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Liesel Meminger's brother died
The sudden death of Liesel's brother on a train was a traumatic external conflict that would haunt her for years to come, haunting her in her dreams. She will never forget the lifelessness in his eyes when he died on the ride to their new foster home. -
The Book Theif stole her first book
After buring her dead little brother, Liesel found a black book in the ground. It was titled "The Grave Digger's Handbook." This would be the first of many books stolen by the girl and functions as a significant part of plot development. -
Liesel meets her new parents
Liesel Meminger must say goodbye to her mother and hello to her new life on Himmel Street in Molching, Germany. This is where her foster parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann, lived. This was very difficult for Liesel, and for a while she refused to leave the car. Hans eventually calmly coaxed her out. This was the beginning of a powerful relationship between the two characters. -
Liesel fails at reading
There was an oral exam to test children's reading skills. Liesel had just started reading this year with the help of Hans, and was proud of her new ability. Unfortunately, she still wasn't at the level of the rest of the class and failed miserably at reading a passage to the class. She was scolded by the teacher and then taunted by another kid in the schoolyard, who she then beat up. Liesel took care of one external conflict and decided to work even harder to overcome the other. -
The Book Thief stole her second book
It was Hitler's birthday and the town of Molching was celebrating it and his victories. There was a huge fire to burn anything from post WWI and propaganda of German enemies. When the fire was over, some items had not burned, and Liesel found among those items "The Shoulder Shrug." Liesel was internal conflicted as to whether or not to take the book. She took it. -
The Library
Ilsa Hermann, the mayor's wife, had seen Liesel steal the book from the fire. Weeks later, the right opportunity presented itself, not to punish Liesel like Liesel suspected, but to introduce Liesel to the library. Liesel fell in love with Ilsa's stunning room with rows and rows of books and pages and words lining the walls. Liesel would return often to read passages from those books. It would further develop her appreciation for words and her understanding of their power, a theme in the novel. -
Rudy and Liesel steal food
Liesel and Rudy, her best friend, were both poor and starving. They met a group of older boys who were in the theiving business. Liesel and Rudy got in with them and stole fruit from farmers. This was external conflict, because they had to avoid getting caught, and internal conflict, because they knew what they were doing was wrong. However, they were desperate. -
The Jew arrives
Following WWI, Hans swore to assist the family of a fallen comrade - a Jewish comrade - and now was the time. Max Vandenburg, the son of the comrade who helped save Hans' life, arrived and will live in the Hubermann's basement. This is a huge external conflict, because the Hubermann's are now at risk for horrific punishments if caught harboring a Jew. -
The Standover Man
Using pages taken from Mein Kampf, Max made a short story by painting sentences and pictures on the pages. They story, "The Standover Man," symbolized an exerpt of his life. He gave the little book to Liesel as a late birthday present. She loved it. -
The Whistler
Still bitter from when the Hermann's fired Rosa from doing their washing, Liesel stole a book from the Hermann's library. She took "The Whistler," a book she had been reading before the falling out with Ilsa. This is again an example of both external and internal conflict. -
Saving The Whistler from the water
An antagonistic boy older than Liesel and Rudy took "The Whistler" from her and threw it into the river. Rudy ran into the icy cold water to retrieve the book for her. This event further developed the bond between the two characters. -
Max wakes up
For months following the deep chill of the winter, Max was not well. This provided a number of external conflicts: they had to keep him in Liesel's room where it is more likely someone would find him, they needed to cure his illness, they wouldn't know what to do with the body if he died. For awhile things were looking bleak as he seemed to be in an eternal slumber, but finally he woke up and recovered.
