, Max dreamt about him waving goodbye to his …show more content…
However, Tommy Müller, who had some ear problem, so when they called “Halt!”, Tommy could not hear it, so he kept failing it. Their leader, Franz Deutscher was “completely fed up (269)”, “his pale eyes cooked him (269)”. Now, Rudy stood up for Tommy; however, they were punished for 6 laps and doing drills in the mud. Another time, when Franz asked him the birthday of Hitler, he refused to answer it right, which made Franz beat him and cut his hair. He did not only make things difficult for himself with Nazi Youth, but also the fruit stealing gang, or to be more precise, their new leader, Viktor Chemmel. After stealing, Viktor only gave Rudy and Liesel one apple, Rudy said “What do you call this? One lousy apple? (275)” as complaints, which led the leader to fight with him. He then spit blood and saliva on Viktor’s feet, and Viktor threatened Rudy, “You’ll pay for that at a later date, my friend (276)” Rudy Steiner, as one of the main character in the book, always do what he thinks is right so that others won’t suffer from persecutions they do not deserve. He is very brave, so is Liesel, even under the pressure of Nazi