Who is Rudy?

Rudy Steiner is a 10 year old boy who was quite athletic and academic. He is considered to be an ideal German boy as he had Blonde hair and blue eyes. He lives Himmel St with his with his papa who was a tailor and his mother and 5 brothers and sisters. But because he grew up in a big family there wasn’t a lot of food to go around so Rudy was always hungry. He spent most of his time with Liesel his neighbor and best friend doing numerous things like playing soccer and stealing things. The friendship started when Liesel moved into Hubermanns house and it didn’t take long for Rudy to grow a crush on her. When Liesel started school Rudy came around to her house and knocked on their house and said his mother set him over to walk her to school which she didn’t. This showed that he is confident and determined. Which are two of his many characteristics others would be that he is loyal, caring, fun to be around, ambitious, rebellious, brave and sweet.  But before Liesel arrived at the Hubermanns Rudy got known for a so-called ‘incident’ where he decided to cover himself in charcoal and run around a field pretending to be Jesse Owens. Who he admires greatly as he was at that time the fastest man alive. He also looked up to him as Rudy was quite athletic and passionate about running.

Why is Rudy present in the novel?

Rudy pages: 288, 315,384