Many characters suffer from recurring nightmares. Two of the main characters from the novel who have such nightmares are Liesel Meminger and Max Vandenburg.
Liesel Meminger is a young girl caught in the middle of Hitler’s reign over Germany. She begins at the age of 9 at the start of the novel. At the very start her mother, brother, Werner, and herself are in a quick moving and packed train in the third carriage. She and her brother were going to be given over to foster parents, who live on Himmel St. in a small town called ‘Molching’, due to her father being a communist. She and her brother were supposed to be going to be saved from poverty and persecution. But her brother did not make it to the town. He died on the train and was buried …show more content…
Her brother's death on the train. Of his face. Of his blue eyes staring at the nothingness of the train floor. Her nightly scares would wake her up screaming and thrashing in her bed sheets getting tangled in …show more content…
His father, Erik Vandenburg, was friends with Hans Hubermann and fought in World War I in France. He died in the war near the time Max was born so he never met his father and Vise Versa. Erik taught Han’s how to play the accordion and was the reason Hans didn’t die in the war. Unfortunately, Erik did perish and Hans brought the bad news to his wife and son bringing along his accordion. Vandenburg’s wife asks him to play it for her one more time before letting his keep it. Hans tells her if there was anything she needs, to just contact him. His service is needed when the nazi’s start their search for jews. Max’s mother sends Max to Hans’s house for his own safety making him abandon his family.
By the time he reaches the Hubermanns home he is filled with guilt from leaving his family and having the Hubermann’s to take him in and risk their own life to protect his. As he continues to stay with them his Nightmares form from the guilt of leaving his loved ones and putting others in danger. His guilt also comes from wanting to live in general. His nightmares are of him just leaving his family to stay alive. He sees himself, “turning around, and waving goodbye.” as said in ‘The Swapping of Nightmares’ on page
Liesel Meminger is a young girl caught in the middle of Hitler’s reign over Germany. She begins at the age of 9 at the start of the novel. At the very start her mother, brother, Werner, and herself are in a quick moving and packed train in the third carriage. She and her brother were going to be given over to foster parents, who live on Himmel St. in a small town called ‘Molching’, due to her father being a communist. She and her brother were supposed to be going to be saved from poverty and persecution. But her brother did not make it to the town. He died on the train and was buried …show more content…
Her brother's death on the train. Of his face. Of his blue eyes staring at the nothingness of the train floor. Her nightly scares would wake her up screaming and thrashing in her bed sheets getting tangled in …show more content…
His father, Erik Vandenburg, was friends with Hans Hubermann and fought in World War I in France. He died in the war near the time Max was born so he never met his father and Vise Versa. Erik taught Han’s how to play the accordion and was the reason Hans didn’t die in the war. Unfortunately, Erik did perish and Hans brought the bad news to his wife and son bringing along his accordion. Vandenburg’s wife asks him to play it for her one more time before letting his keep it. Hans tells her if there was anything she needs, to just contact him. His service is needed when the nazi’s start their search for jews. Max’s mother sends Max to Hans’s house for his own safety making him abandon his family.
By the time he reaches the Hubermanns home he is filled with guilt from leaving his family and having the Hubermann’s to take him in and risk their own life to protect his. As he continues to stay with them his Nightmares form from the guilt of leaving his loved ones and putting others in danger. His guilt also comes from wanting to live in general. His nightmares are of him just leaving his family to stay alive. He sees himself, “turning around, and waving goodbye.” as said in ‘The Swapping of Nightmares’ on page