Analysis

Death describes how Liesel’s second act of thievery propels the events of the story that are yet to come, an act that is preceded still by her hunger for words. Liesel is beginning to understand that her situation — the loss of her mother and brother — is linked somehow to the Fuhrer. Hitler is using his own words to feed and persuade the nation while burning any other words — books — that represent different, contrary ideas. Death tells us that Liesel’s anger and darkness fuels her desire to steal this book — her anger toward Hitler and the loss of her family, and the darkness that she’s experiencing in her life from these losses.