We have changed our privacy policy. In addition, we use cookies on our website for various purposes. By continuing on our website, you consent to our use of cookies. You can learn about our practices by reading our privacy policy.

The Book Thief Chapter 77 Summary

The End of the World (Part 1)

  • Death is giving away the end of the story. First, it will be "raining on Himmel Street when the world ends for Liesel Meminger" (77.1).
  • Death hopes that Himmel Street wasn't bombed on purpose. Death asks, "No one would bomb a place named after heaven, would they?" (77.6).
  • Well, they do bomb Himmel Street while everybody Liesel knows on Himmel Street is sleeping.
  • Himmel Street is completely demolished.
  • The only survivor: Liesel.
  • She is in the basement editing her memoir, "the story of her own life" (77.12). Turns out the Hubermann basement is a deep enough bomb shelter after all.
  • To get the attention of the LSE (air raid cleanup squad) men above, she's "hammering a paint can with a pencil" (77.12).
  • The men move wreckage to find her.
  • A man asks her how she knew the air raid was coming when there was no alert.
  • (Because there was no alert, the people of Himmel Street didn't go to a bomb shelter.)
  • Liesel, who is holding onto a book, begins screaming for Hans.
  • She holds the book and looks for the people she loves.