Relationship In Max Vandenberg's The Book Thief

Imagine harboring a fugitive in your own home. You hardly know the man, but you can see the desperation on his face as he asks for entrance into your home. You allow him in, but the next few months of your life are filled with paranoia as you wait for someone to notice something off. This is what the Hubermanns did for Max Vandenburg, a Jew during World War II. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak follows the story of Liesel Meminger and Max Vandenberg as they try to survive Nazi Germany together. The relationship between Max and Liesel grows throughout the novel and ultimately changes their lives. In order to explore this, the similarities between Liesel and Max, how they give each other purpose, and how they changed throughout the novel must be covered. Just looking at Liesel and Max, you would think that they have nothing in common. Max is a roughed up 22 year old self proclaimed “Jewish street fighter”, whilst Liesel is a young

Max especially. Hunkering down in the Hubermann’s basement, he has nothing to do all day but despair in the cold dark basement. With Liesel’s help, his life isn’t so horrible. She gives him newspapers and crossword puzzles and good conversation. For Max, Liesel is his artistic outlet. To keep his mind off of the gloom and depression, he writes books for her. he uses her as his inspiration, and wants to make sure that the Hubermann’s know how appreciative he is of them risking their lies for him. Most importantly, though, Liesel was Max’s link to the outside world. He would ask about the weather and the sky. As for Liesel, she made it her mission to take care of Max. She did this by finding him the newspapers and having conversations with him. She wanted to give him a taste of the outdoors by making a snowman for him, and sharing her darkest secrets with him. She put it on herself to take care of him when he was sick, and gave him presents