Characterisation in the Book Thief

Hans- The character Hans Hubermann is a gentle big hearted man Hans and his wife Rosa don’t particularly get along Rosa is mean to him but apart from that there relationship is definitely not a happy marriage but deep down Hans loves Rosa and cares for her a lot more than she may think. Hans is very loving and caring towards Liesel maybe because his son was not close with him and he wanted to care for her because he never did with his son maybe. When the alarms go off through the town and everyone is safe in the bunkers Hans plays the accordion to lighten up the panic in everyone i think Hans and his Accordion bring a happier mood to the sadness of the story because when you think of music you think of fun and singing etc. you would not expect music to be in such a sad time like that. he plays music for the boy Max a Jewish German boy Hans told to the boys father he would protect the accordion was originally the boys fathers but when he died he passed it onto Hans and when Max turned up at their door step the music brought him back to his deceased father making him feel happy and at piece.

Rosa- The character Rosa Hubermann is a mean but caring lady who at the beginning only wanted Liesel and her brother for the money but because the boy dies she’s not happy with just Liesel and does not really show much love and care towards her she does her job well as a parent caring for Liesels health and helping her survive and improve her state she was in before Hans and Rosa adopted her, Rosa does the towns laundry and asks Liesel to help so maybe the rich people feel sorry for Liesel because she’s so skinny and pale this does not really work but Rosa gives it a shot because she knows they are barley feeding themselves and need to money to survive. in the end Rosa started acting less uptight and strict and began enjoying the company of Liesel and Hans and Max and started having fun as a family almost.

Rudy- The character Rudy Steiner is a friendly and confident young boy who clearly admires Liesel as soon as he sees her i can tell by his actions he is a confident boy who cares for her and would do almost anything due to his admiration towards her he protects her and stands up for her in school, Rudy is apart of the Hitler youth and is an athletic boy who basically wants to be jesse owens the fastest man alive he is strong willed and in saying that Rudy covers himself in charcoal “lathered on” so not an inch of his skin was white he was no longer a white blonde hair and blue eyed safe looking boy he was temporarily something that would not be accepted by many in Hitler’s war. Rudy’s determination to survive was amazing he played football to take his mind off the hunger. he stole apples with Liesel 1 because he cared for her and would do almost anything for her and hunger.

Liesel- The character Liesel Meminger is a strong curious young girl who at the age of 9 was sent away to a foster home because her mother could no longer care for her 2 children from lack of money in times like those money was a hard thing to come by during world war 2. Liesel’s brother died on the train to the foster parents was he sick? Was he undernourished from the lack of food or water? We don’t really find this out at the funeral of her brother a book is dropped the gravedigger’s handbook she takes the book not because she wanted to steal it but because of her curiosity Liesel Meminger could not read she had no education but still she takes this book? out of curiosity? in the end i think Liesel went through a lot she lost everyone she cared about i couldn’t imagine her pain she’s a strong girl. Still she kept on stealing books and slowly Hans taught her to read and write words and she learnt to read books Hans and Rosa got her 2 books for Christmas she said she never got a present before and how grateful she was this shows how very little Liesel had in her life. Liesel curiosity and innocents brought on the character death following Liesel and observed everything she did the death also seemed to be around her a lot light her brother then everyone she cared about almost everyone in the town leaving her alone.