Post by benjaminconnor on Aug 30, 2017 1:01:34 GMT -5
Liesel's brother dies early on in The Book Thief, however he doesn't stay out of the narrative. Several times he visits Liesel, usually in an attempt to stop her from doing something she'll come to regret.
"She turned as she had once before and marched back to 8 Grande Strasse... she reached the door and banged it hard enough to hurt... Evidently, the mayor's wife was shocked when she saw her again... She opened her mouth, but nothing came out, which was handy, really, for it was Liesel who possessed the talking... 'You and your husband. Sitting up here.' Now she became spiteful. More spiteful and evil than she thought herself capable. The injury of words. Yes, the brutality of words... Immediately. Her brother was next to her. He whispered for her to stop, but he, too, was dead, and not worth listening to. He died in a train. They buried him the snow. Liesel glanced at him, but she could not make herself stop. Not yet. 'This book,' she went on. She shoved the boy down the steps, making him fall. 'I don't want it'" (Zusak 261-263).
Does her brother appear as a form of her conscience? If so, what do you believe is symbolized when she shoved him down the steps? What do you believe the author intended the reader to feel as they witness her pushing aside her conscience?
"She turned as she had once before and marched back to 8 Grande Strasse... she reached the door and banged it hard enough to hurt... Evidently, the mayor's wife was shocked when she saw her again... She opened her mouth, but nothing came out, which was handy, really, for it was Liesel who possessed the talking... 'You and your husband. Sitting up here.' Now she became spiteful. More spiteful and evil than she thought herself capable. The injury of words. Yes, the brutality of words... Immediately. Her brother was next to her. He whispered for her to stop, but he, too, was dead, and not worth listening to. He died in a train. They buried him the snow. Liesel glanced at him, but she could not make herself stop. Not yet. 'This book,' she went on. She shoved the boy down the steps, making him fall. 'I don't want it'" (Zusak 261-263).
Does her brother appear as a form of her conscience? If so, what do you believe is symbolized when she shoved him down the steps? What do you believe the author intended the reader to feel as they witness her pushing aside her conscience?