michaelbarras04.weebly.com · Web view2021. 2. 5. · In the novel The Book Thief, Liesel...

Submitted To: Mrs. Kalinauskas

Submitted By: Michael Barras

Course Code: ENG2D2-01

Date Submitted: Thursday, January 16, 2020.

“...she felt an innate sense of power. It happened every time she deciphered a new word or pieced together a sentence.” (Zusak, 147)

“Only then, on the paper that had bubbled and humped under the stress of drying paint, did he begin to write the story.” (Zusak, 223)

“THE BEST word shakers were the ones who understood the true power of words. They were the ones who could climb the highest. One such word shaker was a small, skinny girl. She was renowned as the best word shaker of her region because she knew how powerless a

person could be WITHOUT words” (Zusak, 446)

“I have hated the words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right” (Zusak, 528)

“The sky is blue today, Max, and there is a big long cloud, and it’s stretched out, like a rope. At the end of it, the sun is like a yellow

hole...” (Zusak, 249)

“…they were huddled among the ashes, shaken. Survivors. ‘Three books.’ Liesel spoke softly…” (Zusak, 119)

Picture/Paragraph 1 – Photo Essay

In the novel The Book Thief, Liesel Meminger, was an illiterate nine-year-old who arrived on Himmel

St., in Molching, Germany, in 1939. Her brother had just died, and her mother had dropped her off to go and

live with a foster family. Rosa and Hans Hubermann took her in. Liesel had nightmares about her brother’s

death each night. Hans went to comfort her and realized after a bed wetting episode, that she could not read. He

found The Grave Digger’s Handbook, that Liesel had stolen at the cemetery after her brother’s funeral, hidden

under her mattress. The narrator (Death) called her "the book thief without the words" (Zusak, 80). He began

teaching her the alphabet on the back of sandpaper, after one of her nightmares. He slowly began teaching her

to read and write. As seen in the picture above, during the warm weather Hans and Liesel would sit by the

Amper River and Hans would teach her new words. After the lessons, Hans would play his accordion. During

the cold months, they went to the basement and used paint to write words on the walls. Words and stories,

during these sessions, helped form a deep bond between Hans and Liesel. Books were very important to Liesel.

She was willing to steal them in order to have something to read. The subject of the book did not matter to her.

She read a grave digger's manual or a murder mystery with as much enjoyment as a fairy tale. When she read in

Ilsa Hermann’s library, “...she felt an innate sense of power. It happened every time she deciphered a new word

or pieced together a sentence” (Zusak,147). Learning to read and words empowered her and allowed her to

quietly rebel against Hitler's regime.


Mein Kampf, written by Adolf Hitler was an autobiography that described why Hitler was antisemitic

and outlined his political ideology and future plans for Germany. Max understood that this booked helped save

his life. The book gave people the impression that he was pro-Nazi and also because it contained his

identification card, as he made his way from Stuttgart to Hans Hubermann in Molching. Max did not agree with

Hitler’s viewpoint and was angry about what Hitler was doing to the Jews. Liesel asked Max if the book was

good, when she saw him reading it for the third time. “He looked up from the pages, forming his fingers into a

fist and then flattening them back out. Sweeping away the anger, he smiled at her. (…) ‘It’s the best book ever.’

Looking at Papa, then back at the girl. ‘It saved my life.’” (Zusak, 217). Max ripped out pages of Mein Kampf

and painted over them, in order to write two books for Liesel. The picture above lists the books that Max

created, The Standover Man and The Word Shaker, after painting over Mein Kempf. “Only then, on the paper

that had bubbled and humped under the stress of drying paint, did he begin to write the story.” (Zusak, 223).

His writing over the Mein Kampf pages was a way to get a small amount of silent revenge on Hitler, by

expressing his beautiful words and pictures over Hitler’s evil words. He wrote The Standover Man for Liesel. It

was a story about his life up to and arriving on Himmel Street and also about his friendship with Liesel. He

painted himself as a bird because Liesel said his hair looked like feathers, after he had taken a bath. The

Standover Man demonstrated how he cared about Liesel and that their relationship was stronger than any of

Hitler’s words that Max had painted over. Liesel’s affection and companionship helped Max feel like a person

again and not just someone who was being hunted by the Nazi Party and forced to hide.


Max’s stories in The Word Shaker implied that words were the strongest force that someone could use.

