Books in The Book Thief

1.The Grave Diggers Handbook

This is the first book Liesel steals and in fact its the book that she finds above the snow next to where her brother was just buried. We are not told the significance of the book but I personally think that because Liesel cannot yet read she see’s it as a momento for to remember her brother. This book stays hidden with Liesel up through the book but holds no purpose until the day Hans finds it. From that point Hans and Liesel work together to read the book. This was a turning point in the book as it was the beginning of Liesel learning to read leading her to aspiring to write.

  1. The Shoulder Shrug

As an attempt to getting rid of the so called “loses” and “defeats” of the “old Germany”, a book burning is started in every small town over the country. The books represent the whole of Germanys history as in that time that was how everything was recorded. To Leisels young eager eyes she could not understand why people would want to burn precious books. To add to this she was very stand offish when the young soldiers forced her to burn a book, she felt pain almost like she was loosing a loved one. Leisel is the last one at the sight of the burning and she manages to find a book that had escaped the fire, she picks it up and hides it in her jacket. The act of Leisel doing this shows defiance to Nazi Germany at such a young age. It also leads to her fearing for her families survival as she was left to put all her trust into the one lady who saw her take that book. What made it worse was that the lady was the mayor’s wife, who by keeping this secret was in-fact putting herself in trouble.

  1. The Dream Carrier

The book The Dream Carrier was stolen by Liesel from Ilsa Hermans library that she had let Liesel into to read her books. The Book is about a young child who’s got no one around and who wants to become a priest. This book becomes another bond between Liesel and Max. This is because while max was in a coma and not able to receive care as he was in hiding, Leisel would read to Max. It was the only way she could help him, by spending time and being there for him even if he wasn’t aware. Max ad Leisels dead brother become a merged dream one night, this is a dream Liesel has being having for close to two years. With Max in a coma we see her feeling guilty for both these evens, as the boys become one.

  1. A Song In The Dark

The green of this book fascinated Liesel, not once had she ever read one like it so of course she had to take it. The theft from Ilsa Hermans library was aloud by the lady herself as she knew Liesels only took what she needed, like she stated earlier on in the book. This book definitely gained meaning over the course of the book. A Song In The Dark was the book Liesel read to her street as the hid in the basement while bombs were being dropped over their town. This book distracted people as they waiting for their unfortunate death. Liesel read because she felt herself, she felt safe and free. This is what she was attempting to do for the scared people of Himmel Street.

  1. The Standover Man

This book was written by Max who paints over the pages of Hitlers ways of Mein Kampf in the pure colour of white. This is fascinating as we all know Hitlers signature with the colours of black and red. For max he’s almost erasing a part of Hitlers world by scribing his story onto the reminince of Hitlers philosophy.  Max also takes away a piece of Hitlers power by writing about freedom over the laws of Hitlers new Germany. In this time Hitler is in complete control over the media but again Max has diminished a piece of Hitlers power by putting his message out into the world to allow the new generation to see the truth. Liesel’s one desire at the time was this book and Max gave it to her. I think he did this because he loves her and wants to see her happy. I also think he gave it to her as they relate to issues they’ve both faced. For Max it’s how he took the place of freedom away from his mother while she faced the rath of Hitler, also as long as Hitlers a leader he will constantly be in hiding, living in fear. Liesel is facing the fact that she may not ever see her mother again due to Hitler.

  1. Mein Kampf.

This book was written by Hitler and it’s different to the others as Liesel doesn’t steal this book, she doesn’t even read it. Although the significance weighs heavily on Liesel. The words in this book are Liesels day to day life and the rest of Germany’s for that matter. But mainly this book is once again related to Max, as it becomes his protection from being discovered. Hans had the idea that as long as Max carried around a book that meant so much to Nazi Germany, he would never be captured. Max also used this book to write his own story by making the pages white. To Leisel this was almost heroic as he was taking all that was bad in the world, and simply erasing it by filing it with kind a loving words.

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