CPT Literary Significance Notes Essay

Plot * Liesel, her mother and her brother Werner are all travelling on a train, to greet Werner’s and Liesels foster parents. * Liesel, illiterate has a dream o Adolf Hitler and speaks to him in broken German. * As she is half awake, Liesels brother dies, and there were two Nazi soldiers who argue on weather they leave the body there or take it with them. * Both Liesel and her mother are traumatized by his sudden death and 2 days later he is buried. * After the ceremony finishes Liesel digs at his grave but is dragged away by her mother, but before getting on another train Liesel steals a book she is unable to even read the title of. * She is taken to a place in Munich called Himmel -â€Å"Heaven† to meet Rosa and Hans Hubermann, her foster parents. * She refuses to meet or get out of the car with her suitcase that only contains her clothes and the book she stole from her brother’s gravesite. * The only person that manages to get her out of the care is her foster father. * Liesel feels abandoned by her mother, but understands that it’s better for her to live there and be protected from the poverty; she also learns that her father was a communist, but she doesn’t yet know the meaning of that word. * Liesels foster mother acts harshly upon her and calls her a â€Å"pig girl† when she refuses to bathe, but claims to loves her. * Her foster father, Hans develops a closer relationship with her and teaches her how to roll cigarettes. she starts calling them â€Å"mama† and â€Å"papa† * Liesel got terrible nightmares about her brother the first few months and was accompanied by Hans, who she kept the book hidden from. * She kept the book as a symbol reminding her the last time she saw her brother, and the last time she saw her mother. * Liesel is put in school but has to stay with a much younger grade, just learning the alphabet. When she turns ten she joins the Hitler Youth. * Liesel makes a friend names Rudy who stands up for her when other kids call her stupid. * They always pass Rudy’s fathers tailor shop and a street with broken homes with yellows stars (Star of David) on them. * Jesse Owens is a black runner Rudy is obsessed with, he colours himself black with charcoal and is dragged and lectured at home by his father, saying not to pretend to be black or Jewish because of the racist Nazis * Hans discovers the stolen book and agrees to teach her how to read, even though he himself is a poor reader. * Hans teaches Liesel every night, and continues to comfort her after her nightmares. * Liesel is later put into a class of her own level, but is not asked to perform same tasks because of her teacher, Sister Maria. * the whole class but Liesel is asked to read in front of the class, Liesel insists and is embarrassed in front of the whole class when she is unable to read and beaten by Sister Maria. * Liesel is made fun of by many students but get angry to a point where she beats Tommy and Ludwig up. She is upset about being called stupid and remembering her brother, Rudy walks her home and comforts her. | Character * Death- narrator * Liesel Meminger-(The book thief) a nine year old, steals books even though she doesn’t know how to read. Liesels love for words is incredible. Forced to move in with foster parents, because her mother is unable to keep her safe or take care of her needs. She is determined to be able to read and write. She doesn’t know what is actually happening around her, and the fact that the Nazis and Hitler are taking control and using their power for evil. * Hans Hubermann- Liesel papa, her foster father. She describes him as a very mellow and genuinely nice man, his kindness and gentleness is what makes Liesel close to him, we are told that he is the one that Liesel loves most. Protecting and helping others is what he does, he is a painter and used to be a part in the army. He doesn’t support Hitler or the Nazi but in order to protect his family and show loyalty to his people he applies for a membership multiple times. He is well known and like in the town but some people call him â€Å"Jew lover† He teaches Liesel how to read even though he himself is at 4th grade ability. He makes her feel safe and their relationship becomes very strong. * Rosa Hubermann- Liesels foster mother, her job is to do the ironing and washing for the wealthy people from the town, she is a very cold woman with a very foul mouth. Death tells us that even though she is very harsh towards her husband and Liesel she loves them both very much and deep inside actually has a very big and worm heart. * Rudy Steiner- Is one of Liesel very first and only true friend. He loves Liesel and stands up for her, he keeps her company and is able to cheer her up when she is down, just like how Hans is able to. He was also referred to as the boy who was obsessed with the black American athlete Jesse Owens. * Alex Steiner- Rudy’s father was a part of the Nazi part, only to protect his family. He had nothing against Jews, he found his son coloured black in order to represent Jesse Owens and gave him a lecture that he should be proud to be white, not black. an be proud that he has beautiful blonde hair and big blue eyes, and he should want to be like a black person or a Jew * Hans Junior and Trudy Hubermann- The Hubermanns children, Hans and his father don’t have a close relationship because he does not think his father tries hard enough to join the Nazi party which he supports greatly, and Trudy is a maid and babysitter for the wealthy. * Frau Holtzapel- A neighbour that spit on the Hubermanns door every time she walked past * Sister Maria- â€Å"A halo surrounded the grim reaper nun† beat Liesel for wanting to read in front of the class which she was unable to do, made fun and didn’t believe in Liesel. * | Theme Discrimination- Hitler effected and killed many people, Liesel did not know that, she was unaware of what was happening around her because she was so young, In their town all the Jews were getting their homes and stores shut down and taken away from them. Even if you didn’t support the Nazi party you would have to apply to it to protect your family and yourself from being questioned and killed.†Jesse Owens had just completed the 4x100m relay and won his fourth gold medal. Talk that he was subhuman because he was black and Hitler’s refusal to shake his hand were touted around the world. Even the most racist Germans were amazed with the efforts of Owens. â€Å"Love and Friendship-Liesel and her father bonded and she felt closest to him right away, she was sent to him and his wife because her mother was unable to take care of her, she was mad at her but understood that it was the right thing to do, her love for her mother and brother was indescribable, when her brother died it was as if her world had collapsed, she had constant nightmares about being at his grave site for a long time. â€Å"Somewhere in all the snow, she could see her broken heart, in two pieces. Each half was glowing, and beating under all that white.† | Style/ Literary Devices Discrimination-â€Å"But you’ve got beautiful bond hair and big SAFE blue eyes, you should be happy with that, is that clear?† Metaphor- Rudy’s dad was telling him he should be glad he is neither black nor Jewish, and be thankful that he has blond hair and blue eyes, Hitler’s preference that kept him safe.Love and Friendship-â€Å"Like cigarettes and kerosene. Sitting in the water, she imagined the smell of it, mapped out on her papas clothes. More than anything, it was the smell of friendship, and she could find it on herself, too. Liesel loved that smell. She would sniff her arm and smile as the water cooled around her.† Metaphor- Liesel loved her papa just as much as he loved her, his scent made her feel safe and she felt comfortable, she loved it. She knew that her papa would keep her safe and they would do anything for each other.|