Liesel Meminger: Love or Hate?

Question:

• State your opinion whether you like or dislike the main character. Why do you feel this way?

I like Liesel Meminger

Agenda

• P.A.C.T.
• Reason for Fondness of Liesel Meminger

P.A.C.T. =

• Plot
• Atmosphere
• Character
• Theme

PLOT

• Given up to foster family
• Foster family hides Jew in basement for a period of time
• Liesel's neighborhood is bombed, but she survives
• Dies at an old age in Sydney, Australia

Plot: Quotes

• "...a foster family had apparently been found, and if nothing else, the new family could at least feed the girl..." (Pg 25)
• "There's a Jew in my basement" (Pg 245)
• "...the bombs drop casually out...Himmel Street was flattened..." (Pg 497 & 498)

Plot: Quotes

• "I can't believe it - she's alive!" (Pg 499)
• "...I travelled to Sydney and took Liesel away...the old woman..." (Pg 549)

ATMOSPHERE

• Bittersweet
• Mature

Atmosphere: Quotes

• "...I have hated the words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right..." (Pg 528)

Atmosphere: Quotes

• "...her (Liesel's) brother had practically died in her arms. Her mother abandoned her..." (Pg 151)
• "...She had seen a Jewish man who had twice given her the most beautiful pages of her life marched to a concentration camp..."

S. T. E. A. L.

Liesel Meminger:
Round & Dynamic

Character: Speech

• Forgiving
• Brave
• Human
• Loyal
• Hopeful

Character: Speech- Quotes

• "...I'm (Ludwig speaking) sorry....Me too (Liesel's reply)..." (Pg 113)
• "You think...you can buy me off...?...Liesel could see it on her face...Her eyes had blackened. Cuts had opened up and a series of wounds were rising to the surface of her words. All from...Liesel's words..." (Pg 262- 263)

CHARACTER: SPEECH- QUOTES

• "...What about her?...It's all very well for such a person to whine and moan and criticize other family members, but they won't let anyone else do it..." (Pg 291)

Character: Thoughts

• Loving
• Empathetic
• Wise

character: Thoughts- Quotes

• "...She (Liesel) loved her Papa...and even her foster mother...she loved...her best friend..." (Pg 85)
• "...Liesel was on the lookout for discarded items that might be valuable to a dying man. She wondered at first why it mattered so much. How could something so insignificant give comfort to someone..." (Pg 321)

CHARACTER: THOUGHTS- QUOTES

• "...When she (Liesel) wrote about that night, she held no animosity toward Rosa Hubermann at all, or toward her mother for that matter. To her, they were only victims of circumstance..." (Pg 99-100)
• "...She (Liesel) was already making calculations, despite already knowing..." (Pg 114-115)
• "...He's not dead yet..." (Pg 330)

Character: Effects on Others

• Gave Hans Hubermann an idea to save Max
• Inspired Max to live on

CHARACTER: EFFECTS ON OTHERS- Quotes

• "...Hans held the book...thinking about...the foster daughter who had given him this brilliant idea..." (Pg 128)
• "...Often I (Max) wish this would all be over, Liesel, but then somehow you do something like walk down the basement steps with a snowman in your hands..." (Pg 313)

character: Actions

• Compassionate
• Daring

CHARACTER: ACTIONS- Quotes

• "...Oh, no. Ludwig Schmeikl. He did not, as she expected, sneer or joke...his ankle...had been crushed...Somehow, she (Liesel) helped him up..." (Pg 112)
• "...She had stolen a book..." (Pg 129)

character: looks

• Skinny

CHARACTER: LOOKS- Quotes

• "...She (Liesel) is bony, but strong..." (Pg 97)
• "...Liesel...still rake-skinny..." (Pg 218)

Theme

• Know the gravity of words for they can forge brilliant creations or burn all

theme: quotes

• "...She was a girl. In Nazi Germany. How fitting that she was discovering the power of words..." (Pg 147)
• "...I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and glorious, and its words and stories so damning and brilliant..." (Pg 550)

Reason for Fondness of Liesel Meminger

• Mature beyond her age
• Recognizes the significance in words
• Did not just survive, she thrived