Liesel's Mini Wars

There are two currently two conflicts the main character in the novel The Book Thief , Liesel Meminger, must deal with: man vs self, and man vs society.

Liesel Meminger’s conflicts with herself include being haunted by nightmares of her baby brother dead on the train, and the worry and thought of being disowned by her mother because of financial trouble. Liesel’s conflict with herself is helped by her foster father, Hans Hubermann. Whenever Liesel bolts upright from her nightmare of her dead baby brother, Hans Hubermann is always there to hold her hand and to comfort her. Liesel’s foster mother, Rosa Hubermann, also helps Liesel cope with her conflict of missing her mother by distracting her by throwing orders and yelling at Liesel.

Liesel Meminger’s other conflict of her vs society includes not being accepted at school. As a young girl growing up in a poor family, Liesel had no opportunity for a proper education. Therefore, after moving into her new city and foster home, Liesel now goes to school. Not knowing how to read or write, Liesel is forced to learn with children much younger than she. Eventually, Liesel was bumped up to her appropriate grade due to obnoxious behaviour. During class, the teacher called on all the children to read a short paragraph in front of the class but purposefully excludes Liesel. Distraught, Liesel picks up a book and attempts to read in front of the class. Failing miserably, she is then teased and picked upon by her classmates. At recess, after much bullying, Liesel snaps and beats up a boy. Liesel copes with this conflict by having her foster father read and teach her words and letters from books.

Liesel’s conflict with society reminds me of a video which has recently gone viral and been on the news. The video shows a crowd of scrawny young kids bulling a bigger kid. Apparently, the bigger kid has been bullied all his life. In the video, after a couple punches, the big kid snaps and attacks the bully. This is like what happened to Liesel when she was being constantly teased by her classmates.

Link to video àhttp://www.dailymotion.com/video/xhmc7v_bully-gets-owned_fun

*caution, video is graphic*