The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

Markus Zusak has written a very unique and well thought out book that takes place during World War 2, “The Book Thief”. In this book, there are many eccentric characters. One of these characters is Rosa Hubermann. Rosa and her husband took in a foster girl named Liesel.

Rosa expresses her love for the other characters with derogatory German terms. She isn’t a mean or bad person because of her attitude and her heart is in the right place. She is a very interesting character.

ROSA HUBERMANN

·         Rosa is constantly calling Liesel, the protagonist, a “Saumensch” which means female pig, and she also hits her with a wooden spoon. Although this sounds like abuse, this is Rosa’s way of showing love. It might show that something traumatizing happened in her past.

·         Liesel told Rosa to come to her class if the Jewish man they hid in their basement woke up. He was greatly fatigued and slept for a long amount of time. But, as Liesel said, Rosa came to her class and called Liesel out pretending to scold her for misplacing her hairbrush when he woke up. This shows how Rosa really loves Liesel and doesn’t mean anything by the harsh terms she uses.

“Her face was severe but it was smiling. ‘What the hell did you do with my hairbrush, you stupid Saumensch, you little thief? I’ve told you a hundred times to leave that thing alone, but do you listen? Of course not!’” pg 332

·         Rosa and Hans, her husband, have an interesting relationship. They aren’t affectionate or loving but they don’t fight. In real life, people have relationships like this too. They also seem to know each other very well. Rosa refers to her husband as a “Saukerl” male pig, and he refers to her occasionally as “Saumensch”. But their words do not mean they do not love each other. There is probably more of a story that will come up later about the two of them.

“...and the day he met mama. He said she was beautiful once, and actually very quiet spoken. ‘Hard to believe, I know, but absolutely true.’”  

·         Rosa makes Liesel do Rosa’s job of delivering clothing to people around their town, and Liesel does not deny it. Liesel compared to me and other children these days is not lazy, but very obedient, grateful, and appreciative. But after the War began, their customers stopped giving clothes one by one. The only person left was the mayor’s wife who laid them off one day when Liesel went to drop and pick up clothing. Liesel had a connection and a more complicated relationship with the mayor’s wife. She was tremendously fearing telling Rosa that their last customer and money for flour was now gone. When she went home she lied and told Rosa that it was her fault and she deserved a spoon-beating. But Rosa didn’t believe her and made the truth come out. This shows that Rosa doesn’t hit her or call her names for real reasons because when she was allowed a reason to hit her, she chose not to. Maybe if she is given a real reason, she doesn’t want to believe it because it makes her feel bad. Something must have happened in Rosa’s past that makes her attitude and actions the way it is.

Overall, Rosa Hubermann is one of the many complex characters of the novel “The Book Thief”. She has complicated relationships but is a good person. While the story unravels so will Rosa’s. Her personality and why her attitude is the way it is will also be further explained.