The Book Thief Entry 3

(Response to Socrates)

I agree that the mayor's wife was a peculiar character. At first you wonder what is up with her. It's interesting how she is always identified by her bathrobe and her hair. She rarely talks and is always described as so frail and...almost broken. Zusak describes her smile as "the appearance now of a bruise". He goes on to say her "arms were hanging slenderly at each side. Like girls' arms." I can so easily picture her in my mind. Her character is not very out there and she doesn't seem to have a very bold personality, but, like Socrates said, she really sticks out. I personally thought her character was very memorable. I always wondered about her. She was so mysterious and unknown at the beginning. When she saw Liesel steal the book, I didn't know what to expect as her reaction. By letting Liesel into the house and into the library, I questioned Ilsa ( I think that's her name. I always thought of her as the mayor's wife). I had actually been kind of suspicious of her at first but as the story goes on, I saw her intentions were not bad. She seemed like a good person. After Liesel flipped out at her for firing Rosa and then stole the books, Ilsa's actions afterward really helped define her character. Though she was quiet and barely spoke, I got to know her by all of her actions. She had previously welcomed Liesel into her home, offering her books. Then she had known Liesel was stealing books but she didn't make a big deal of it or tell Rosa. She instead just left the dictionary with the note. She handled the situation in her own way. I really liked her character. I felt that there was more to her than just the mayor's wife whos son died.