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In the very beginning of the book, Rudy and Liesel meet for the first time. Knowing how close they become shortly after, one wouldn't jump to the conclusion that their first impression of each other was rough. It was during a game of Himmel Street soccer and all but one of the kids were trying to force Liesel out of the game. Rudy stood up for her, persuading them to let her play with them. Being the one kid who wanted to include Liesel, Rudy seemed welcoming. This persona would only last until the game began.

"Rudy shuffled in, fired the shot, and Liesel dived and somehow deflected it with her elbow. She stood up grinning, but the first thing she saw was a snowball smashing into her face. Half of it was mud. It stung like crazy. (Zusak 48)"

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Rudy's number one idol is Jesse Owens. All of his fangirling is just innocent, harmless play-pretend until Rudy concludes that simply playing pretend with his imagination isn't enough; he needed to get in costume to really get into character. To Rudy, this meant coating himself in black charcoal one night and running the 100 meters at his local playing field. Once his father hears of this mischief, he goes out to get him and when he finds him, he stares in awe.

' "I was being Jesse Owens." He answered as though it was the most natural thing on earth to be doing. (Zusak 58)'

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Liesel and Rudy run into Viktor Chemmel after their last interaction when Viktor warned Rudy that he would eventually pay for the disrespect he showed him. Viktor decides his payment would be through Liesel's suffrage and throws her book, "The Whistler" into the river. Rudy's sudden rush of adrenaline launches him into action. He tracks the book down in the river and captures it. Once he returns it to Liesel, he asks for the usual favor as a way to for her to thank him for his selfless act but this time, his request felt a lot less lighthearted and playful.

"He must have longed for it so much. He must have loved her so incredibly hard. So hard that he would never ask for her lips again and would go to his grave without them (Zusak 303)."

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Rudy is at a low point in his life after he was beaten down by Viktor Chemmel, Franz Deutscher, and the Hitler Youth Group. These setbacks contributed to the build-up of his unwavering determination to win four gold medals at the Hitler Youth Carnival. The inspiration for his goal was the accomplishments of his long-lived, childhood idol, Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. When it came down to his fourth race, which the readers expected to result in his fourth gold medal of the day, Rudy gets caught false-starting and was disqualified. This was not accidental; it was an act of self-sabotage that he did deliberately in order to humble his own society; he wanted to make a point that Aryans are not invincible and that the Aryan race is not superior to anyone.

"Rudy was intent on winning four events: the 1500, 400, 200, and of course, the 100 (Zusak 359)."

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After his incredible performance at the Hitler Youth Carnival, the Nazis want to recruit Rudy. When they come for him, Alex Steiner, Rudy's father refuses to let him go. They end up deciding to draft Alex instead as a punishment for not letting his son go. The absence of his father changed him. Rudy takes out his frustration on everyone else and puts the most blame on Hitler.

"Rudy stopped. "Because I want to kill him." He even turned on the spot, to the rest of the world. "Did you hear that, you bastards?" he shouted, "I want to kill the Fuhrer! (Zusak 426)."

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Rudy is a static character because he remains his fun-loving, unfiltered self throughout the story. In the beginning of "The Book Thief", the readers are given a really good idea of Rudy's personality through the story of his Jesse Owens incident. Being the bold kid he is, he paints himself black with charcoal and pretends to be the Olympic record setter, Jesse Owens. When Rudy's father questions his actions, Rudy explains himself: ' "I was being Jesse Owens." He answered as though it was the most natural thing on earth to be doing. (Zusak 58)' This moment shows his character's confidence and carelessness of other people's opinions. Rudy never loses his temerity as the readers see throughout his story. He shows this continuous courage in situations where he sticks up for other people. For example, when he stood up against Viktor Chemmel after being rewarded with one whole apple and the scraps of another for all their hard work. Him and Liesel did just as much work as Viktor did while stealing those apples; therefore, it was unfair for the two of them to be forced to share one scrawny one. Rudy stood his ground and stuck it out to the very end, even when "...Viktor Chemmel was on top of (him)... His knees had pinned Rudy's arms and his hands were around his throat (Zusak 275)." After his nose started to bleed, Viktor let Rudy go, but even this didn't stop him. Rudy still continued to stand his ground and never gave in. This shows Rudy's unwavering courage and boldness. He has never been afraid to speak his thoughts and he has never been deterred from being himself.

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Rudy Steiner best falls in line with The Catholic Social Teaching, "Life and Dignity of the Human Person" through standing up for those who can't do it for themselves. After another bombing, everyone is exiting the shelter when Rudy spots smoke and a fire in the distance. He takes off after it and Liesel takes off after him. They observe the enemy pilot in his mutilated plane and Rudy "climbed to the dying man. He placed the smiling teddy bear cautiously onto the pilot's shoulder... He spoke. In English, he said, 'Thank you. (Zusak 490-491)'" Rudy is unapologetically himself and true to what he feels, believes, and thinks. When it comes to other people, he will always do what he believes is right, even if it's in the enemy's favor. He speaks up and stands up for others even if he doesn't know them or is supposed to hate them. This moment displays his raw sympathy and is crucial in conveying the altruism of Rudy's character. Through displaying compassion and respect towards others, Rudy proves his commitment to treating others with dignity and brings the Catholic Social Teaching, "Life and Dignity of the Human Person" to life.

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Illustration matching Zusac's description of Rudy Steiner