Argumentative Essay On The Book Thief

Superior Essays
Leonard Cohen once said, “any startling piece of work has a subversive element in it”. When people create art, they have a reason. There is a meaning behind every song, book, and art piece. Artists will create these works of art to be subversive, to send a message or use them to go against what society or authority figures think they are capable of doing. In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Hans and Liesel are subversive towards the Nazis. Liesel uses her books to be disloyal and Hans uses his accordion to go against Hitler. Hans’ accordion symbolizes his undermining attitude because of where he got it, and when he plays it. Liesel’s books symbolize her negative attitude towards the Nazis attitude because it goes against what they think of …show more content…
The Nazis expect women to follow blindly but Liesel becomes her own person and enjoys reading and writing. She is “discovering the power of words” as a girl in Nazi Germany (147). Words can have a powerful effect on people and give them different ideals or values. That is how Hitler rose to power and that is why the Nazis try to control what people read. Liesel steals a book from a book burning and she knows she is not supposed to read it because it was meant to be burned. Liesel still takes possession of the book and reads it secretly. She also enjoys that the library in the mayor’s house “belong[s] to the woman” because she “thought it was the mayor’s room” (461). Liesel gets most of her books from the library in the mayor’s house. Even though she thought the library belonged to the mayor, who is a loyal Nazi, she still stole books from the library she believed to be his. The Nazis don’t want women to get ideas that would cause them to go astray and go against them but Liesel reads and gets different values that go against the Nazis. Additionally, Liesel’s books also link her to Max. Liesel begins to talk to Max when she finds “the courage to ask her question” about Mein Kampf (217). He tells her that it saved his life and he begins to tell her about his life before he came to Himmel street. Liesel and Max are “held together by the quiet gathering of words” (248). If Max and Liesel had not bonded the way they do, Liesel would not have looked for Max in the parades of Jews. While Liesel looks for Max she thinks about the books he gave her, The Word Shaker and The Standover Man. She tries to match the faces of the parading Jews “to the Jew who wrote The Word Shaker”(309). It proves that, because Liesel is interested in books, she begins to learn about Max and they begin to care for each other. So, Max gives her books that he writes for her. It goes against the Nazis because Liesel cares about a Jewish

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Hans Hubermann is the first to show Liesel how important words are when he instructs reading lessons every night after she wakes up from her terrifying nightmares. Through teaching her how to read, Hans shows Liesel that words can bring solace in times of chaos and uncertainty. The power of words is also highly emphasized in “The Word Shaker”, the story that Max gives to Liesel for her birthday. In the story, he argues that words are the most powerful force there is by declaring that Hitler uses words to manipulate and monopolize an entire nation. In addition, words play a role in comforting people during the air raids when Liesel makes the decision to read to her neighbors in the bomb shelter.…

    • 531 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    HANS AND LIESEL: The arrow between Hans and Liesel is very thick and is a dark red because Hans was there for Liesel the moment she came to Himmel Street, either reading with her at night or simply joking around with her to make her more comfortable in her new home (Page 64). Hans and Liesel also share a special bond which strengthens their relationship. Hans is Liesel's loving foster father, and he protects Liesel when Rosa, his wife, comes down on her (Page 33, paragraph 3).…

    • 1140 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Liesel discovers that kind words can be utilized to battle evil ones and I think that is part of what gives joy to Liesel and Max. You see, he took something that was hateful and discriminating and turned it into something that Liesel could enjoy, that was about Himself and his long journey to where he was then and even though Mein Kampf was full of hatred he turned it into something Liesel could enjoy knowing that she loves books it is a simple gesture that came from the heart of his character showing humanity inside him but it didn’t matter how well written the book was it was the fact that Liesel had something to remember Max by that brought her the joy and…

    • 949 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When Max was in the basement, he had absolutely nothing to do every single day. Eventually, Max decided to use the book, Mein Kampf, to draw out doodles for Liesel. He drew a short story at first, using a paintbrush and gave it to Liesel (a “late birthday present”). Liesel read it a few times then sat next to Max the next day, thanking him. This doodle was just a few pictures and words strung together, but it meant something to Liesel.…

    • 589 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Sprinkle in the symbols by relevance to the questions for that paragraph. Have 3 main symbols but have smaller ones in there as well. Intro: Thesis:…

