The Book Thief characters

Liesel Meminger

Death describes Liesel as a cute 9-year-old girl with a very hard destiny. Her little brother dies, and her mother gives her to live with Hans and Rosa in another small town. Liesel is so much shocked by her brother's death that keeps silence for several weeks. Finally, Hans finds the way to...

Hans Hubermann

Hans is Liesel’s foster father. His appearance is simple and nice – he is tall and gentle. He has a lot of courage and bravery. Also, he likes trying to play on accordion. Once in the World War I he was saved by a Jew Erik Vandenberg. Later he hides his son Max from the Nazis. Also...

Rudy Steiner

Rudy is Liesel's best friend and love. He has 5 brothers and sisters. He is gallant and blistering. He becomes well-known after he decided to paint his face with white and black paint looking exactly like Jesse Owens. Rudy is in love with Liesel as well, he does everything for her, even when...

Rosa Hubermann

Rosa is Hans' wife and Liesel's foster mother. She is very calm, kind and good-hearted woman. She makes money by doing laundry for rich neighbors. Unlike her husband, Rosa first comes across as cold and impatient. The story reveals through her treatment of Liesel and willingness to take in...

Max Vandenburg

Max is a 23-year-old Jew who needs to hide from the Nazis in the Hubermanns' basement. Max feel huge heartache and even fault because he needed to leave his family to save himself. When he gets to know Liesel, they become good friends. Usual topic of their conversations was about their...

Ilsa Hermann

Ilsa is the mayor's wife. Ilsa is a well-educated woman, and she even has her library which was a very rare thing in that period. Her son Johann froze to death in the final year of the World War I. Ilsa likes Liesel: when she saw how Liesel stole a book from the fire, she doesn’t say...

Death

Being the narrator of the story Death doesn’t appear as a described character, but according to her words, we see that she is a fascinating character. Death is a sarcastic creature with a strange sense of humor. This character is dynamic in the novel as we see that during the novel progress...