Hugo Lee’s Reviews > The Book Thief > Status Update

A theme that stands out from the beginning is literacy and power. While language initially a struggle for the main character, Liesel becomes one that empowers her and allows her to quietly rebel against Hitler's regime. Liesel's mother was too poor to educate her properly and, as a result, she couldn't read well, a fact that becomes well-known to Liesel's schoolmates. They taunt her for her inability to read.