The yellow tear is an interesting symbol and image because it appears after Liesel is terribly beaten by her foster mother, Rosa. She is beaten because she stole Rosa's washing money in order to buy postage to send letters to her mother. She tries to lie about it, but confesses, and ends up at the mercy of a wooden spoon.

"Before she could answer, the wooden spoon came down on Liesel Meminger's body like the gait of God. Red marks like footprints, and they burned. From the floor, when it was over, the girl actually looked up and explained. There was a pulse of yellow light, all together. Her eyes blinked. 'I mailed my letters' . . . Her breathing calmed, and a stray yellow tear trickled down her face" (99).

In the above passage, there seems to be a yellow light that she blinks at, which makes the tear seem yellow. This also means that the tear hasn't fallen yet—it's still in her eye as if she hasn't let go of something. She needs to let go.

She later writes about the event and realizes that this was the moment when she had to come to grips with the fact that her mother was never coming back. It's as if the last light of hope falls with that tear, because she describes everything after that as dark, or in darkness. She even says that her Papa's music was dark to her. She explains that darkness surrounding her life was actually comforting:

"The strange thing was that she was vaguely comforted by that thought, rather than distressed by it. The dark, the light. What was the difference?" (100).

After this beating by Rosa, Liesel began to come to terms with reality, to let go of her fantasy of seeing her mother again, and to grow up. With this line of thinking, the yellow tear would symbolize the last light of childhood leaving her body.