The Book Thief

The Book Thief

by

Markus Zusak

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on The Book Thief makes teaching easy.

Rudy Steiner Character Analysis

Liesel's neighbor and best friend, Rudy loves Liesel from the start and is always asking her for a kiss. Rudy seems like Hitler's "Aryan ideal" – he is blonde, blue-eyed, and an exceptional student and athlete, but Rudy hates the Hitler Youth and ultimately Hitler himself. He becomes Liesel's partner in their adventures of both crime and charity.

Rudy Steiner Quotes in The Book Thief

The The Book Thief quotes below are all either spoken by Rudy Steiner or refer to Rudy Steiner. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Death Theme Icon
).
Part 5: The Whistler and the Shoes Quotes

He laughed. "Good night, book thief."
It was the first time Liesel had been branded with her title, and she couldn't hide the fact that she liked it very much. As we're both aware, she'd stolen books previously, but in late October 1941, it became official. That night, Liesel Meminger truly became the book thief.

Related Characters: Death (speaker), Rudy Steiner (speaker), Liesel Meminger
Page Number: 292
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 5: The Floating Book (Part II) Quotes

In truth, I think he was afraid. Rudy Steiner was scared of the book thief's kiss. He must have longed for it so much. He must have loved her so incredibly hard. So hard that he would never ask for her lips again and would go to his grave without them.

Related Characters: Death (speaker), Rudy Steiner
Page Number: 303
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Book Thief LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Book Thief PDF

Rudy Steiner Quotes in The Book Thief

The The Book Thief quotes below are all either spoken by Rudy Steiner or refer to Rudy Steiner. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Death Theme Icon
).
Part 5: The Whistler and the Shoes Quotes

He laughed. "Good night, book thief."
It was the first time Liesel had been branded with her title, and she couldn't hide the fact that she liked it very much. As we're both aware, she'd stolen books previously, but in late October 1941, it became official. That night, Liesel Meminger truly became the book thief.

Related Characters: Death (speaker), Rudy Steiner (speaker), Liesel Meminger
Page Number: 292
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 5: The Floating Book (Part II) Quotes

In truth, I think he was afraid. Rudy Steiner was scared of the book thief's kiss. He must have longed for it so much. He must have loved her so incredibly hard. So hard that he would never ask for her lips again and would go to his grave without them.

Related Characters: Death (speaker), Rudy Steiner
Page Number: 303
Explanation and Analysis: