How Does Liesel Change In The Book Thief

Change is inevitable. It affects us all from the smallest of insects to the largest of beasts, it is how we choose to react that defines us. In the literary work “The book Thief”, written by Markus Zusak, we are introduced to Liesel a young girl thrown into the dark world of Nazi germany in the late 1930’s at the start of world war 2. In the novel Liesel is an orphan whose parents have been taken away by the corrupt world around her. She is forced to start a new life on 33 Himmel Street with her foster parent Rosa and Hans Hubermann, where she learns to read, write, and show compassion for the ones around her. Throughout the novel Liesel’s character develops and changes because of her experiences on Himmel Street and being a child in …show more content…
In the beginning of the book she never stops to question the world around her. When the actions of Hitler and his army effect those she loves, only then does begin to question the actions of the Nazi party and the grief and destruction it brings with it. When Lisel fully understands the extent of fear that someone such as Max embodies she reacts by . . . “She tore a page from the book and ripped it in half. Then a chapter. Soon, there was nothing but scraps of words littered between her legs and all around her. The words. Why did they have to exist? Without them, there wouldn't be any of this. Without words, the Führer was nothing. There would be no limping prisoners, no need for consolation or wordly tricks to make us feel better. What good were the words? She said it audibly now, to the orange-lit room. "What good are the words?"” pg 521. At the very end of the novel we see how liesel being a child truly knows the difference between good and evil, while the adults around her choose to stay oblivious. She grows to truly understand the world around her, and sympathize with those in grief, which is an ability she did not posses in the beginning of the