ESTheBookThief

Click here to go back to my Reading Home Page Click here to go back to my Home Page

Click here to go back to the 8th Grade Home Page

Assignment #1 1. Some minor characters in the story so far are the book thief's mom and brother. They are important in the beginning of the story because the mother took Liesel to a foster home and the brother died on the way. The major characters are the book thief, Liesel, her foster mom and dad, and the narrator. They are important because Liesel is the main character and is the one who is taking all the books. This book is about her. Her new foster mother and father are important because they are raising her now. The narrator is also a main character like Liesel because he is the one that takes dead spirits away and is the one telling Liesels story. I like your interpretation of the narrator and how he took Liesel's brother's spirit...no one else has had that reflection and I think it is an interesting one. I never thought of it that way, but I think you have a good point.

The minor characters affect the major characters because when Liesel's brother died the narrator had to take his spirit and that is how she found Liesel. If he didn't die, then she wouldn't have this story about Liesel. The mother is also affected the major characters because she was the one that took Liesel to foster care and then to the new house with her foster mother and father. One of the grave diggers affected the whole story. If his book hadn't fallen out, then Liesel wouldn't have found it and she wouldn't have the interest in books she has now.

2. One decision that happened in the book that I disagree with is sending Liesel to a foster home. No matter the conditions, if I were the mother, I would not be able to give up my daughter. Especially after the death of her son, there would be no way I could do that. I understand that things were hard for them but a daughter needs her mother in life, and not an abusive one like her foster mother. If I was sent to a foster home or if I would have to give my daughter to one, I don't know how I would go on in life. And if money was the problem, now they have one less person to care for. But, if her mother didn't do this, Liesel would never have become the book thief and be where she is now.

Most of us have difficulty with that decision. Was Liesel's mom acting out of concern for herself or out of selfishness? Did she think giving Liesel up was actually better for Liesel, or did it give her the opportunity to ignore her responsibilities...an easy way out? We will never know her true motives - and we hope her reasons were admirable.

3. This story changes my thinking because I now get to see a story of someone who lived during the Holocaust but was safe and was not in a concentration camp. I will also be learning the sacrifices people had to make to save books from book burnings and Liesels journey in her new home with new people and with no education.

We often tend to be narrow-minded in our view of the Holcaust - that it was just between the Germans and the Jews. As you find in this book, many more people and nations were/are affected by WWII. Great job!