Intro:

Like the rainbow is filled with many colors; a book is filled with many characters, as is a song with lyrics. The Book Thief has characters with personalities unique to themselves, and these personalities just happen to correspond with certain lyrics of songs. When I listen to a song, I can imagine characters from a book doing or saying what the lyrics of the song says. To analyze the main characters of The Book Thief I chose a song to represent each of them.
 

Max Vandenburg: 

I chose the song “Homeless” by Ed Sheeran to represent Max Vandenburg. The beat of the song is upbeat, which shows Max’s optimistic views. Max fantasized fighting Hitler, which shows he wished to overcome the horrid situation he was placed in because of Hitler. Max also asked Liesel to describe the outside for him; he was optimistic by doing so because he yearned to go outdoors again, and hoped that eventually this would happen. The lyrics in the song say “People see right through me, but I’m not a fool, see I’m never do one, gonna live past 22, done everything I need to.” These lyrics are very similar to Max; people see right through Max because he’s Jewish, but in reality he is not a fool, he is a very intelligent person, who even creates his own book for Liesel. He did everything he needed to, but because he was Jewish, he could not do what he wanted to do. These certain lyrics also show Max’s pessimistic view, he tells Liesel that she could cut his hair and make '"As many mistakes as you want,"' (Zusak 245) because he realized that he would not be leaving the basement for quite some time. The chorus of this song certainly fits Max, he truly was homeless, because he was forced to live in the basement of somebody’s house that he only met once, when he was a young boy, and had to leave his biological family, but at the same time he was not homeless, he gained a new “family” when he moved into the Hubermann’s house. I'm sure he wished that he could still live with his biological and did not have to abandon them, but he also was glad he gained a new “family.” 

Hans Hubermann:

Hans Hubermann, what a wonderful character. Hans had such a broad range of qualities, but somehow all of them were such great ones. Hans was a character who stood up for what he believed in, but at the same time was one of the most caring men one may ever get to know. I chose the song "I Won't Let Go" by Rascal Flatts to represent the character Hans Hubermann. Hans was a very caring character, and this song has that feeling to it. When Liesel was upset, Hans was always there to comfort her. The narrator, Death, says "Perhaps Liesel was the one thing he was a true expert at," (Zusak 265) in reference to Hans and Liesel. Hans always seemed to know what to say to make Liesel feel better. In the song, starting at 0:36, the lyrics state "I will stand by you, I will help you through, when you've done all you can do, and you can't cope." These lyrics are definitely something that Hans would say to Liesel and do for her. He stands by her throughout the entire novel, and helps her in many ways, one of these being  learning how to read. Although they traveled through many difficulties, Hans was always there for Liesel in one way or another. In dangerous situations, like when Max first arrived, Hans had to a lot tougher on Liesel than he normally was, but this was only for Liesel's sake. Hans brought such joy to Liesel by playing his accordion, and by reading with her. He was a character who I personally wish I could meet, because he had the most magnificent qualities. This song suits him so perfectly because all of the things the song says or makes references to, Hans would also do himself. Throughout the song, there are numerous lyrics that even could easily be mistaken for a quote by Hans.

Rudy Steiner:

Rudy Steiner, such an adorable character. One most likely cannot describe Rudy without using a word similar to adorable. Rudy has a range of character traits, so picking just one song for him was quite a task. But, when it came down to it, "The Man" by Aloe Blacc just seemed to fit him the best.

This song and Rudy are so much alike. Rudy is a character of his own, so when the song "The Man" at 0:49 says "God made my mold different from the rest, then he broke that mold so I know I'm blessed." These lyrics definitely fit Rudy. Rudy was so unique and did some outrageous things, such as pretending to be Jesse Owens. There truly is none other like Rudy, so his mold was for sure broken. The chorus of this song says "I'm the man, I'm the man, I'm the man," and this is how Rudy feels about Liesel. As Zusak wrote, "He loved her so incredibly hard," (303) and he truly did. Rudy felt like he was the "man" for Liesel and just wanted a kiss throughout the entire novel. What started out as a simply crush for Rudy, eventually turned into love, and the kiss became even more important. Rudy's goal was to get a kiss from Liesel, and this was a huge part of his character. In the book, Rudy also faces many struggles; at 1:56 the lyrics in the song say "I'm a soldier standing on my feet, no surrender, and I won't retreat." This is exactly what Rudy did. He kept on going on and didn't give up after many failed attempted, and because of this "What Rudy needed at this point in time was a victory," (Zusak 282) and eventually he did get one.

Liesel Meminger:

Throughout The Book Thief, Liesel leaves a lasting impact on every character, including the reader. Liesel's unique understanding of the world helps to create special bonds with the characters she meets. One particular bond melted the reader's heart, the one between she and Max Vandenburg. I believe this bond can be simply told in one song and Roberta Flack does exactly that with her hit, "Killing Me Softly." I picture Max and Liesel slowly dancing to this song in the basement, "telling (their) whole life with (their) words."

