She believes that rudy refused the fourth medal as a tribute to jesse owens, the black american athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 berlin olympics, much to hitlers dismay. Liesel is the book thief referred to in the title because liesel is fascinated by the power of words. But liesel isnt the only character he tries to protect. Hans hubermann papa liesel s foster father and husband of rosa, hans is a former german soldier during the first world war, accordion player, and painter. The book thief is the name of the book liesel writes over the period leading up to the bombing of himmel street.
Rudy and liesel find a coin on the ground and buy from frau diller a single candy, which they take turns sucking on. Rudy is constantly trying to get liesel to kiss him, but she always refuses. Liesel stole books from a grave digger, a bonfire and the mayors wife, ilsa herman. When viktor chemmel begins berating liesel, rudy tells him to leave her alone, and when viktor tosses liesel s book in the river, rudy doesnt hesitate to dive in after it, not because it holds any value to him but because he knows its important to liesel. He clearly cares about her, and he often sticks by her side and tries to protect her if necessary. Rudy steiner click the character infographic to download. The irony here, of course, is that max survives the war and rudy does not. His first novel published in america, fighting ruben wolfe 2001, follows the fistic. The irony is of course that liesel does kiss rudy but only after he is dead. Rudy guesses that her family is hiding someone, and he. He discovers the secret of max, whose name he reads on a journal max gave to liesel for christmas. We get the feeling that, at times, she protests a little too much like this quote for her not to have strong feelings for him. Max isnt the only fighter marcus zusak has written about. Death explains how rudys lack of fear of girls reveals his unusual self confidence and rebellious naturehe doesnt follow the traditional rules for kids his age.
Death explains how rudys lack of fear of girls reveals his unusual selfconfidence and rebellious naturehe doesnt follow the traditional rules for kids his age. When viktor chemmel begins berating liesel, rudy tells him to. The book thief study guide contains a biography of markus zusak, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. Rudy s act serves as a statement against the nazis aryan belief system.
The book thief part three summary and analysis gradesaver. In 1945, liesel works in the tailor shop owned by rudys father when max enters. He starts off in the novel as a tenyearold boy with bony legs, sharp teeth, gangly blue eyes, and hair the color of a lemon 8. Franz deutscher is rudys sadistic hitler youth leader. The book thief, by markus zusak the new york times book. Frau diller is the owner of the corner shop and a fervent nazi sympathizer. In the book thief, the man hiding a jew named max vandenburg is decorator and parttime accordion player hans hubermann. For a while, himmel street is a happy place for liesel. She is 9 years old at the beginning of the story, when after the death of her brother she is taken in by the hubermann family.