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.