Post by ninaseidel on Jul 28, 2017 5:20:35 GMT -5
The narrator's fascination with Leisel's stealing is evident throughout the book and, at many points during the book, serves as a method of organizing the story that Death is telling. I want to ask you guys what you think Leisel's motivation for stealing was. Was she motivated more by the pleasure of theft or by a need for the actual things that she was stealing? The things that Leisel and Rudy stole were things that, because of war and poverty, they wouldn't be able to obtain otherwise like extra food and books. So, in some ways they were stealing out of necessity but it's clear from the way that it is described by the characters in the book that the children's obsession with theft goes beyond that. The characters frequently make comments that imply this, such as when Leisel gets back from stealing A Song in the Dark from Ilsa Hermann, "It was the pleasure and satisfaction. Of good stealing." (Zusak, pg. 366) and when Rudy comments on what it feels like when Leisel steals a book, "It feels good, doesn't it? To steal something back." (Zusak, pg. 483) When Ilsa Hermann fired Rosa Hubermann, she offered to give Leisel the book she was reading. After Leisel refused, she later stole that same book that had been offered to her. I think that what these instances show us is that Leisel and Rudy steal, not because they really need the things that they're taking, but because they enjoy the fact that it gives them control over their circumstances and the people, like Ilsa Hermann, who they feel have wronged them. With very little money or power in the world, theft allows them to rebel and feel dominance over the rest of Molching. What do you think is Leisel and Rudy's motivation for stealing?