Advice to Mrs. Meminger

Paula Meminger

Agenda

• P.A.C.T.
• Advice
• Reason of Importance

P.A.C.T. =
Plot
Atmosphere
Character
Theme

Plot

• Werner Meninger died
• Liesel is separated from her mother
• Liesel sends her mother letters
• There is no reply

Plot: Quotes

• "...the boy didn't make it...her brother, Werner, was buried..." (Pg 19 & 22)
• "...There was the chaos of goodbye...the girl's head buried into the woolly...shallows of her mother's coat. There had been some more dragging..." (Pg 25 & 26)

Plot: Quotes

• "...She (Liesel) would gather all.. the... letters to her mother...and...mail it..." (Pg 98)
• "...Against all hopelessness, Liesel still checked the mailbox..." (Pg 101)

Atmosphere

• Desperate
• Heartbreaking

Atmosphere: Quotes

"...Liesel was sure her mother carried the memory of him, slung over her shoulder. She dropped him. She saw his feet and legs and body slap the platform. How could that woman walk? How could she move?.."

(Pg 25)

Atmosphere: Quotes

"...Her mother was constantly sick and there never enough money to fix her. Liesel knew that. But that didn't mean she had to accept it..."

(Pg 32)

S. T. E. A. L.

Paula Meminger:
Flat & Static

Few Facts on Paula...

• "...There was...one thing she knew about her father...'Communist'..." (Pg 31)
• "...What's she doing writing to her mother?...She should just forget her. Who knows where she is? Who knows what they've done to her?..." (Pg 95)

Mrs. Meminger:

"...the foster care office had lost contact completely with Paula Meminger..."

(Pg 101)

CHARACTER: Speech

• Humble
• Thankful

CHARACTER: Speech- Quotes

• "...Liesel's mother started leaving with the priest. She was thanking him for his performance of the ceremony..." (Pg 22)

CHARACTER: Thoughts

• Selfless
• Realistic
• Knew that it was truly goodbye

CHARACTER: Thoughts- Quotes

• "...I think her mother knew this quite well. She wasn't delivering her children to the higher echelons of Munich, but a foster family had apparently been found, and if nothing else, the new family could at least feed the girl...and educate them properly..." (Pg 25)

CHARACTER: Effect on Others

• Liesel felt abandoned & alone

CHARACTER: Effects on Others- Quotes

• "...No matter how many times she was told she was loved, there was no recognition that the proof was in the abandonment..." (Pg 32)
• "...Her mother abandoned her..." (Pg 151)

CHARACTER: Actions

• Panicked when son died
• Gave daughter to foster family

CHARACTER: Actions- Quotes

• "...There was a woman wailing. A girl stood numbly next to her. In panic, the mother opened the door..." (Pg 22)
• "...She wasn't delivering her children to the higher echelons of Munich, but a foster family had apparently been found..." (Pg 25)

CHARACTER: Looks

• Bony and pale
• Haggard & unhealthy

CHARACTER: Looks- Quotes

• "...Both were skinny and pale. Both had sores on their lips..." (Pg 24)

Theme

• Sometimes to love someone means you have to abandon them

Theme: Quotes

• "...Nothing changed the fact that she was a lost...child in another foreign place, with more foreign people. Alone..." (Pg 32)
• "...It's the leftover humans...the ones who are left behind, crumbling among the jigsaw puzzle of realization, despair, and surprise..." (Pg 5)

Important Advice to Mrs. Meminger:

Leave your daughter a letter or note before you give her away. (pass it to foster care office)

Importance of Advice

• Explain Actions
• Liesel's past (how family lived before they were torn apart)
• Answer some of Liesel's questions.
• Give Liesel Closure