Michael Holtzapfel was in no way responsible for the death of his brother, but he felt guilty that he wasn’t able to bring his brother back alive. Robert Holtzapfel died as his legs were blown off in Stanligard.Michael Holtzapfel ended up committing suicide in Molching. “[He] was worn down not by his damaged hand or any other injury, but by the guilt of living” (...........). Some of the characters in The Book Thief are not directly involved in the loss of another character, but they still feel guilty. Being guilty causes depression, lowers confidence level, and cause mental harm. Loss can change a person’s mental stability and make them suicidal. Moving on, Ilsa Hermann also felt guilt in The Book Thief from the death of her son. Ilsa Hermann’s son died by freezing to death. The death of her son changed her life entirely, Ilsa became depressed all the time after the death, and stopped talking to anyone as well. Ilsa Hermann felt guilty of her son’s death, and always will feel guilt. Liesel told Ilsa Hermann that “He’s dead and it’s pathetic that you sit here shivering in your own house to suffer for it” (....). The significance is that the …show more content…
Negative emotions are basically emotions such as anger, sadness, unhappiness and fear. Let’s start with the protagonist of the novel, Liesel Meminger lost her entire family in the early stages of her life. Liesel felt many different kinds of negative emotions in The Book Thief at different stages in her life because of loss and death. Liesel and her brother were sent to a foster home in Molching, because her mother was not able to support both of them. Unfortunately her brother died on the way Munich in the train. This really played a major impact in Liesel’s life because she had seen her brother die right in front of her own eyes. After a while, people were able to convince her to leave the car and enter the house, but when she did leave the car to go into the house, she clung onto the gate. “A gang of tears trudged from her eyes as she held on and refused to go inside” (....). Liesel Meminger showed the negative emotion of crying in this situation. This negative emotion of crying happened because of fear. Emotions control a person’s thinking, behavior and actions. Loss in The Book Thief didn’t transform Liesel for the better, because the loss of her brother caused to be negative about the changes in her life. In this situation, Liesel Meminger wasn’t ready to accept change. Next, Rosa Hubermann one of the strongest characters mentally in The Book Thief.