Liesel's Death In 'The Book Thief'

Death is a very prominent theme in The Book Thief as, the book documenting the events of World War II ironically in the perspective of Death. Death had a negative impact on Liesel in the book thief because Werner died early due to being a communist, and the Nazi's dictated the death of all communists and Jews. Firstly, Death takes us back a few years before the red sky in chapter 4 to explain the death of Werner. This right off the bat, was depicted to be a cruel death mostly driven by his poverty and lack of medical attention. Before Liesel makes her way to Molching, she attends her little brothers burial. “With one eye open, one still in a dream, the book thief, also known as Liesel Meminger could see […] that her younger brother, Werner, was now sideways and dead. His blue eyes stared at the floor. Seeing nothing.” (Zusak 20) When death narrated this he explained the cold nature of his death by making it a snowy scene using imagery and his using blank expression, to help depict the mood. “Still in disbelief, she started to dig. He couldn't be dead. He couldn't be dead. He couldn't” (Zusak 34) …show more content…
When Hans confirms Liesel’s suspicions about the Book Burning, Liesel becomes a sworn enemy of Hitler. “In fact, on April 20 – the Führer's birthday – when she snatched a book from beneath a steaming pile of ashes, Liesel was a girl made of darkness.” (Zusak 84) “Liesel was a girl made of darkness” showed how the death of her brother along with other things had driven her to not be afraid of death. She put her life on the line every single day stealing books because, she's driven to get justice. “He slapped Liesel Meminger squarely in the face.” Hans slaps Liesel so she could understand the seriousness in the danger she has gotten herself into, to further show the impact death has had on