The Book Thief Death Quotes

Hans gets into trouble for painting over the slur. Such slurs, painted across Jewish homes, shops, synagogues, were part of the campaign to identify Jewish people as subhuman.

Death is talking about the death of a group of French Jews murdered in a Polish prison. He's reminding us that we are all human, all united by Death. It's ridiculous to kill another human, when the job will be done on its own in due time.

Although Liesel never completely gets over Rosa initial beatings, she does, on Rosa's death, see into the core of Rosa's identity. Liesel remembers Rosa's kindness to Max and her excitement when she presents Liesel with Max's sketchbook.

Yes, Werner's death is criminal. It could have been prevented. Six-year-old Werner, along with the rest of the family, is being punished for having Communist affiliations. He's being punished with poverty and lack of medical treatment. He is not alone.

Liesel's book stealing never quite qualifies as criminality, unless you're being strict. As Rudy points out, it's almost silly to call taking books from Ilsa Hermann's library "stealing." Her book thievery presents a pleasant counterpart to the very real crimes of the Nazis.

Being a Jew in these times means being a criminal. There is no move a Jew in Nazi Germany can make that isn't considered a crime.

She's at the Hitler's birthday celebration book burning, of course. Humans will be fascinated with crime so long as it exists. But, Liesel could have at least thought about stopping the books from being burned. Why doesn't this occur to her?

This highlights Himmel Street poverty, which has only increased since the war began, due to rationing. It's also due to the fact that there were no more Jewish customers. Again, Rudy and Liesel's criminality seems the opposite of criminal, other than the ham-stealing incident.

We see this pattern over and over again. The crimes committed against Rudy by Hitler Youth leaders help cause Rudy to commit some crimes of his own.

Here, Death is referring to Liesel's inability to do what she thinks she should – apologize to Ilsa Hermann. In Liesel's code, failure to apologize is a great crime. So, she does apologize to Ilsa in the long run.

Feeding the Jewish prisoners on their way to Dachau is obviously considered a crime by the Nazi guards. It can also be seen as an act of non-violent resistance to what the Nazis are doing. It might seem like a small thing, but it was big to the Jewish people who saw it as an act of true kindness.

Death explains to us that sau means a pig. Saumensch is an insult for women, Saukerl is an insult for men. Arschloch is "asshole" (6.14). These terms become terms of endearment between the characters as the novel progresses.

Death tells us that this is a definition that isn't found in the dictionaries. As we see when we get into the Duden Dictionary sections of the novel, it's sometimes hard to find the right words to express what we see and feel.

This refers to Hitler's invasion of Poland in 1939. We put it under this theme because it points to the importance of communication technology to the Nazis' techniques.

This is Hans, in a rare moment of violence. Hans does not hit Liesel in anger, but because he wants to communicate the seriousness of her situation. Saying such a thing within the hearing of the wrong person could mean a death sentence. Hans is also motivated by the knowledge that he'll soon, if things go as planned, be hiding a Jew in his home. In which case, such statements would be doubly risky. Could he have found a way to impress this upon Liesel without violence?

This is how Max perceives the majority of German people. It refers to the fact that the Holocaust could not have been carried out without the consent of the majority of the German population.

From Death's point of view, living with the loss of a loved one is much worse than dying.

The death of Liesel's brother causes her great suffering. It also seems to create empathy and prepares her to understand Max's suffering.

This tiny sentence helps us feel Liesel's utter dismay at being forced to leave her mother on the same day she buries her brother.

These nightmares are bitter-sweet kind of suffering. They terrify her. She can't control them. But, they bring her just a little closer to her dead brother. A major turning point for Liesel is when she lets go of the nightmares and learns to carry Werner in her heart and memory.