Hitler used words and not guns or money to influence Germans by brainwashing them and turning them against

Jews. The Word Shaker demonstrated that something as simple as words could lead to someone like Hitler

trying to rule the world. He created much suffering and also caused severe real-life ramifications. Through his

book, Max was able to explain to Liesel what was going on in Germany and Europe at the time. Max reused

pages of Mein Kampf by painting over them, which allowed Max to fight Hitler in his own way without using

his fists as he explains to Liesel what was going on around her. Although she was young, Liesel understood the

power of words and used her words to create a shelter for herself during the World War II. The Word Shaker

included stories about things that Max was told by Liesel, along with events that happened when Max and

Liesel were together. The book also included the story of how Hitler planted words like seeds, growing forests

of negative words that influenced people’s minds and created hatred. Liesel was a word shaker who planted a

seed using her tear that dropped on Max’s face while he was sick. Her tree held positive words, that Hitler hated

and wanted to cut down. He and many others tried and could not chop it down. The picture above is about

Liesel as the word shaker, who planted a seed and would watch her tree grow bigger than all the of Hitler’s

trees. “THE BEST word shakers were the ones who understood the true power of words. They were the ones

who could climb the highest. One such word shaker was a small, skinny girl. She was renowned as the best

word shaker of her region because she knew how powerless a person could be WITHOUT words” (Zusak, 446).

Liesel was able to keep the tree standing, just as she was a positive influence on Max, during his time of hiding

and persecution. When Max came for her in the story, her tree fell and knocked down many of the trees with the

hateful words on them. The Word Shaker demonstrated how words could be used for both good and evil. It also

described how Liesel could defy Hitler’s wish to remove all Jews from Germany, by helping and protecting a

Jew that many in Germany had been brainwashed to despise.


Books were very important to Liesel. Even before she could read, Liesel understood the importance of

books. She took special care of her books, as if they had a magic power. Whether she was given a book or she

stole it, having these books made Liesel feel as though she had a quiet strength over Hitler and his rules, by

reading and writing what she wanted. Liesel had little control over her life at such a young age and what was

going on in the world at the time. Her ability to read and write what she wanted, allowed her to control a small

part of her life. The library in the mayor’s house became a refuge for Liesel, both when she stayed and read in

the library or when she went and stole a book. During the air raids, Liesel brought her books with her to the

bomb shelter. She began reading out loud from one of her books and everyone in the bomb shelter began to

listen to her. Her reading calmed and moved those in the shelter, just as Hans’ accordion did when he played it

for people. Liesel reading the book gave her some control over taking away people’s fear during the bombings.

Ilsa Hermann gave Liesel a blank book and encourages her to write. Liesel decided to write about the story of

her life. She would go down to the basement to write her story. Her book The Book Thief saved her life both

literally and figuratively. She was in the basement writing, when all those on Himmel Street were killed during

the bombing. Writing her book was a way for her to process all the hardships and suffering that she experienced

in her life. She ended her book with the words, "I have hated the words and I have loved them, and I hope I

have made them right" (Zusak, 528). The picture above is a collection of books, that Liesel stole or wrote, that

were important to her. Liesel understood that words could be used for evil purposes. She wanted to write to

influence others in a good way and to make the words “right”.


Max and Liesel formed a bond during his time spent hidden in the Hubermann’s basement. They had

many things in common, such as losing their families, having nightmares, being taken in by the Hubermann’s

and also their love of words and reading. “… Max and Liesel were held together by the quiet gathering of

words" (Zusak, 248). Max and Liesel both struggled with the guilt that they both lived, while their family

members died. They can relate to each other and find comfort in spending time together. Being able to talk to

Max about her nightmares was like a healing process, which led Liesel to no longer needing Hans to stay with

her at night after she had one. Liesel brought Max the newspaper that she would search for in garbage cans

around town. The newspaper became his access to what was going on in the world. Liesel would relay

interesting things that happened to her throughout the day. After one of these stories, Max asked Liesel to go up

and look at the sky and then to come back and tell him what the weather looked like. He missed some of the

simplest things, being confined to the basement. “The sky is blue today, Max, and there is a big long cloud, and

it’s stretched out, like a rope. At the end of it, the sun is like a yellow hole. . .” (Zusak, 249). The picture above

is Max’s interpretation of Liesel’s description of the weather. Max took Liesel’s interesting description of the

weather and painted his interpretation of her words on the basement wall. “On the ropy cloud, he drew two

figures—a thin girl and a withering Jew—and they were walking, arms balanced, toward that dripping sun.”

(Zusak, 249). Liesel began to master words and have a good understanding and perspective on the world. Liesel

and Max withstood many hardships, but together that were able to use their difficulties to create a lasting

friendship.


