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Part 10: Way of the Words
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Book Thief, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Death
Words and Language
Books
Stealing and Giving
Color, Beauty, and Ugliness
Summary
Analysis
Liesel silently goes to the train station to wait for Hans to return from work. Rudy fetches Rosa and they all wait together. Hans returns and that night he plays the accordion, but the notes sound wrong. After that Liesel stays in bed for three days.
Even the accordion sounds wrong now – the beauty seems false in the face of cruel fate. This is similar to Michael's survivor's guilt – why keep living when so many have died? Why try to make beauty when the world is so ugly?
Themes
When she finally gets up, Liesel finds Rudy and tells him about Max after making him promise many times to keep it a secret. Then she shows Rudy a part in The Word Shaker about a boy with "hair the color of lemons." Liesel wants Rudy to kiss her then, and she realizes she has always loved him, but again nothing happens. Death says Rudy has a month to live.
Another tragic, romantic moment between Liesel and Rudy. The knowledge of Rudy's looming death, and the fact that now both children realize they are in love, but they still will never kiss, makes these moments heartbreaking and poignant.
Themes