    • 1215 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    And it refers to the Liesel’s family and their relationships with each other and how they treat Max,who is Jew. The scene in the movie when Rosa, Liesel’s stepmother, tells to her husband to get away from Max, as he is a big danger for them, but Hans doesn’t agree with her as he remembers that Max’s father saved his life once, and at this point Hans has to help Max to be hidden and to survive. Also Liesel’s relationship to the books, is symbolised by development from a powerless girl to an empowered young lady. However, it’s not the book themselves that are symbolic, but how Liesel relate to them, their relationship. The first connection of Liesel to the books was at her brother’s funeral.…

    • 1471 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout the novel Liesel learns to read, love, and understand the power of words from her gentle foster father and a few books she steals. In the midst of an ordinary childhood, she also is put in much danger. Her foster parents hide a Jewish man in their basement and her father is punished for his tolerance towards Jews.…

    • 1025 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Symbols In The Book Thief

    • 696 Words
    • 3 Pages

    For instance, at one of the book burnings, Liesel steals a book as a pile of them is on fire (Zusak 120). At this time, knowledge was power and Hitler did not want books with propaganda or messages contradicting his diabolical litanies being read by Germans. Therefore, Liesel’s crime, which was seen as repugnant, is her unique way of going against the maniacal Nazis. In contrast, the accordion becomes associated with rebelling when Hans is connected with Max, Erik’s Jewish son. The first thing Max asks Hans when they meet is “‘Do you still play the accordion?’”…

    • 696 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Existing during the Holocaust there was fine line of life and death become pronounced, including the Concentration Camps and the bombing that would take place in Nazi-occupied areas. Liesel is no stranger to death, in fact Death admires her. Death is the narrator in The Book Thief, he is especially interested in the Liseal. Death is aware that he has taken Liesel’s love ones, but not with ill intentions, because he sees the suffering that humanity is laid upon them and just wants to end the misery of certain humans. Zusak once claimed “It seemed to make that war and death are best friends.…

    • 274 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Book Thief Essay

    • 1839 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Liesel’s whole world began to revolve around the hope that he would wake again. On page 317, death had visited Max ready to take him. However, he could not having seen the way Liesel refused to give up hope. She read to him daily, brought him gifts for when he would wake, and simply sat and spoke to his still body. On page 319 it states, “Liesel rushed hope from school each day in the hope that Max was feeling better.”…

    • 1839 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Book Thief Analysis

    • 903 Words
    • 4 Pages

    One person that helps Liesel change was Max. Max was the son of Hans Hubermann’s dead friend who is sought after for being Jewish. While Max hides in their basement, he writes his own books that were titled as The Standover Man and Word Shaker. In the Word Shaker, Max wrote about Liesel and how Hitler realizes that words have an effect on people. He also wrote that the people on top are the ones that fully understand words.…

    • 903 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Max grows fond of Liesel while living on Himmel street. To show her, he takes his copy of Mein Kampf, paints over the pages, and rips them out to write books for Liesel about their friendship. Zusak uses this act of rebellion to show that Max has decided to defeat Hitler and overcome his fear by rewriting over Hitler’s hateful words. This is the first time the…

    • 1047 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Themes and Humanity in The Book Thief The Holocaust was arguably one of the most devastating events in history. The Book Thief, written by Markus Zusak, is an illustration of how dangerous this era was. The Book Thief tells the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster child who develops a love of books and words after her foster father, Hans Hubermann, teaches her how to read. However, Liesel’s life changes when the family begins to hide a Jew, Max Vandenburg, in their basement.…

    • 1070 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When her friends and family are killed in a bombing, she discovers that she is now alone in the world of Nazism. Our lives and goals slightly reflect on each other in three main ways. Our goals, our greatest obstacle to the goal, and when we reach the summits of our goals. Liesel’s goals and mine are comparable to each other. We both strive to have something that is not required, but might interfere with what is required by the society that we live in.…

    • 860 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The greatest favor reading gave her was saving her life (Zusak 527-528). As the rest of Himmel Street was asleep a silent killer wiped it out (Zusak 527). Liesel was in the basement when her street was bombed (Zusak 527). She was there writing, her new found passion came from her old friend reading (Zusak 523-524). Liesel’s enjoyment of writing was the completing phase of her passion of reading.…

    • 701 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays