Liesel Meminger Character Analysis Essay Sample

Liesel Meminger Character Analysis Liesel Meminger is the main character of a historical novel ‘The Book Thief’ by an Australian writer Markus Zusak which is his most popular work. The novel was an international bestseller and is now considered to be a modern classic. Many people who have read it wondered if Liesel Meminger is a real person. According to the author, the book was inspired by real-life events that he heard from his German parents but all the characters in the novel are fictional and Liesel Meminger was never real although she might seem to be. ‘The Book Thief’ presents an emotional story of a ten-year-old girl living in Nazi Germany during Holocaust. The novel describes the joys and sorrows of Liesel, the new family that adopted her, and a Jewish man that Liesel’s family hide from the Nazi. The action takes place during a certain historical period, but ‘The Book Thief’ does not provide details on the complex events that are discussed in the novel. We can see them through the eyes of Liesel Meminger and learn about her point of view on Holocaust and World War II and, besides, we can learn about this point of view as it is told by Death, the narrator of the story. At the beginning of the novel, Liesel is about ten years old and towards the end of the novel, she is about fifteen. At that time, her home was destroyed by bombs and her loved ones were killed. The narration ends when Liesel is an elderly woman and Death comes for her soul. Liesel knows what it means the pain of loss – she lost her father, mother, and brother. When she comes to her foster family, they all have hard times because Liesel does not trust anyone. But her new family and friends treat her kindly and gently so she opens her heart to them and learns compassion. Liesel cares about the special people in her life and she also cares about justice in general. She is angry and frustrated with Hitler and war. As Liesel grows up, she starts to realize that everyone around her has experienced pain and loss. Although she is still a child, Liesel creates a moral system for herself and develops strong critical thinking. Liesel steals books. She loves books so much that she starts stealing them even before she is able to read them. The first book that Liesel steals is a handbook for digging graves. She steals it from a graveyard where her little brother has been buried because it reminds her of her brother and of her mother. So for Liesel, this book means a loss and a sorrow. But ‘The Gravediggers Handbook’ also means a beginning of a new period in Liesel’s life. When Hans finds this book beneath her mattress, they start reading it together and their friendship begins. Liesel realizes that there is a great power in books and in the words that are written in them and she enjoys reading them. It was her foster father Hans who teaches her to read although he is not good at reading himself because of his four-grade education. She reads with her foster father and, besides, she visits Frau Hermann who is the mayor’s wife in her library. She likes the library and thinks that it is one of the greatest places that she has ever been to. She also starts reading to people who come to their basement when air raids begin. Books are the source of real comfort for Liesel and the people around her. Liesel is enchanted by the power of language but as she matures, she starts to realize that words can be a dangerous weapon of control and at the same time they may be a gift that can broaden her knowledge and view on the world. Using books which she steals, reads, and writes, she develops her character.