Loyalty In The Book Thief

Words: 482
Pages: 2

Loyalty is a theme demonstrated multiple times throughout The Book Thief, that includes loyalty to leaders and friends. Written by Markus Zusak, The Book Thief is a historical fiction book about World War II and the Holocaust and how the citizens of Germany experienced it. The book follows Liesel Meminger, a German girl who just went to live with her foster parent, Rosa and Hans Hubermann. Liesel makes friends, and experiences bombings of her hometown. Loyalty is demonstrated towards Hitler and the Nazis, friends, and people who are like family members.
Hans Hubermann Jr. showed loyalty towards Hitler and the Nazis when he left his family because they didn’t support the Nazis as much as he wanted them to do.
“ “You’re either for the Führer or you’re against him- and I can see you’re
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was so dedicated to Hitler that he chose him over his family. He did not go back to apologize to his family, and he never had the chance to. He did not demonstrate loyalty to his family like in the next few cases.
Rudy demonstrates loyalty to Liesel by jumping into freezing cold water to retrieve her book that had been thrown in by a rude boy in their town. “Rudy in particular had taken off down the river bank, attempting to locate the book. Soon he peeled off his coat and jumped in, wading to the middle of the river “ (Zusak 302 )
If Rudy and Liesel had not been best friends, and he had not loved her, he obviously would not have gone in just to save her book. I think that the quote shows that he was so loyal to Liesel that he was willing to jump in. Rudy was not the only in The Book Thief to show Liesel loyalty. Max shows loyalty to Liesel by coming back to visit Liesel after being in the concentration camp for such a long time. “A man with swampy eyes, feathers of hair and a clean-shaven face walked into the shop. He approached the counter, “Is there someone here by the name of Liesel Meminger?” Liesel came out. They hugged and cried and fell to the floor” (Zusak