"And so I came to see him

 And listen for a while

 And there he was this young boy

 A stranger to my eyes.

[...]

I felt all flushed with fever

 Embarrassed by the crowd

 I felt he found my letters

 And read each one out loud.

[...]

Yo L-Boogie, take it to the bridge

[...]

Killing me softly with his song,

 Telling my whole life with his words,

 Killing me softly with his song."

When listening to this song, Max and Liesel's memories that they shared flash before my eyes. I can clearly picture them in the basement building a snowman when winter made its presence and Liesel standing by Max's bedside, reading to him when he was deathly ill. I feel that Max took the position of her brother (Werner, who died when he was young) because "She slept hard and long," (Zusak 200) when Max filled the emptiness of her brother's bed. Having someone there gave Liesel a sense of content and peace, allowing her to rest and sleep soundly, without any nightmares. However, Max was still a stranger in the eyes of Liesel, as she had never met the man before that night. Eventually, Max grew on Liesel and the two would spend the evenings in the basement in silence, one writing and one reading. Both characters shared a love for words. With "The Standover Man" and "The Word Shaker", Max wrote he and Liesel's story of their bond, telling his story of their life and how she had saved him. Liesel's tale on how she had saved him can be clearly seen in a greeting said by Max, "Often I 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" (Zusak 313). This bond seems to end when Max has to flee from the Hubermann household, at which point he will meet Hans in four days at the broken bridge along the Amper. Near the end of The Book Thief, the reader can let out a sigh of relief knowing that Liesel and Max have again reunited and shown embracing in a hug.



Rosa Hubermann:

Rosa Hubermann "..was a good woman for a crisis" (Zusak 211). Although Rosa was displayed as a foul-mouthed, spiteful woman near the beginning of The Book Thief, Death our narrator, slowly peels back the layers and shows the reader that Rosa had a soft side and her points of weakness. She became a mother-like figure to Liesel and a loving other for Hans. When Hans was taken away from her, she felt as if her world was "tumbling down". She knew from the very moment Max Vandenburg walked into her life that things would never be the same and her future was shaky. Rosa's struggle can be told through the lyrics of "The Happening" by The Supremes.



"Hey life look at me, I can see the reality

[...]

 I woke up, suddenly I just woke up, to the happening

When you find that you left the future behind

One day you're up, then you turn around

You find your world is tumbling down

 [...]

I was sure, I felt secure, until love took a detour

Yeah, I'm riding high on top of the world

It happened, suddenly it just happened

I saw my dreams fall apart when love walked away from my heart

And when you lose that precious love you need to guide you

Something happens inside you, the happening

Now I see life for what it is

It's not all dreams, ooh it's not all bliss

Is it real, is it fake, is this game of life a mistake

'Cause when I lost the love I thought was mine

For certain, suddenly I started hurting

I saw the light too late, when that fickle finger of fate."

Rosa thought that during the war her life was going to be okay, not great, but okay. Then Max showed up and Han's unseen devastating actions sent her world tumbling down. As Rosa's customers withdrew their business and Han was becoming risky with his decisions, Rosa was feeling the weight and pressure of hiding a Jew and slowly let her fire dwindle to an ember. She yelled less and comforted Liesel more. When Hans was taken away to join the Nazi forces, Rosa fell apart. She would sit countless nights on her bed with Han's accordion strapped around her chest. Liesel's description during one such night shows Rosa falling apart, "When she bowed her head, it sank to her lap. Liesel watched. She knew that for the next few days, Mama would be walking around with the imprint of an accordion on her body" (Zusak 429).



Death (Narrator):

To think of Death being a character is strange. To think of Death being a character you like gives the word strange a whole new meaning. Death is a character who does not hold back in anything he says at all, in fact, the first few words of the book, in which he narrated, were "You are going to die," (Zusak 3) honestly this is a fact, but death is a touchy subject when it comes to most people. Death does not hold back by telling the reader, second paragraph in, that he or she is going to die. This is only a taste of Death's personality though, because he is quite the character himself. Death often uses colors to describe things, so it is ironic that the song I chose to describe him happens to be titled "Blue" by Eiffel 65.

A lot of what death sees is sad, which is blue. Death in general, and in the book, is mysterious so the beat of the song matches up to Death's character. Throughout the song a swooshing noise can be heard, and I imagine this as Death taking off to collect souls, or simply doing his job. The song overall makes an upsetting subject seem to almost be happy, which is what Death does with his optimistic view. Death does not dwell on things, but instead uses sarcasm and other types of comments to lighten up the subject of his job. Death tried not to get too caught up with the humans, and even questioned if they are worth it, but obviously failed slightly at this because none other than Death himself is the narrator of a story about a book thief.

 

Conclusion:

Analyzing characters through songs is an amazing idea. Both lyrics of songs and characters of books are so unique, but specific examples can be so similar to one another. The Book Thief had such complex and amazing characters, so choosing a song to try and reflect them was difficult at times.