The Book Thief-Markus Zusak (Liesel's Life on Himmel Street before Hitler's Birthday)

I was wrong about my prediction.  Liesel's life after leaving her mother behind at the orphanage is as close to heaven as possible.  Of course, as I stated in my earlier post, it's World War II, the angel of death is following her around, and she is the daughter of a Communist, but at least the street name Himmel means Heaven in German.

 http://www.ego4u.com/en/dictionary


Let me begin by describing Liesel's foster mother, Rosa Hubermann:  at first reading, it would be easy to assume that she would be physically abusive to Liesel because she is certainly verbally abusive.  Rosa is constantly calling Liesel a saumensch/ arschloch.    But Rosa never raises a hand to Liesel, and I would argue that her use of profanity is a way to show her love.  "Yes Mama,  Samensch, call me Mama when you talk to me "(35).  Although people listen and follow her orders, just to prevent the verbal abuse, deep down she is a caring woman; after all, she takes Liesel in to her home, clothes her, feeds her, bathes her, sends her to school.  Yes it would be nice to have a hug every once in awhile, but that emotional toughness, I believe is necessary sometimes, and I predict it will come in handy as the war intensifies.  "For a moment, it appeared that her foster mother would comfort her or pat her on the shoulder.  She did no such thing" (92).

To counterbalance, Rosa's harshness, is her husband Hans, who if nothing else, is a true angel. When Liesel starts wetting her bed, Hans is the first to rescue Liesel from her nightmare.  He changes the sheets, so Rosa never finds out, and one of these occasions he discovers the first  book Liesel stole, The Grave Digger's Handbook.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravedigger

Lightbulb moment:  after searching for information about Grave Digging, I discovered something about the link between Grave Digging and Communism-see if you can find it.  (extra credit to the first student to let me know)  

The book is a type of remembrance of the last time she saw her mother and brother (at his burial), but it also becomes a saving grace for her.  Every night, Liesel wakes from a nightmare, Hans saves her, and he spends the rest of the night teaching her how to read using The Grave Digger's Handbook.  He quickly realizes that she doesn't have the rudimentary knowledge to even read, so he backs up his lessons to teaching her the alphabet.  I am struck on many levels with this part of the book.  One that I am reading about a truly compassionate human being during a time when that emotion was almost completely obliterated, but I am also amazed that here is a ten year-old girl who doesn't even know her alphabet.

Of course, without consistent schooling and a solid home-life, children cannot learn basic skills.     This book is a testament to the power of words and learning.  As I am writing this, I realize that perhaps Liesel is not so much a book thief as a book savior and the true book thieves were the Nazis.

Scene during the book burning in Berlin's Opera Square. Berlin, Germany, May 10, 1933.

— National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md.

To finish out this section, for Christmas, Hans uses up all of his prized cigarettes to purchase two books for Liesel Faust the Dog and The Lighthouse.  Liesel acts like she won the lottery.  She proceeds to read them cover to cover, over and over again.  Given the repressive nature of Germany during World War II, I am going to predict that Liesel's reading habits will have to go underground soon.

The Book Thief-Markus Zusak (Prologue to Arrival on Himmel Street)

I must admit going into this book that it is going to be sad.  I know that this book is about the Jewish Holocaust, so right away, that point puts it in the category of "I'll be crying at moments during the reading of The Book Thief".   However, I am going ahead and reading it anyway for a couple of reasons.  First of all, too many people, adults and students, who I trust, have told me that this book is awesome, (their own words).  Here's a link to reviews of the book if you don't believe me: http://www.amazon.com/Book-Thief-Markus-Zusak/dp/0375842209

Next, just because I'll cry does not mean I shouldn't read it; in fact, that is precisely the reason I should read it.  I know that reading should make you feel every emotion: laughing, crying, anger, etc.; otherwise, it's not a book worth reading.  Last, I make it a point to alternate between serious reads and not so serious reads, just so I am not in a constant state of depression about human beings. 

I will begin with the beginning, which is where we are introduced to the narrator.  We are never told his name, but you can pretty much guess, he's the angel of death a.k.a. the grim reaper.  You can guess this because he says, "I could introduce myself properly, but it's not really necessary.  You will know me well enough and soon enough,....at some point in time, I will be standing over you, ...Your soul will be in my arms.  A color will be perched on my shoulder.  I will carry you gently away" (4).  In fact as I read the description the narrator gives of himself, I wonder if this description of colors is what people who have recounted their near-death experiences are talking about http://www.biography.com/isurvived-beyond-and-back/

The Book Thief is not the angel of death though.  The Book Thief is a little German girl named Liesel Meminger, and the reason this little girl is memorable for the angel is because she sees him, somehow she sees him.  Now that alone, was memorable enough for the angel of death to follow her around and spy on her, but what intrigues the narrator about Liesel is that her story of survival is one worth telling. "Yes, often, I am reminded of her, and in one of my vast array of pockets, I have kept her story to retell" (14).

Of course, the angel of death does not make it a point to find out too much about humans.  He says at one point, that he tries to distract himself from his work, but not the actual act of carrying away souls, but seeing "the leftover humans-the survivors"(5).   That line makes sense to me because I have always thought that death is nothing to be afraid of; it's the feelings that those left behind have to deal with that are overwhelmingly painful.  http://www.helpguide.org/mental/grief_loss.htm  If the angel of death is this empathic for humans then those pictures of him wearing a black cape and a sickle are all wrong; instead I imagine a kindly old man or even a full out angel.   No one else could do his job so he never takes a vacation, instead he distracts himself in between his jobs.

At first the narrator says that curiosity got the best of him, so he stayed to watch the girl.  The reason he was there was that Liesel's little brother had just died.  Liesel's mother was taking both Liesel and her brother to a foster home because she could no longer feed them.  On the way to the German town, her brother died.  As I am reading this, I am putting myself in that mother's shoes.  Of course, I couldn't imagine having to give up both of my kids because I couldn't feed them, but I am not speaking from a perspective of a mother in World War II Germany.  Probably, her only other option was to watch them die, and in that case, I can understand her decision.  My last comment about this section is my agreement with the narrator's awe over the mother's fortitude.  Here she is without her husband, her daughter is starving to death and she is about to give her kids away, when her young son dies, exactly what she was trying to prevent, and the narrator says, "How could that woman walk?  How could she move?  That's the sort of thing I'll never know, or comprehend-what humans are capable of"  I agree because that is exactly how survivors survive. They put one foot in front of the other, and they keep moving.  It's not to say that it doesn't hurt, but that's the only way you can keep on living: 

One day at a time--this is enough. Do not look back and grieve over the past, for it is gone; and do not be troubled about the future, for it has not yet come. Live in the present, and make it so beautiful that it will be worth remembering.--Ida Scott Taylor

I really hope that life gets better for Liesel, but I suspect it won't because the angel of death is following her around, it's world war two, and Liesel is the daughter of a Communist, one of the other groups, besides the Jews, who were on Hitler's hit list.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust