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Amazon.ca describes this book as a "dark and powerfully absorbing novel, brilliantly executed". It's narrator calls it "just as small story, really." Jump in with both feet and surrender to one of the most gripping, unusual, hilarious books I've read in years. It's a book about books, about hate, about love, and about how words can be our most powerful weapons.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Q & A
What questions do you have about the book? What do you not understand? What are you wondering about? How can you help your classmates?
I might be wrong but in my oppinion from what i have read death could be an actual character in the book but he descibes himself as death to show his surroundings of life, like everyone dieing, like he was nothing from the beggining maybe that character dies in the end.....
That’s quite possible, although I imagined death as an entity not visible to humans. This is just based on a part I read where death tried waving to, I believe it was Leisle and she didn’t see him although she may have just ignored or not noticed him.
It seems like Death isn't visible to humans because he isn't allowed to. Like in the beginning he wants to comfort Liesel but mentions he isn't supposed to associate with the living. I think that if Death wanted to, Death could be visible to humans.
There is a passage in the book, on page 307. The last 3 sentences state, "You want to know what I trulyu look like? I'll help you out. Find yourself a mirror while I continue." He does say he wears a hooded black robe, but doesn't have skull like features. I think since Death said "Find yourself a mirror.." That everyones vision of Death is themselves, so Death looks a little different to everybody, because no one looks the same.
I believe too, that Death cannot be seen because he is not allowed to. In the beginning of the novel, he talks about how he wishes it was not his job but there is nothing he can do about it. As if he was forced into the position of Death without volunteering for it.
As Max takes on a more signifigant role in the story, I have started to notice how death refers to him using racial slurs. I was wondering if this is a reflection of how guilt has made Max feel about himself? Or is there some other purpose?
I was wondering why Leisel's foster mom(Rosa) is always mad. Is it because the writer wants to prove a point in the story? Or did he do this just to make her seem a little different from most other characters.
I think that Death is trying to tell the reader how Max feels and how he views himself. By using the racial slurs he shows how ashamed and guilty Max feels to be a Jew and to be the only one of his family saved. In my opinion I also think that by using the racial slurs Death is showing how much Max hates Hitler.
First, Death isn't actually following Liesel. She wrote a sort of diary or book about her life and the events in it, and Death is remembering what was happening then, and is narrating what her story was about in his perspective. Second, Death is probably using the racial slurs he imagines Max describing himself with, because that's what Jews were called a lot back then, and because Max is continually in a fight against Hitler, even when he's not in his fantasy. Third, I think that Rosa's always angry because of something in her childhood, and it has become a part of her personality to be perpetually angry. Lastly, I don't think Death ever says who she gets married to, he just says she got married.
I think Leisel's foster mom (Rosa) is just casted as a mad character. I believe the author (Markus Zusan) did this so the reader could clearly see how much the war affected the lives, then attitudes of the German people. Before the war Rosa would lash out at Leisel, swearing and beating her with a wooden spoon. Once the war started and fewer people employed Rosa to do their laundry, Rosa’s demeanour changed. She was more polite towards Leisel and did not thrash out at her as easily. This may have also been due to the fact that now the Hubermanns were hiding Max, but either way, Rosa’s demeanour changed. The change in her demeanour was due to World Was II occurring.
I don't think that Rosa is mad all the time, rather she expresses her affection for people through insults and hitting them. I think that maybe she doesn't know how to tell the people she loves that she does love them. So in place of that she is rude and curt with them. I think that there are very few places in the book where she was full out angry and raging mad.
I'm nearly halfway through the book, page 220, and all mention of the library where Leisel used to visit has vanished. This development in the plot seemed important to me, like it was leading somewhere bigger ultimately. I wonder if it will appear again? In a novel so full of foreshadowing, it seems odd to me that this idea would be dropped by the author completely.
Another question: Can Death only be in one place at once?
I understand that since the whole novel is narrated by Death, he is always at the place from which he his relaying the story, but is he only there? I wonder if he is the sort of all-knowing "deity" (I really feel as if that's the wrong word but whatever) that can be in multiple places at once, and we are just made unaware of that. Or maybe we're supposed to assume that, after all, he does know what is going on in the life of Max Vandenburg simaltaniously to what is going on in the like of Leisel and the Hubermanns, before the lives conjoin. Maybe he isnt physically anywhere, he just sort of sees what's going on everywhere. Maybe I've answered my own question, or maybe we really aren't supposed to understand that, or think about it really. Maybe a flaw in the novel, or maybe it's an interesting addition.
1. I think that that reason the library vanishes for a while is because Liesel becomes quite busy with other things in her life and Death is more focused on these than her visits to the library. Also, Death is reading from her diary this whole time so if Liesel didn't talk about the mayors house for a while I'm guessing neither would Death. 2. Death describes his heart as having a circular beat and this is why he can travel so fast and such far distances. But I don't think that he knows whats going on if he's not there. Maybe if he read a newspaper or heard people talking about it, but otherwise I think he can "read" the thoughts of the souls he carries to figure out their story.
I find it odd that Death has just been following Liesel around for the past little while because we never hear of people dying anymore. I keep wondering if he can be in more than one place at at a time because in the beginning of the book he was talking about all these people dying and he just completely left his job it seems. So maybe he's still around when other people are dying but he's just concentrating on Liesel. So, do you think Death is just everywhere at once? Or is he just appearing wherever he needs to be at the moment?
I find it weird how Rosa just suddenly changes her perspective towards things. First of all, at the beginning of the novel, she always gets mad whenever something does not go right. But later she suddenly changes her mood when Max came. Is this change in perspective meant to show how people can change over time? Or is it meant to show how people always have a bit of goodness in them? Or something else?
I wonder how death has enough time to follow Liesel around. Realistically people all around the world are dying every few minutes and i don't understand how death would have the time to watch over Liesel.
Okay yeah I agree with Rebecca, if death can only be in one place then how could he collect the souls from everyone dying aroundn the world? I think maybe it's a question that isn't that importiant to our understanding of the book. I wonder what the authors thoughts behind this would be.
One question I have, is why did the author choose to put the images of Max's home-written The Standover Man into the novel. Clearly it causes more intrest and the images stick in your head more clearly than just hearing about the book, but I wonder if the author had another intention behind this.
I believe the author put the illustrations in the book so the reader would be able to see the meaning of the drawings. As good as an author is at describing details, you can never fully describe a picture the way you would see it. Also, people may view the illustrations differently. The way the author interprets the pictures may be different than how you or I would view them. Putting the illustrations in the book gives the reader the opportunity to interpret them in their own way.
I agree as well that Rosa does indeed care about Liesel, Hans and Max, though she just does not know how to express her emotions without feeling as though she is losing her controlling position. Hans has more the personality of a friend to Liesel and though he still acts as the father figure in her life, he talks to her as an equal rather than Rosa, who talks down upon Liesel.
In my opinion Death does not have a job. I think without people dying Death would not be here so that could mean Death was there because of the humans. He lives for Death, that is his survival to life.
That is a good question, I think the pictures were told with another reason behind them. I am not exactly sure, but I think maybe the author drew those in the book to show us a jews perspective and to show us his feeling. I know max is in a very dangerous situation because he is a jew, but i think Max is trying to make Liesel, Rosa and Hans feel sorry for him. In the last drawing it showed a couple of words that coaught my eyes daylight, water, movement. i think that is symbolizing what he doesn't have, but what he wants.
The question that I have is usually males are more dominate especially in the 19 hundreds. Men were always leaders but in the novel Rosa is the more dominate parent. I don't understand. Why did the author choose Rosa?
The author could have made Rosa the more dominant parent because he wanted to show that woman have the same rights of men. He wanted to show this because at that time, people were not treated equally just because they were of the opposite gender. In today’s society, both genders are treated equally.
Does death have supernatural powers or is he really just a ghost that ferries souls? Because they way he talks in the book to me seems as though he as no special abbilities besids the knowledge he posseses from his time.
I agree with Harley, as Death clearly isn't human it's very possible that he could travel fast enough to get to every soul in time. Also, he says that his heartbeat is different than human's heartbeats. Proof of another species? Or a different state of being? I'm not sure...
I think that Death does have some supernatural powers because it is not possible to be in that many places at once. Some of the powers he could have is the power of mind reading and teleportation. He is always talking about other people's thoughts so this is why he could be a mind reader. Teleportation could help him get from one place to another.
Why does everyone just randomly die in the end of the book? Is this to show that most families at that time were bombed? Or was this to show some other sort of point. This is very unusual to me because in WW2, mostly the Jews would die from the bombings not the Germans. There was no specific bombing towards the Jews.
I was wondering why Max would always write story's for Liesel and Liesel would always read them? Is this meant show a relationship between Jews and Germans? That the Jews would be made to write the books and do all the hard work, while the Germans could just take it easy and just read. Or is this meant to show that Max deserves to give Liesel something for her generosity?
1) The LSE is the Luftwaffe Sondereinheit- Air Raid Special Unit. They were to stay above ground during air raids and put out fires, prop up the walls of buildings, and rescue anyone who had been trapped during the raid.Page 431. Her Father was put into the LSE, that's how they know her. 2) It's because their city/town got bombed. I think that's just because at the ending of WW2 the allies were getting pretty intense with bombing the Germans and bombed a lot of German towns/cities. 3) He wrote stories for Liesel, because the first one was his irthday present to her, and the second one was to show her how she was important to him and how he understood her relationship with words. Also, the Germans would never read a book written by a Jew, it was considered "enemy propaganda" and all books found/given that were written by non-Germans were burned at the book burnings.
I believe Max writes stories for Liesel because she is one of his only true friends. I believe he does it out of affection for her. He realizes that she enjoys to read, and thinks that she would enjoy to expand her book collection. I believe he also writes the book so if he was taken away to a concentration/extermination camp, there would be something he would be remembered by. All his belongings would be confiscated by the Nazi German army and discraded. The book left behind for Liesel would be the only "piece" of him left.
Throughout the entire time of reading the book, I've been under the impression Death has been "following" Liesel around. However, Olivia told me that he's reading from her diary, and that it is mentioned early on in the book. Can anyone confirm that he's reading from her diary?
If he is, how does he have access to character's thoughts, other than Liesel?
Yes, at the end after they get bombed, he picks up Liesel's diary, and it says that he didn't expect to read it thousands of times, and that at one point he says that even though the pages are worn and faded and you can't really see the words anymore, he knows them by heart. I think the reason he has access to other character's thoughts is partially his own interpretation, and maybe Liesel's perspective from her diary, but also because I think he can read people's thoughts in general when he goes to collect souls, so it's partially his memory.
This question has to do more with actual history than the book itself, but I was wondering why people like Max, who are Jewish Germans and hiding for their life, just pretend that they aren't Jewish? Did the government have files on who was Jewish and who wasn't? Because I think if people could successfully fool the Nazi's into thinking they weren't Jewish, they could move away without having to be sneaky about it or just try to blend in with everyone else.
At the begining of the book it said that Liesels brother died on the train but it never acctually said what caused his death. It says that he was just caughing and then death came and he died. What was the cause of Liesels brothers death? Do we ever find out for sure?
On page 202-204 when Hans tells Liesel about max sleeping in her bedroom and they story behind Max and Max`s dad Erik, does Hans actually tell Leisel that Max is a Jew? or does Hans just frighten her? not letting her know more about where Max is from?
Steff: One thing about the Nazis was that they LOVED their paperwork. Also, if your whole family was Jewish and went to worship publicly, your neighbors would know. I agree with the sneaky part but I think to do that they would have had to immagrate first to Poland or a bordering country at least.
Yes, the government asked all the Jews to register themselves and their families at the beginning of the war, which was pretty sneaky because no one was told why. Also, you know how each race has distinguished features to their particualr culture? Well, often times Jews have dark hair and dark eyes, and have longer noses (of course, there are exceptions, but that's the majority as far as I know). So it was fairly easy to spot someone who was Jewish, especially since a lot of Germans had blonde hair and blue eyes.
I think Liesel's brother was just really sick with something and he couldn't get medicine for it so he died. He probably had pneumonia or something, and a lot of children back then would die from that from lack of medical attention. Also, the fact that it was cold didn't help, and the lack of proper nutrition. No, we never do find out the exact cause of her brother's dead.
I believe many of the characters in the novel die in the end to enforce a theme of the book: the power of words. The bombs were dropped to fight against Hitler and his Nazi party who were trying to gain power in the world. Hitler had gotten so many people to follow him and believe his far out ideas, by using words. Through speeches he cleverly used words to persuade the country to accept his ideals and fight for them. If the words Hitler spoke were not as powerful as they were, he would have not had as many people supporting him and WWII may have not started. It was Hitler’s words that killed everybody on Himmel Street. Words also saved Liesel. If she had not been swept up in the magic of reading/writing, she would not have been in her basement when the unexpected air raid occurred. Having words save Liesel’s life, while they took the lives of so many others, showed how words can impact us. It shows that words can kill, but they can also save lives. Words are objects that we have to handle with care.
As I read farther into the book, I’m beginning to not like the foreshadowing that Death uses. At the beginning of part 5, it states – “A SMALL ANOUNCEMENT ABOUT RUDY STEINER, He didn’t deserve to die the way he did”. I don’t think that mentioning that Rudy dies really adds to the novel. It almost ruins part of the book because I didn’t really want to know in advance that Rudy dies.
Why does Death feel the need to ruin large and important parts of the book with foreshadowing?
In my opinion, I think the author added the pictures into the novel so we would feel a stronger connection to the events happening- which I think worked. I feel as if the way the scratchy, rough drawings were presented and the author's choice of words gave me a better appreciation for Max's past and where he has come from, as well as what he is experiencing with Liesel as well as the other Hubermanns.
In responce to Jamies question, I think that Liesel and Max, have a more "brother-sister" relationship, and in those times, your sibilings were your best friends. I think that you're overthinking about the relationship between "Jews and Germans" I am confident that the reason Max would make a book for Liesel is to show his thankfulness for the Hubbermans hospitatlity. Plus hes probably really bored all day sitting in the basement anyways. :)
I know I did not read too too far into the book yet so I don't know if death will be moving around the world or at least to another person later on. But i'm confused as to why death is just sticking around Liesel, what's so special about her ?? he should really be fired from his job. THERE ARE SOULS OUT THERE THAT ARE ATTACHED TO DEAD BODIES ! ! ! :O
Do you agree with the idea that Death looks like ourselves? In the book it says "You want to know what I truly look like? I'll help you out. Find yourself a mirror while I continue." Do you think that Death takes the form of our own bodies?
While Death is following Liesel for so long, how can he also be doing his job? There are obviously many people that are dying around the world so how is he picking up their souls? It may sound silly, but is the author of the book trying to portray Death somewhat like Santa? We’re told that Santa can travel the world in one night to deliver all the gifts so can Death move around the world just as quickly to pick up the souls?
To what kadie asks i would think Death states that becasue he does take there souls and maybe there identity becomes him. I don't necessarly think he turns into them, but he just has all the souls in him becasue he is Death and death comes to everyone at a point in their life.
To victoria that is a really good question, i don't think that this is his job, i kinda think that, that is how he stay's alive and the dead souls just come and go. I think the authur choose death to narrate the story because Death knows all the sides, saw it all and could tell us better detail of other characters rather then just one person telling there story and what they saw. I think he is telling the tale of Liesel becasue Liesel is Death's favourite character in this story. I think that this story was one of Death's favourite story's to tell and the authur choose Death because Death could tell the story with more character and to keep us reading.
I really don't think that death is actually "following" liesel. It's just that he is reading what she wrote about her life, and so it may seem like he's following her, but he's not really. Like when everything in liesel's life happened, death wasn't actually there, even though it seems as though he was just because he's re telling her life story.
But Victoria, I agree with you.. I REALLY didn't like how the author chose to spoil Rudy's death to us. After reading that, I keep waiting for Rudy to die and I don't like that.
Another question, Liesel's mom drops her off at the Hubermann's house and then just disappears from the book. Correct me if I'm wrong, but does she die, or is she mentioned again in the book? If not, did she die? Or is Liesel's mom somewhere out there hiding, or is she actually quite safe from all this madness?
Okay, 1 more.. When I'm reading this book I always think of death as like a character in the book, like he is human. I know he has to be everywhere in the world, so he wouldn't have time to sleep, but does death need food and water just like people to survive? Or since he’s not actually human, can he survive on nothing at all?
I want to know what was going through Hans Hubermann’s head when he gave that bread to the Jewish man, it was a nice thing to do but could he not see how dangerous it was to do such a thing. Because of his actions Max had to leave the house and he put his family in danger. He also hurt his painting business, because many Germans were very hateful towards the Jews.
I keep wondering what type of story this would be if Liesel’s brother hadn’t died. Would Liesel still be as close with Hans because she wouldn’t have stolen that first book and that’s what brought Liesel and Hans so close with each other? Also, the books have a lot to do with Liesel and Max’s friendship as well, so would she have been close with him either?
Where does Death find the time to do anything, like tell the story I’m sure people die every second in all parts of the globe especially during war. Are there multiple “Deaths”, different ones assigned to different parts of the globe, or does he somehow just manage to be in multiple places at once?
I was wondering why Rosa and Hans Hubermann ever get married because they are so opposite of each because Rosa is so aggresive and violent while Hans is a laid back guy that doesn't care what Liesel does?
Another question I have is that Hubermann family knew a war was going to break out in Germany so why wouldn't they move somewhere safe where they didn't have to worry about losing everything?
I think that maybe he might have when he started the job, then gotten used to the emotion involved with his profession. Then again, did he ever "start" considering he can't stop? It's all part of the mystery behind death.
I think Death does have feelings. A quote to help support this is when Death states,"You want to know what I truly look like? I'll help you out. Find yourself a mirror while I continue." This could mean he is just like huimans in a way.I also remember Death saying like Rudy didn't deserve to die the way he did. I think Death collects their souls but can't control who dies, so in that case I think he gets sad or upset like humans when certain people die. Death also quotes," Please believe me when I tell you that I picked up each soul that day as if it were newly born. I even kissed a few weary, poisoned cheeks...." I think the war was geting to him and he was also devestated. I think he neccesarly cries, but I do think he has feelings.
Why would Hans help one of the people that were walking to Dachau when he knew that they were Jewish and he was hiding a Jewish person which made him very suspicious?
I wonder how differently the story the would have played out if Liesle had actually kissed Rudy. She mentioned wanting to do it on more than one occasion. Would it have made the ending turn out completely different, if she had kissed Rudy maybe she wouldn’t have went Frau Hermann’s and left the note. She may have not received the notebook, and most importantly she may not have survived.
I wonder if Death has talked to other souls before Liesle, and how he finds the time to do so is still a mystery. I was also wondering if any soul is capable of standing up and talking to Death. When death describes the souls he collects they are often sleeping. For some reason Liesle Meminger was not at rest
My question relates to ashleys (shlee) question. Do we ever find out about Leisels real mom later in the book? What happened to her? Does Leisel ever see her again?
Rebecca, I'm pretty sure I read that Liesel's parents gave her away because they were being taken away for being communists. They were most likely prosecuted.
I'm just wondering how you felt about the colors? I thought it was a great way for the author to describe the situation because every color represents something, for example black describes death while red describes love and affection.
On page 34, Hans was described as 'worth alot'. Could anyone please explain what the author meant by this? I thought it had something to do with his knowelage.
Yeah I think in the book it says that liesels dad just abandoned them when in reality he was killed when she was very young. Her mother was forced to give her up because she could not support her and also because she knew that she would eventually be killed or die just like her husband and son
Who was your favourite character from the book? Personaly, I liked Hans, just because he was so kind and brave. He showed courage so many times in the book, like taking in members and accepting them as family.
One last question, how do you see the story changing if Liesel's brother hadn't died? I think it would change alot because Liesel was inspired by her brother's death.
When Liesel is found under all the rubbel, no one else is talked about besides Alix Steiner and the mayor and his wife. Did everyone else in their area die, or is it just that Death didn't mention them?
To add to Vedrans last question, I think the story would have been different if her brother didn't die because she would have probably been less afraid of being at the Hubermanns at the begining, and she probably wouldn't have as bad of nightmares at night. Also she would have had someone there to lean on when she needed it, before she became so close with Hans.
deaths last comment at the end his little *** A LAST NOTE FROM YOUR NARRATOR*** I am haunted by humans. what do thing he meant by that. hes death nothing can haunt him... or can there be? Comments?
So why didn't the mayors wife try and stop leisel from stealing her books. liesel disrespected her a couple of times before... are you telling me that isla hermann is just gunna take it or something????
I don't think Liesel and her biological parents were Jews. We all know Rosa and Hans were hidding a Jew and obviosly Liesel was not being hidden, so she wasn't a Jew and that means her parents wern't Jews and she didn't have jewish blood in her. Maybe they just died becasue there was something wrong with them becasue many different people were killed from the war like if they had issues or other such problems. The Germans didn't just kill the Jewish and they could of been in a bomb. Sorry if I didn't answer right, but this is what i think.
A qestion that I have that I have noticed through out the whole book is that books mean so much in the novel and I just don't understand why. Are books a hidden meaning or does Liesel just like books or ...?
Liesel was not of Jewish background, her father was part of the communist party. During WWII, Nazi Germany did not accept any other political parties other than themselves. The saw other political parties as enemies, dirt that was soiling the German land. That is why her father and presumably her mother were killed.
It's the words that are important. The power of words Liesel explains is why the war is going on. Without words, Hitler would not have the power he had. That is just one example.
To answer Daniels question to "Why did Markus Zusak choose to put dominos on the origional cover?" In my opinion, I think the dominos and the finger pushing them down could represent how many lives could change or come crashing down by the actions of someone powerful. For example, to relate to the story, because of Hitlers power, millions of Jewish lives were taken away, damaged or threatened in someway, one by one like the dominos.
lisa- i think books are what keep liesel sane, during the night when she had those nightmares, she would read her book, and when she was put in a younger class, she read until she got into a higher one.
I agree with Kadie, and I think the books really showed Liesel's personality as well. She's a very strong person for what she's been through and I can't even imagine going through what she has yet she still stays sane because she finds the little joys in life and is able to get by on just that. Also, Liesel found joy in literature and the fact that she would take a book that was supposed to be burned for its non-German background and read it just because she loves to read shows that she won't conform to other people's ideas and she will be her own person no matter what anyone thinks she should do.
I was going to post a similar question to Daniels, but I might rather choose to try to comment on it. The first thing that came to mind as I thought about this is that it's rather interesting, isn't it, that Death would say HUMANS haunt HIM. I mean, most people without reading this book would think it would clearly be the other way, right? I think to me that this line reinforces the what happened during WW II as an example of how brutal humans can be to one another. Throughout the whole book death urges us to believe that he's really not all that bad, he simply serves a purpose that has to be fulfilled. This line I think is Death saying it's not him that kills us, but us that kill each other. Also, Death is repeatedly reminding us how he despises his job, at one point he says something along the lines of that he envies humans, if nothing because that they can die. This final line in the novel chills me a bit, it makes me sick to imagine doing Death's job, especially at such a time as WW II. I think the use of this final line closes off the book in a way that leaves readers to think about human nature, which is one of the points of the whole novel, I believe.
I was just wondering if Death is visible to humans. Does he look like a human, or is he a ghost-like figure?
ReplyDeleteI might be wrong but in my oppinion from what i have read death could be an actual character in the book but he descibes himself as death to show his surroundings of life, like everyone dieing, like he was nothing from the beggining maybe that character dies in the end.....
ReplyDeleteThat’s quite possible, although I imagined death as an entity not visible to humans. This is just based on a part I read where death tried waving to, I believe it was Leisle and she didn’t see him although she may have just ignored or not noticed him.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like Death isn't visible to humans because he isn't allowed to. Like in the beginning he wants to comfort Liesel but mentions he isn't supposed to associate with the living. I think that if Death wanted to, Death could be visible to humans.
ReplyDeleteThere is a passage in the book, on page 307. The last 3 sentences state, "You want to know what I trulyu look like? I'll help you out. Find yourself a mirror while I continue." He does say he wears a hooded black robe, but doesn't have skull like features. I think since Death said "Find yourself a mirror.." That everyones vision of Death is themselves, so Death looks a little different to everybody, because no one looks the same.
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ReplyDeleteI was just wondering.. Is death following Liesel Meminger? If he is following her, how is he still doing his own job?
ReplyDeleteI think if Death interacts/touches humans he kills them. Much like in Family Guy lol.
ReplyDeleteBut no, I don't think humans can see him.
I believe too, that Death cannot be seen because he is not allowed to. In the beginning of the novel, he talks about how he wishes it was not his job but there is nothing he can do about it. As if he was forced into the position of Death without volunteering for it.
ReplyDeleteI'm confused as to why Death is following Liesel?
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ReplyDeleteAs Max takes on a more signifigant role in the story, I have started to notice how death refers to him using racial slurs. I was wondering if this is a reflection of how guilt has made Max feel about himself? Or is there some other purpose?
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I think that death is using racial slurs to give an influence, on the type of language used at that time towards jewish people.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering why Leisel's foster mom(Rosa) is always mad. Is it because the writer wants to prove a point in the story? Or did he do this just to make her seem a little different from most other characters.
ReplyDeleteI think that Death is trying to tell the reader how Max feels and how he views himself. By using the racial slurs he shows how ashamed and guilty Max feels to be a Jew and to be the only one of his family saved. In my opinion I also think that by using the racial slurs Death is showing how much Max hates Hitler.
ReplyDeleteI don't want to spoil the book for anyone, but who exactly does Liesel get married to? Is it Max? Death doesn't exactly elaborate on that detail much.
ReplyDeleteFirst, Death isn't actually following Liesel. She wrote a sort of diary or book about her life and the events in it, and Death is remembering what was happening then, and is narrating what her story was about in his perspective.
ReplyDeleteSecond, Death is probably using the racial slurs he imagines Max describing himself with, because that's what Jews were called a lot back then, and because Max is continually in a fight against Hitler, even when he's not in his fantasy.
Third, I think that Rosa's always angry because of something in her childhood, and it has become a part of her personality to be perpetually angry.
Lastly, I don't think Death ever says who she gets married to, he just says she got married.
I think Leisel's foster mom (Rosa) is just casted as a mad character. I believe the author (Markus Zusan) did this so the reader could clearly see how much the war affected the lives, then attitudes of the German people. Before the war Rosa would lash out at Leisel, swearing and beating her with a wooden spoon. Once the war started and fewer people employed Rosa to do their laundry, Rosa’s demeanour changed. She was more polite towards Leisel and did not thrash out at her as easily. This may have also been due to the fact that now the Hubermanns were hiding Max, but either way, Rosa’s demeanour changed. The change in her demeanour was due to World Was II occurring.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that Rosa is mad all the time, rather she expresses her affection for people through insults and hitting them. I think that maybe she doesn't know how to tell the people she loves that she does love them. So in place of that she is rude and curt with them. I think that there are very few places in the book where she was full out angry and raging mad.
ReplyDeleteI'm nearly halfway through the book, page 220, and all mention of the library where Leisel used to visit has vanished. This development in the plot seemed important to me, like it was leading somewhere bigger ultimately. I wonder if it will appear again?
ReplyDeleteIn a novel so full of foreshadowing, it seems odd to me that this idea would be dropped by the author completely.
Another question: Can Death only be in one place at once?
ReplyDeleteI understand that since the whole novel is narrated by Death, he is always at the place from which he his relaying the story, but is he only there? I wonder if he is the sort of all-knowing "deity" (I really feel as if that's the wrong word but whatever) that can be in multiple places at once, and we are just made unaware of that. Or maybe we're supposed to assume that, after all, he does know what is going on in the life of Max Vandenburg simaltaniously to what is going on in the like of Leisel and the Hubermanns, before the lives conjoin. Maybe he isnt physically anywhere, he just sort of sees what's going on everywhere.
Maybe I've answered my own question, or maybe we really aren't supposed to understand that, or think about it really. Maybe a flaw in the novel, or maybe it's an interesting addition.
1. I think that that reason the library vanishes for a while is because Liesel becomes quite busy with other things in her life and Death is more focused on these than her visits to the library. Also, Death is reading from her diary this whole time so if Liesel didn't talk about the mayors house for a while I'm guessing neither would Death.
ReplyDelete2. Death describes his heart as having a circular beat and this is why he can travel so fast and such far distances. But I don't think that he knows whats going on if he's not there. Maybe if he read a newspaper or heard people talking about it, but otherwise I think he can "read" the thoughts of the souls he carries to figure out their story.
I find it odd that Death has just been following Liesel around for the past little while because we never hear of people dying anymore. I keep wondering if he can be in more than one place at at a time because in the beginning of the book he was talking about all these people dying and he just completely left his job it seems. So maybe he's still around when other people are dying but he's just concentrating on Liesel. So, do you think Death is just everywhere at once? Or is he just appearing wherever he needs to be at the moment?
ReplyDeleteI find it weird how Rosa just suddenly changes her perspective towards things. First of all, at the beginning of the novel, she always gets mad whenever something does not go right. But later she suddenly changes her mood when Max came. Is this change in perspective meant to show how people can change over time? Or is it meant to show how people always have a bit of goodness in them? Or something else?
ReplyDeleteI wonder how death has enough time to follow Liesel around. Realistically people all around the world are dying every few minutes and i don't understand how death would have the time to watch over Liesel.
ReplyDeleteOkay yeah I agree with Rebecca, if death can only be in one place then how could he collect the souls from everyone dying aroundn the world? I think maybe it's a question that isn't that importiant to our understanding of the book. I wonder what the authors thoughts behind this would be.
ReplyDeleteOne question I have, is why did the author choose to put the images of Max's home-written The Standover Man into the novel. Clearly it causes more intrest and the images stick in your head more clearly than just hearing about the book, but I wonder if the author had another intention behind this.
Well death isn't human, so maybe he can teleport or can just be in more than one place at once. Being an unknown species, who knows what death can do.
ReplyDeleteI believe the author put the illustrations in the book so the reader would be able to see the meaning of the drawings. As good as an author is at describing details, you can never fully describe a picture the way you would see it. Also, people may view the illustrations differently. The way the author interprets the pictures may be different than how you or I would view them. Putting the illustrations in the book gives the reader the opportunity to interpret them in their own way.
ReplyDeleteI agree as well that Rosa does indeed care about Liesel, Hans and Max, though she just does not know how to express her emotions without feeling as though she is losing her controlling position. Hans has more the personality of a friend to Liesel and though he still acts as the father figure in her life, he talks to her as an equal rather than Rosa, who talks down upon Liesel.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion Death does not have a job. I think without people dying Death would not be here so that could mean Death was there because of the humans. He lives for Death, that is his survival to life.
ReplyDeleteThat is a good question,
I think the pictures were told with another reason behind them. I am not exactly sure, but I think maybe the author drew those in the book to show us a jews perspective and to show us his feeling. I know max is in a very dangerous situation because he is a jew, but i think Max is trying to make Liesel, Rosa and Hans feel sorry for him. In the last drawing it showed a couple of words that coaught my eyes daylight, water, movement. i think that is symbolizing what he doesn't have, but what he wants.
The question that I have is usually males are more dominate especially in the 19 hundreds. Men were always leaders but in the novel Rosa is the more dominate parent. I don't understand. Why did the author choose Rosa?
The author could have made Rosa the more dominant parent because he wanted to show that woman have the same rights of men. He wanted to show this because at that time, people were not treated equally just because they were of the opposite gender. In today’s society, both genders are treated equally.
ReplyDeleteDoes death have supernatural powers or is he really just a ghost that ferries souls? Because they way he talks in the book to me seems as though he as no special abbilities besids the knowledge he posseses from his time.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Harley, as Death clearly isn't human it's very possible that he could travel fast enough to get to every soul in time. Also, he says that his heartbeat is different than human's heartbeats. Proof of another species? Or a different state of being? I'm not sure...
ReplyDeleteWhat/who is the LSE? What is their importance in the book? How did they even come to know Liesel?
ReplyDeleteI think that Death does have some supernatural powers because it is not possible to be in that many places at once. Some of the powers he could have is the power of mind reading and teleportation. He is always talking about other people's thoughts so this is why he could be a mind reader. Teleportation could help him get from one place to another.
ReplyDeleteWhy does everyone just randomly die in the end of the book? Is this to show that most families at that time were bombed? Or was this to show some other sort of point. This is very unusual to me because in WW2, mostly the Jews would die from the bombings not the Germans. There was no specific bombing towards the Jews.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering why Max would always write story's for Liesel and Liesel would always read them? Is this meant show a relationship between Jews and Germans? That the Jews would be made to write the books and do all the hard work, while the Germans could just take it easy and just read. Or is this meant to show that Max deserves to give Liesel something for her generosity?
ReplyDelete1) The LSE is the Luftwaffe Sondereinheit- Air Raid Special Unit. They were to stay above ground during air raids and put out fires, prop up the walls of buildings, and rescue anyone who had been trapped during the raid.Page 431. Her Father was put into the LSE, that's how they know her.
ReplyDelete2) It's because their city/town got bombed. I think that's just because at the ending of WW2 the allies were getting pretty intense with bombing the Germans and bombed a lot of German towns/cities.
3) He wrote stories for Liesel, because the first one was his irthday present to her, and the second one was to show her how she was important to him and how he understood her relationship with words. Also, the Germans would never read a book written by a Jew, it was considered "enemy propaganda" and all books found/given that were written by non-Germans were burned at the book burnings.
*birthday
ReplyDeleteThis is a really wierd question but i just can't find what page it is on is pfiffikus Hitler or ......?
ReplyDeleteI believe Max writes stories for Liesel because she is one of his only true friends. I believe he does it out of affection for her. He realizes that she enjoys to read, and thinks that she would enjoy to expand her book collection. I believe he also writes the book so if he was taken away to a concentration/extermination camp, there would be something he would be remembered by. All his belongings would be confiscated by the Nazi German army and discraded. The book left behind for Liesel would be the only "piece" of him left.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the entire time of reading the book, I've been under the impression Death has been "following" Liesel around. However, Olivia told me that he's reading from her diary, and that it is mentioned early on in the book. Can anyone confirm that he's reading from her diary?
ReplyDeleteIf he is, how does he have access to character's thoughts, other than Liesel?
Yes, at the end after they get bombed, he picks up Liesel's diary, and it says that he didn't expect to read it thousands of times, and that at one point he says that even though the pages are worn and faded and you can't really see the words anymore, he knows them by heart.
ReplyDeleteI think the reason he has access to other character's thoughts is partially his own interpretation, and maybe Liesel's perspective from her diary, but also because I think he can read people's thoughts in general when he goes to collect souls, so it's partially his memory.
This question has to do more with actual history than the book itself, but I was wondering why people like Max, who are Jewish Germans and hiding for their life, just pretend that they aren't Jewish? Did the government have files on who was Jewish and who wasn't? Because I think if people could successfully fool the Nazi's into thinking they weren't Jewish, they could move away without having to be sneaky about it or just try to blend in with everyone else.
ReplyDeleteAt the begining of the book it said that Liesels brother died on the train but it never acctually said what caused his death. It says that he was just caughing and then death came and he died. What was the cause of Liesels brothers death? Do we ever find out for sure?
ReplyDeleteOn page 202-204 when Hans tells Liesel about max sleeping in her bedroom and they story behind Max and Max`s dad Erik, does Hans actually tell Leisel that Max is a Jew? or does Hans just frighten her? not letting her know more about where Max is from?
ReplyDeleteSteff:
ReplyDeleteOne thing about the Nazis was that they LOVED their paperwork. Also, if your whole family was Jewish and went to worship publicly, your neighbors would know. I agree with the sneaky part but I think to do that they would have had to immagrate first to Poland or a bordering country at least.
Yes, the government asked all the Jews to register themselves and their families at the beginning of the war, which was pretty sneaky because no one was told why. Also, you know how each race has distinguished features to their particualr culture? Well, often times Jews have dark hair and dark eyes, and have longer noses (of course, there are exceptions, but that's the majority as far as I know). So it was fairly easy to spot someone who was Jewish, especially since a lot of Germans had blonde hair and blue eyes.
ReplyDeleteI think Liesel's brother was just really sick with something and he couldn't get medicine for it so he died. He probably had pneumonia or something, and a lot of children back then would die from that from lack of medical attention. Also, the fact that it was cold didn't help, and the lack of proper nutrition. No, we never do find out the exact cause of her brother's dead.
I believe many of the characters in the novel die in the end to enforce a theme of the book: the power of words. The bombs were dropped to fight against Hitler and his Nazi party who were trying to gain power in the world. Hitler had gotten so many people to follow him and believe his far out ideas, by using words. Through speeches he cleverly used words to persuade the country to accept his ideals and fight for them. If the words Hitler spoke were not as powerful as they were, he would have not had as many people supporting him and WWII may have not started. It was Hitler’s words that killed everybody on Himmel Street.
ReplyDeleteWords also saved Liesel. If she had not been swept up in the magic of reading/writing, she would not have been in her basement when the unexpected air raid occurred. Having words save Liesel’s life, while they took the lives of so many others, showed how words can impact us. It shows that words can kill, but they can also save lives. Words are objects that we have to handle with care.
As I read farther into the book, I’m beginning to not like the foreshadowing that Death uses. At the beginning of part 5, it states – “A SMALL ANOUNCEMENT ABOUT RUDY STEINER, He didn’t deserve to die the way he did”. I don’t think that mentioning that Rudy dies really adds to the novel. It almost ruins part of the book because I didn’t really want to know in advance that Rudy dies.
ReplyDeleteWhy does Death feel the need to ruin large and important parts of the book with foreshadowing?
In my opinion, I think the author added the pictures into the novel so we would feel a stronger connection to the events happening- which I think worked. I feel as if the way the scratchy, rough drawings were presented and the author's choice of words gave me a better appreciation for Max's past and where he has come from, as well as what he is experiencing with Liesel as well as the other Hubermanns.
ReplyDeleteIn responce to Jamies question, I think that Liesel and Max, have a more "brother-sister" relationship, and in those times, your sibilings were your best friends. I think that you're overthinking about the relationship between "Jews and Germans" I am confident that the reason Max would make a book for Liesel is to show his thankfulness for the Hubbermans hospitatlity. Plus hes probably really bored all day sitting in the basement anyways. :)
ReplyDeleteI know I did not read too too far into the book yet so I don't know if death will be moving around the world or at least to another person later on. But i'm confused as to why death is just sticking around Liesel, what's so special about her ?? he should really be fired from his job. THERE ARE SOULS OUT THERE THAT ARE ATTACHED TO DEAD BODIES ! ! ! :O
ReplyDeleteGwen:
ReplyDeleteYes, because if he told her the whole story then it includes the fact that the man who saved him was Jewish, which is why Max was hiding.
Do you agree with the idea that Death looks like ourselves? In the book it says "You want to know what I truly look like? I'll help you out. Find yourself a mirror while I continue."
ReplyDeleteDo you think that Death takes the form of our own bodies?
While Death is following Liesel for so long, how can he also be doing his job? There are obviously many people that are dying around the world so how is he picking up their souls? It may sound silly, but is the author of the book trying to portray Death somewhat like Santa? We’re told that Santa can travel the world in one night to deliver all the gifts so can Death move around the world just as quickly to pick up the souls?
ReplyDeleteTo what kadie asks i would think Death states that becasue he does take there souls and maybe there identity becomes him. I don't necessarly think he turns into them, but he just has all the souls in him becasue he is Death and death comes to everyone at a point in their life.
ReplyDeleteTo victoria that is a really good question, i don't think that this is his job, i kinda think that, that is how he stay's alive and the dead souls just come and go. I think the authur choose death to narrate the story because Death knows all the sides, saw it all and could tell us better detail of other characters rather then just one person telling there story and what they saw. I think he is telling the tale of Liesel becasue Liesel is Death's favourite character in this story. I think that this story was one of Death's favourite story's to tell and the authur choose Death because Death could tell the story with more character and to keep us reading.
I really don't think that death is actually "following" liesel. It's just that he is reading what she wrote about her life, and so it may seem like he's following her, but he's not really. Like when everything in liesel's life happened, death wasn't actually there, even though it seems as though he was just because he's re telling her life story.
ReplyDeleteBut Victoria, I agree with you.. I REALLY didn't like how the author chose to spoil Rudy's death to us. After reading that, I keep waiting for Rudy to die and I don't like that.
My question though, does death eventually die? or does he just live forever?
ReplyDeleteAnother question, Liesel's mom drops her off at the Hubermann's house and then just disappears from the book. Correct me if I'm wrong, but does she die, or is she mentioned again in the book? If not, did she die? Or is Liesel's mom somewhere out there hiding, or is she actually quite safe from all this madness?
ReplyDeleteOkay, 1 more.. When I'm reading this book I always think of death as like a character in the book, like he is human. I know he has to be everywhere in the world, so he wouldn't have time to sleep, but does death need food and water just like people to survive? Or since he’s not actually human, can he survive on nothing at all?
ReplyDeleteI want to know what was going through Hans Hubermann’s head when he gave that bread to the Jewish man, it was a nice thing to do but could he not see how dangerous it was to do such a thing. Because of his actions Max had to leave the house and he put his family in danger. He also hurt his painting business, because many Germans were very hateful towards the Jews.
ReplyDeleteI keep wondering what type of story this would be if Liesel’s brother hadn’t died. Would Liesel still be as close with Hans because she wouldn’t have stolen that first book and that’s what brought Liesel and Hans so close with each other? Also, the books have a lot to do with Liesel and Max’s friendship as well, so would she have been close with him either?
ReplyDeleteWhere does Death find the time to do anything, like tell the story I’m sure people die every second in all parts of the globe especially during war. Are there multiple “Deaths”, different ones assigned to different parts of the globe, or does he somehow just manage to be in multiple places at once?
ReplyDeletei wonder if death can die? and if he can who would take his soul, or would it just float around the earth adding wonderfull color?
ReplyDeleteI was wondering why Rosa and Hans Hubermann ever get married because they are so opposite of each because Rosa is so aggresive and violent while Hans is a laid back guy that doesn't care what Liesel does?
ReplyDeleteAnother question I have is that Hubermann family knew a war was going to break out in Germany so why wouldn't they move somewhere safe where they didn't have to worry about losing everything?
ReplyDeleteAnother question of mine is why would Death foreshadow what happens to Rudy in a couple years ahead?
ReplyDeleteWhy did Rudy get himself disqualified from winning his fourth medal?
ReplyDeletedoes death ever feel sad that someone died or does he not have emotion?
ReplyDeleteI think that maybe he might have when he started the job, then gotten used to the emotion involved with his profession. Then again, did he ever "start" considering he can't stop? It's all part of the mystery behind death.
ReplyDeleteI think Death does have feelings. A quote to help support this is when Death states,"You want to know what I truly look like? I'll help you out. Find yourself a mirror while I continue." This could mean he is just like huimans in a way.I also remember Death saying like Rudy didn't deserve to die the way he did. I think Death collects their souls but can't control who dies, so in that case I think he gets sad or upset like humans when certain people die. Death also quotes," Please believe me when I tell you that I picked up each soul that day as if it were newly born. I even kissed a few weary, poisoned cheeks...." I think the war was geting to him and he was also devestated. I think he neccesarly cries, but I do think he has feelings.
ReplyDeleteWhy would Hans help one of the people that were walking to Dachau when he knew that they were Jewish and he was hiding a Jewish person which made him very suspicious?
ReplyDeleteI wonder how differently the story the would have played out if Liesle had actually kissed Rudy. She mentioned wanting to do it on more than one occasion. Would it have made the ending turn out completely different, if she had kissed Rudy maybe she wouldn’t have went Frau Hermann’s and left the note. She may have not received the notebook, and most importantly she may not have survived.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Death has talked to other souls before Liesle, and how he finds the time to do so is still a mystery. I was also wondering if any soul is capable of standing up and talking to Death. When death describes the souls he collects they are often sleeping. For some reason Liesle Meminger was not at rest
ReplyDeleteMy question relates to ashleys (shlee) question. Do we ever find out about Leisels real mom later in the book? What happened to her? Does Leisel ever see her again?
ReplyDeleteRebecca, I'm pretty sure I read that Liesel's parents gave her away because they were being taken away for being communists. They were most likely prosecuted.
ReplyDeleteI'm just wondering how you felt about the colors? I thought it was a great way for the author to describe the situation because every color represents something, for example black describes death while red describes love and affection.
ReplyDeleteOn page 34, Hans was described as 'worth alot'. Could anyone please explain what the author meant by this? I thought it had something to do with his knowelage.
ReplyDeleteYeah I think in the book it says that liesels dad just abandoned them when in reality he was killed when she was very young. Her mother was forced to give her up because she could not support her and also because she knew that she would eventually be killed or die just like her husband and son
ReplyDeleteWho was your favourite character from the book? Personaly, I liked Hans, just because he was so kind and brave. He showed courage so many times in the book, like taking in members and accepting them as family.
ReplyDeleteOne last question, how do you see the story changing if Liesel's brother hadn't died? I think it would change alot because Liesel was inspired by her brother's death.
ReplyDeleteWhen Liesel is found under all the rubbel, no one else is talked about besides Alix Steiner and the mayor and his wife. Did everyone else in their area die, or is it just that Death didn't mention them?
ReplyDeleteTo add to Vedrans last question, I think the story would have been different if her brother didn't die because she would have probably been less afraid of being at the Hubermanns at the begining, and she probably wouldn't have as bad of nightmares at night. Also she would have had someone there to lean on when she needed it, before she became so close with Hans.
ReplyDeletedeaths last comment at the end his little *** A LAST NOTE FROM YOUR NARRATOR*** I am haunted by humans. what do thing he meant by that. hes death nothing can haunt him... or can there be? Comments?
ReplyDeletewhy do you think Markus zusak chose to put dominoes on the original book cover. Is there any sort of hyperbole or metaphor he is trying to get across?
ReplyDeleteSo why didn't the mayors wife try and stop leisel from stealing her books. liesel disrespected her a couple of times before... are you telling me that isla hermann is just gunna take it or something????
ReplyDeleteafter Hans decided that he didnt want to be apart of the nazi party why couldn't he just anticipate what would have happened an moved away?
ReplyDeletewas liesel a jew? I dont think so but if she wasnt then why was her mother and father both killed?
ReplyDeleteI don't think Liesel and her biological parents were Jews. We all know Rosa and Hans were hidding a Jew and obviosly Liesel was not being hidden, so she wasn't a Jew and that means her parents wern't Jews and she didn't have jewish blood in her. Maybe they just died becasue there was something wrong with them becasue many different people were killed from the war like if they had issues or other such problems. The Germans didn't just kill the Jewish and they could of been in a bomb. Sorry if I didn't answer right, but this is what i think.
ReplyDeleteA qestion that I have that I have noticed through out the whole book is that books mean so much in the novel and I just don't understand why. Are books a hidden meaning or does Liesel just like books or ...?
ReplyDeleteLiesel was not of Jewish background, her father was part of the communist party. During WWII, Nazi Germany did not accept any other political parties other than themselves. The saw other political parties as enemies, dirt that was soiling the German land. That is why her father and presumably her mother were killed.
ReplyDeleteIt's the words that are important. The power of words Liesel explains is why the war is going on. Without words, Hitler would not have the power he had. That is just one example.
ReplyDeleteTo answer Daniels question to "Why did Markus Zusak choose to put dominos on the origional cover?" In my opinion, I think the dominos and the finger pushing them down could represent how many lives could change or come crashing down by the actions of someone powerful. For example, to relate to the story, because of Hitlers power, millions of Jewish lives were taken away, damaged or threatened in someway, one by one like the dominos.
ReplyDeletelisa- i think books are what keep liesel sane, during the night when she had those nightmares, she would read her book, and when she was put in a younger class, she read until she got into a higher one.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kadie, and I think the books really showed Liesel's personality as well. She's a very strong person for what she's been through and I can't even imagine going through what she has yet she still stays sane because she finds the little joys in life and is able to get by on just that. Also, Liesel found joy in literature and the fact that she would take a book that was supposed to be burned for its non-German background and read it just because she loves to read shows that she won't conform to other people's ideas and she will be her own person no matter what anyone thinks she should do.
ReplyDeleteI was going to post a similar question to Daniels, but I might rather choose to try to comment on it. The first thing that came to mind as I thought about this is that it's rather interesting, isn't it, that Death would say HUMANS haunt HIM. I mean, most people without reading this book would think it would clearly be the other way, right? I think to me that this line reinforces the what happened during WW II as an example of how brutal humans can be to one another. Throughout the whole book death urges us to believe that he's really not all that bad, he simply serves a purpose that has to be fulfilled. This line I think is Death saying it's not him that kills us, but us that kill each other. Also, Death is repeatedly reminding us how he despises his job, at one point he says something along the lines of that he envies humans, if nothing because that they can die. This final line in the novel chills me a bit, it makes me sick to imagine doing Death's job, especially at such a time as WW II. I think the use of this final line closes off the book in a way that leaves readers to think about human nature, which is one of the points of the whole novel, I believe.
ReplyDelete