Hitler’s rise to power in the early 1930’s and his control over the propaganda that he spread throughout

Germany, led to many book burning events. Books that did not fit his and the Nazi Party’s ideology were

confiscated and burned. These books were considered dangerous or “un-German.” Hitler was afraid that the

ideas in these books would contradict Nazi beliefs and therefore the party’s domination over Germany. The

Nazi’s also understood the power of words. A Nazi official said before the bonfire in Molching, “…but we also

stop our enemies once again. We stop them reaching into our minds. . .” (Zusak, 110). During the bonfire,

Liesel saw three books that had not burned. “… they were huddled among the ashes, shaken. Survivors. ‘Three

books.’ Liesel spoke softly…” (Zusak, 119). The picture above is of Liesel having saved a book from the

bonfire. Most people had already left the bonfire and she decided to try to steal at least one of them. This action

displayed Liesel’s fight against Hitler and his beliefs. During the Nazi official’s speech, she heard him mention

Communists as offenders against Nazism. Liesel’s ability to read and understand Hitler’s propaganda made her

realize that he and the Nazi party were responsible for the death of her parents and brother. She saved The

Shoulder Shrug from the fire. Three books surviving the bonfire symbolized that Hitler’s attempt to control

people’s beliefs did not always work. Books and ideas were worth fighting for. Liesel took the hot book and hid

it under her shirt so that she could protect the words and ideas within the novel. In The Shoulder Shrug, the

protagonist was a Jew and a hero. This idea completely contradicted the Nazi ideology and was a reason why

Hitler feared that these types of books would weaken his control over Germany.

Picture 1 – Photoshop Description of Image for Photo Essay

The first step was to find the images needed to create the manipulated photo.

I found pictures of grass, a river, the sky and clouds, trees, the characters (Hans and Liesel), an

accordion and a log.

I started by adding the two sections of grass to approximately half of the blank page.

I then added a river between the grass images, to represent the Amper River.

I added a blue sky and clouds to the top of the page.

I added some trees in the distance, just below the sky, but above the grass.

I placed a log near the river bank to represent where Liesel and Hans would sit, while Liesel learned to

read.

I added Liesel with a book in her hand and Hans sitting on the log, listening to her read.

Next to Hans, I added an accordion on the log because he would play it for Liesel, after they finished

their lesson.

Each character and the log were carefully and precisely cut out of an image before being added to the

final manipulated photo.



I found pictures of a collection of books of various sizes on a shelf, a map of Europe and a hand-drawn

head shot of Max.

I placed each book of various size and thickness next to each other on a shelf.

I added the names of the books that pertained to Max and his story on the spines of each book on the

shelf.

I used various fonts and effects to make the books look old, well used and antique.

I placed a hand-drawn image of Max on the largest spine in the collection.

I also added Max’s name to the spine of one of the books.

As the background of the book shelf, I used a map of Europe.

Each book was carefully and precisely cut out of an image before being added to the final manipulated

photo.



I found pictures of a collection of books of various sizes on a shelf, a map of Europe and a hand-drawn

head shot of Liesel.

I placed each book of various size and thickness next to each other on a shelf.

I added the names of the books that pertained to Liesel and her story on the spines of each book on the

shelf.

I used various fonts and effects to make the books look old, well used and antique.

I changed the colour of the fonts of the names of books that Liesel stole based on the description of each

of them in the novel.

I also added the name of her book that she wrote (The Book Thief) on one of the spines.

I placed a hand-drawn image of Liesel on the largest spine in the collection.

I also added Liesel’s name to the spine of one of the books.

As the background of the book shelf, I used a map of Europe.

Each book was carefully and precisely cut out of an image before being added to the final manipulated

photo.



I found pictures of Max with a paint brush in his hand painting, the basement brick wall, where Max

painted an image of his interpretation of Liesel’s description of the weather and a tightrope with he and

Liesel walking on it.

I started by adding an image of a brick wall as the background on a blank page.

I placed an image of Max holding a paint brush on the left side of the page, painting a sun and sky (on

the right side of the page), based on Liesel’s description of the weather to him, when he had asked her to

go look outside for him.

I also added the drawn image from the novel of Liesel and Max walking on a tightrope towards the sun.

Max holding the paint brush and the tightrope were carefully and precisely cut out of an image before

being added to the final manipulated photo.



I found pictures of a forest, a sapling, Liesel and swastikas.

I started by adding a picture of a forest as my background image.

I added a sapling image in the middle of the trees in the forest.

I added Liesel sitting on a tree stump in the forest and watching her sapling grow.

I placed swastikas and negative words such as hatred, fear and Jew (taken from The Word Shaker story

in the novel) hanging from the branches of Hitler’s negative trees.

I used various fonts and effects to make the negative words and swastikas stand out in the photo.

The images of Liesel, the sapling and the swastikas were carefully and precisely cut out of an image

before being added to the final manipulated photo.



I found pictures of the bonfire from the film and an image of Liesel from the theatrical film poster for

The Book Thief.

I started by adding the picture of the bonfire from the film as the background image.

I added a picture of Liesel holding the book that she took from the bonfire.

The image of Liesel was carefully and precisely cut out of an image before being added to the final

manipulated photo.

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