one symbol can hold so much meaning it can change someone
TRANSCRIPT
One symbol can hold so much meaning
It can change someone..
It could even kill millions of people
The Book Thief Written by: Markus Zusak
Liesel has already lost so much in her life, abandoned by her mother, the
death of her brother
and mysterious disappearance of her father
She is sent to live with a foster family on Himmel Street, Germany during
World War Two
She quickly becomes comfortable with her foster parents Hans and Rosa
Hubermann
The “Gravediggers Handbook” is her last connection to her brother and
becomes her goal to read
Hans helps her to learn how to read and write
Soon she becomes enchanted by words and feels empowered by them
During bombs raids procedures, Liesel reads to her neighborhood to calm
them
Liesel befriends a boy abscessed with Jesse Owens named Rudy
She and Rudy are compelled to thievery by hunger, but Liesel wants
to steal books instead
Liesel steals books from the library of mayor’s wife Illsa Hermann and forms
an unlikely understanding with her
Latter there is a book burning, celebrating Hitler’s birthday Liesel
listens to a Nazi spokesmen
Liesel listens to a Nazi spokesmen
He calls for death for communists and Jews
She realizes that Hitler is responsible for the disappearance of her father, her brother’s death, and her mother’s disappearance
Hitler becomes her sworn enemy
A promise Hans made a long time ago
Surfaces when the son of the man who saved his life
Asks him a favor, one that if anyone found out, Hans whole family could be
killed
His name is Max, and he is a Jew who wants to be hidden
The Hubermanns took Max into hiding, deep in their basement
But their lives were put in more danger every day
Max and Liesel become friends connect through words
They connect through words and dreams of avenging Hitler
One day, Nazi knock on their door to check their house for hidden Jews
They come close to finding Max, too close to take anymore chances
Max has to leave, but before his does he gives Liesel a book he wrote for
her
Soon Liesel and Rosa are all alone when Hans is drafted into the army
Every time there is a parade of Jews marching from Molching to Dachau,
Liesel looks for Max not knowing if she should be glad to see him or miserable
because the Nazi found him
But she knew the chances that a Jew wouldn’t be caught traveling alone
were unlikely
All she sees though are tired faces and skinny features that look the
same
Liesel sees a Jew also looking into the crowd for someone
She enters the group of Jews and finds Max
Her reunion with him is cut short by Nazi guards that whip her
Rudy holds her back when she tries join the line
Soon after Hans comes home from the army, Liesel decides to stop stealing
books
When she apologizes to Illsa for the stolen books and harsh judgement,
Illsa gives her a gift, a journal to write in
Liesel decides to write a story about her life and the power of words
Every night she spends writing her story of loss and hope
Words saved her life on night, but murdered hundreds of others
The warning sirens were too late
Death visited all except a girl in the basement
Himmel Street was bombed…
and almost everyone Liesel has ever known or loved was killed
She is pulled from the wreckage of her house and cries next her familie’s
bodies
Illsa Hermann adopts her and she lives out the rest of her teenage years
with her
She is reunited once again with Max after he survives the concentration
camp
And she lives the rest of her life in tolerance of fate
Because surviving the worst of times will only make an individual stronger
Zoe Goldberg Per #7