The Book ThiefBy Markus Zusak

The Power of Literature

1.Literature has the power to save lives

Mein Kampf• Saves Max’s life by providing him with the

appearance of a Nazi German.

• “My Struggle” is ironic as it is now Max’s Struggle

“Mein Kampf. Of all the things to save me” -Max

The dream carrier

• Steals this book from the Mayors library to read to Max while he is sick.

• About a young boy who wants to be a priest.• Represents Max’s longing for a new life and

Liesels desperation for Max to wake up.

“She gave The Dream Carrier to Max as If the words alone could nourish him”

The Book Thief

• Liesel’s book that she writes about her life

• Saves her life as she is in the basement when there street is bombed and she survives

• Shows her struggle through the war and the end of her old life.“She was still holding desperately on to the words who had saved her life”“I have hated the words and I have loved them, and I hope I

have made them right”

2.Literature is a source of power

The Word Shaker

• Max writes this book about Hitler’s rise to power through words

• Shows the two sides of words; Liesels good, loving side and Hitler's manipulative, evil side.

“The Fuhrer decided that he would rule the world with words”

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The standover man• A book that Max writes about how powerless he

has felt his whole life until he meet Liesel.• He writes over Mein Kampf and in doing so

exercises power over Hitler by erasing his words, and therefore his source of power, and replacing them with his own.

• He draws himself as a bird because he longs to have the freedom that a bird has as well as now identifying himself as what Liesel percieves him as.

“His hair is like feathers”

3.Literature gives people hope

The Gravediggers Handbook

• Finds it at her brothers funeral• Helps her to understand that death is a regular

occurrence and reassures her that her brother was buried correctly.

• It becomes her last link to her brother and mother and represents her old life with her family

“The books meaning. 1. The last time she saw her brother. 2. The last time she saw her mother.”

The shoulder shrug

• About a Jewish man who is portrayed in a good light. Teaches Liesel that Jewish people are humans and teaches her compassion towards them. This sets her up to meet Max and accept him as part of the family.

• Also gives her a distraction from her nightmares

“She was soon pleased she was awake and able to read”

The whistler• Story about a detective and a serial killer

Gives the people of Himmel street hope and a distraction from the bomb raidsIronic that a book about violence gives them hope when faced with the real possibility of their own deaths.

• Becomes a symbol of hope in everyday life for Liesel

“She liked to feel it in her hand”

The Duden Dictionary and Thesaurus

• Is given to Liesel from Ilsa in an attempt to fix their relationship Liesel appreciates it as words are what defines her• Gives Ilsa hope as it creates closure for the death

of her son• Helps improve Liesels knowledge of words

“I hope you find this dictionary as useful as you read your stolen books” - Ilsa

The Last Human Stranger

• Stole from the Mayors library • Represents the end of her nightmares and the point

where she is at a peaceful point on her life• Foreshadows the events to come

“There were people everywhere on the city street, but the stranger could not have been more alone if it had been empty”

This is how Liesel feels when her street is bombed and filledwith dead bodies of her loved ones, leaving her alone.She becomes “The last human stranger”.