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Lauren Reiter
Mrs. Barnes
Honors ELA
21 September 2015

Literary Analysis
Imagine what someone thinks of when other people say the word friend. Maybe someone
thinks of laughing with friends or having fun or simply being there for each other. Everyone has
a different concept of the word friend. The definition of friend is a person that someone knows
well, is fond of and supports one through tough times. In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak,
Liesel Meminger is a girl who lives in Nazi Germany during one of the most critical times in
history - the Holocaust. While Liesel has lost almost everything and her foster parents continue
to put their family in more and more danger, she somehow finds consolation from her hardships
in trusting and playing with her friend Rudy. Not only Rudy, but Liesel also finds comfort in her
friend Max, the Jew hiding in her basement and Mrs. Ilsa Hermann, the mayors wife who lets
her read secretly in her library. Likewise, in Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson, Jess
Aarons lives in a very small, poor town with the dreams and hopes of becoming the fastest
runner in fifth grade. When a girl unexpectedly shows up on the boys side of the playground and
beats Jess at running, little does Jess know that Leslie Burke would become his new best friend.
Throughout the story, Leslie always helps Jess get through tough times and even when Leslie is
gone, Jess finds comfort in his sister Maybelle. In both texts, the authors continue to show
through conflict, setting, and character development that even in the darkest times and hardest
hardships, one can always find faith, hope and support in their friends.

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The Book Thief and Bridge to Terabithia clearly show through settings that friends can be
needed and will be there for you in troubling times. The setting in both books symbolizes
hardship. Both main characters have hard, poor home lives but somehow find relief from these
hardships through their friends. In The Book Thief, Liesel lives in Nazi Germany during one of
the most terrible catastrophes in the world - the Holocaust. While her poor life consists of very
little food, her foster parents put her in even more danger when they decide to hide a Jew in their
basement. Not to mention the dangers from all the bombing attacks that occur throughout the
story. Miraculously, through all the worries and secrets of her life, Liesel finds herself constantly
going to Rudy in order to take her mind off of the bad things:
It was stealing that cemented their friendship it was driven by one inescapable force Rudys hunger. The boy was permanently dying for something to eat Liesel would
have given him some food from her place, but there wasnt an abundance of it there,
either (Zusak 149).
This once again shows that the setting symbolizes hardship. Since Liesel and Rudy both lived in
Nazi Germany on Himmel Street, a very poor place, they were always very hungry from not
getting enough to eat and because of this, Rudy and Liesel start to steal. This brings them to their
highest point of friendship and shows that where you live can clearly affect friendships. This also
shows that Liesel and Rudy can count on each other to get them through hard times such as their
hunger. In Bridge to Terabithia, Jess lives in a poor, small town in a small farmhouse with 4
younger siblings. His family of 7 are very poor and barely get any food to eat. Somehow,
between all the hunger and noise, Jess has a dream to be the fastest runner in the fifth grade. He
always finds time to run around the farm field in between chores and school. Because of this
dream, he meets Leslie. She lives in a small house next to Jess but she is the total opposite of

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him. Leslie knows that she herself is a very fast runner and her family is very rich. They just
happen to be spending time in this poor town in order to reassess their value structure because
they were too hooked on money and success:
So there was no money but for his own sake he had to give her something that he
could be proud of. If he had the money, hed buy her a TV he was so stupid that he
had almost gone straight past the sign without catching on Puppies, it said. Free
(Paterson 74-75).
As Jess continues to dream big, he also realizes that in a small, poor town like this, it wasnt
going to happen. This once again shows that the setting symbolizes hardship. Because of where
Jess lived, he couldnt think of anything to get Leslie that didnt cost a lot of money, so when he
passes a certain sign that says Puppies Free he gladly gets Leslie something that she will love
and doesnt cost any money. This shows that where you live can not only affect the cost of things
but also the value of friendship and that Jess and Leslie can always find faith in each other to
come through on their promises even during privation.
While some may argue that the setting is just where both books take place and has
nothing to do with the theme of both stories, they fail to understand that the text illustrates the
conflicts within the setting and how this can affect the friendship of both Rudy and Liesel and
Jess and Leslie, which proves the theme. Readers may interpret that the setting does not convey
or symbolize hardship but this point fails to account for the explanation of the setting and the
hardships it creates which leads to the point in the stories when both friends are needed for
comfort and hope. Both stories convey the theme through the setting and that where one lives
will significantly affect the value of friendship and show that one can considerably need friends
who will be there for them through great adversity.

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In both The Book Thief and Bridge to Terabithia, one of the major conflicts in both stories
impacts the main characters dreadfully. Throughout the books, Liesel and Jess both become best
friends with the people they least expect. Rudy and Leslie both push the main characters to their
limits and help them get through many tough times by simply trying to take their minds off of the
difficult things in their lives. However, when certain situations in Liesel and Jesss life become
worse, both of them find themselves alone and depressed when they realize that their friends
arent there for them anymore. Though somehow, they find enough courage to have hope and
find comfort in their other friends. In Bridge to Terabithia, it's a gloomy, rainy day and Jess
doesn't feel like going to the woods but he doesnt have the courage to tell Leslie that he doesnt
want to go. So when his favorite teacher, Miss Edmunds calls him up and asks him if he would
like to go to the museum he gladly agrees. When Jess gets back from his fun day, he arrives at
home to the tragic news that Leslie is dead. He cant believe his ears until he finds out for
himself that it really is true. As he tries to get over this horrible predicament, he finds condolence
in his sister Maybelle who is another one of his close friends. He even finds out that Terabithia
might need a new queen in order to honor the old one, Leslie:
He put flowers in her hair and led her across the bridge - the great bridge into
Terabithia Shhh, he said. Look. Where? Cant you see um? he whispered. All
the Terabithians standing on tiptoe to see you. Me? Shhh, yes. Theres a rumor going
around that the beautiful girl arriving today might be the queen theyve been waiting for
(Paterson 163).
This quote clearly shows that Jess finds comfort in Maybelle and makes her queen because he
feels it necessary that Leslie be honored. Maybelle helps him find this comfort by playing along
and this helps Jess realize that even if Leslie is gone, he can still find hope in his friend and in

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Terabithia. Similarly in The Book Thief, Liesels street, Himmel Street is becoming more and
more dangerous as bombs continue to come down. One fateful night, the alarms for the bombing
go off too late and because everyone isnt in the shelter, they all die. Liesel is the only one to
survive because she falls asleep in her basement after writing and editing her book when the
bombs come down. The next day she is rescued from her basement and realizes that not only is
her Mama and Papa dead but so is Rudy. Liesel is so despondent that she breaks down and cries
in disbelief. Afterwards, she finds faith in hoping that someday Max, the Jew that used to hide in
her basement, will come back. She also finds condolence in the mayors wife who takes Liesel
into her home:
Finally, in October 1945, a man with swampy eyes, feathers of hair, and a clean-shaven
face walked into the shop Is there someone here by the name of Liesel Meminger?
Yes, shes in the back, Liesel came out. They hugged and cried and fell to the floor
(Zusak 548).
This quote shows that Liesel clearly had hope that Max would return and when he did, Liesel
found comfort through him. She was able to get through the tough times of Rudy and her
familys death by hanging on to the one hope that Max was still alive.
Lastly, The Book Thief and Bridge to Terabithia clearly show that the characters
development, their personalities and who they are affect their friendship and how they find hope
in each other. In The Book Thief, Rudy and Liesel both have similar personalities and are going
through some very tough times but they both are there for each other, continue to help each other
out and still be best friends:
At the end of the school day, Liesel walked home with Rudy a culmination of misery
swept over her and she crouched in the gutter and wept when she finally finished

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and stood herself up, he put his arm around her, best buddy style, and they walked on
he was the crazy one who had painted himself black and defeated the world. She was the
book thief without the words. (Zusak 80).
This quote shows the significance of the friendship of Rudy and Liesel. Rudy was there to
comfort and help Liesel through that hardship and many more to come. As both of them develop,
so does their friendship and trust in each other. Who Liesel and Rudy are showed just how much
their friendship meant and that one can always find faith in their friends to help each other out. In
Bridge to Terabithia, Jess doesnt even want to be friends with Leslie at all because she beat him
at his goal of being the fastest runner in fifth grade. Somehow, unexpectedly, they become best
friends. Both Jess and Leslie have many of the same interests and personalities and clearly show
throughout the book that their friendship only grows from the beginning:
Do you know what we need? Leslie called to him ... We need a place,' she said, 'just for
us. It would be so secret that we would never tell anyone in the whole world about it.' ...
'It might be a whole secret country,' she continued, 'and you and I would be the rulers of
it' (Paterson 49-50).
This quote shows that as Jess and Leslie's friendship grows, so does their trust in each other. As
Jess and Leslie build Terabithia together, that is their secret place throughout the book where
both of them go to for comfort. This builds their sympathy for each other when one of them has a
tough time. This also builds their trust in each other because each of them count on each other
not to tell anyone about their secret place. Terabithia as a place shows the character development
throughout the characters and the book and proves that as friends grow so does their faith and
hope in each other.

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When someone thinks of the word friend, everyone thinks of something different. But the
real definition of friend is someone who supports one through tough times. In the books The
Book Thief and Bridge to Terabithia, the characters find themselves becoming friends with the
people that they least expect. However, throughout both books Liesel and Rudy, and Jess and
Leslie continue to help each other through adversity and find condolence within each other and
some of their other friends as well. It is shown through setting that friends can be needed and that
friendships can be greatly affected due to where someone lives and how they live at home. The
character development clearly shows that as characters develop so does their friendship and that
friends can be there for you in the hardest times. Lastly through conflict, Friends can be needed
and will always be there for you in tough times. Both authors show through setting, conflict and
character development that one can always find face, hope and support through their friends even
through the hardships of life.

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Works Cited
Paterson, Katherine, Donna Diamond, and Amy Hill. Bridge to Terabithia. New York, NY: T.Y.
Crowell, 1977. Print.
Zusak, Markus. The Book Thief. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006. Print.