Liesel Meminger Character Development

The main character of the book I am reading called The Book Thief is Liesel Meminger; I have mentioned her several times in my past blog posts. She is a curious, smart and creative young German girl who lost her brother at a young age and got sent to a foster family in Munich. They become her family and when she first arrived she would have nightmares each night about her brother’s death at the train station. She was unable to read or write. She was held back because of this and in a class with kids much younger than her. Each night when she awoke from her nightmares,  Hans (her papa) helped took her down to the basement and he would teach her how to read and write. Liesel felt this was a significant part in her learning’s. A quote from the beginning of the book is, “But it was not so much the school who helped me to read. It was Papa. People think he’s not smart, and it’s true that he doesn’t read too fast, but I would soon learn that words and writing actually saved his life once,” (Zusak 64). So the teachings of Hans Huberman were a significant part in the book and to Liesel and her foster father’s relationship. This was one of the many things that shaped Liesel into a strong dynamic character.

I am towards the end of the book now; on part 10 and I found that a lot of events have been revealed and Liesel has gone through so many hardships that have forever changed her and left scares in her heart. First, Max has to leave and Liesel sees him in a parade of Jews through the town. Max writes her a book called The Word Shaker; it’s about Max’s life and his encounter/relationship with Liesel. She recites words from the book to him and since she is talking to a Jew she gets in trouble. Both her and Max are whipped and Liesel tries to run after Max but Rudy stops her by tackling her. She then goes on to talk to the Mayor’s wife and she tears of pages of one of the Mayors wife’s books. She writes an apology letter and soon the Mayors wife visits Liesel at her home and gives her a journal. She tells her that the letter she wrote was well written and that since Liesel decided she was going to stop taking and reading the Mayor’s wife’s books she should write her own. And the book Liesel writes soon to become known as The Book Thief itself. So I found it peculiar that I was reading the book that Liesel wrote. It described it divided into 10 parts and one significant line was the last one; “I have hated the words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right,” (Zusak 528). It leaves a whole in my heart because Liesel goes on to describe how words give Hitler power and without them he was nothing. If words didn’t exist then Max wouldn’t be marching off to a concentration camp and the war wouldn’t be happening. Liesel is now well educated and an author of her own. She probably is smarter than most kids her age because of how many books she has read.