Analysis Of The Book Thief By Meminginger By Liesel Meminger

Once she arrives at her new home, 33 Himmel Street in Molching, Germany, she meets her foster parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann. Rosa is violent to some extent, often beating Liesel over the head with a wooden spoon, as well as using excessively foul language, often calling Liesel and Hans 'filthy pigs'. Despite this however, Rosa still loved Liesel, and

Death can be thought of as a very violent being and people often associate it with maliciousness. The animated coloring plays to a reader’s familiarity of certain colors and what they represent to create a more vehement image. In the chapter titled “Beside the Railway Line”, Death states that something is blinding white when Liesel’s brother dies. It could possibly be comparing the white snow with the cold of death. There is also repeated mention of the colors of Rudy’s hair and Hans’ eyes. Rudy’s hair is described as being “lemon yellow”. Humanity mostly affiliates the color yellow with happiness, memory, communication, youthfulness and carelessness. But in The Book Thief it is twisted into a grim style. In the novel, Rudy is very happy and he cherishes his youth. When he dies, Liesel remembers the kiss he kept asking for and the mean things she would say to him and it causes great pain for her. Death almost always explains the way a person is when it comes for them. He says that Hans’ silver eyes were open and that Hans’ came peacefully. Silver is often correlated with love and peace. Only because Liesel loved Hans so much, is that why the silver of his eyes are so very important. Death gives a tranquil atmosphere to the violence it concocts. Readers become comfortable with Death the idea of it and frequently miss the gesture of violence.

The Book Thief, is a Death narrated novel by Markus Zusak. The story takes place in Nazi Germany, 1939, where Liesel Meminger arrives on Himmel Street to start a new life with her foster parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann. She lives to a very old age and when Death finally comes to take her away, he wants to tell Liesel about beauty and brutality. But what could he tell her about beauty and brutality that she didn’t know, the Book Thief had lived through it all. The time she saw Max marching to Dachau, the time Rudy went into the Amper River to save The Whistler, and the final moments she spent with Mama. Liesel Meminger’s life had always represent beauty in the wake of brutality.

Death also used the colors of the spectrum to describe his job as a “soul gatherer” and the connection with people. Death says “A color will be perched on my shoulder and I will gently carry you away” (Zusak, 4). This explains what Death does when he collects souls. He uses the colors to recollect on events, trauma and his own personal feelings. In discussing the colors, this emphasizes the act of describing the difficult experience of WWII in which returns to the fact that Death is made to resemble a human.

The Book Thief is the story of Liesel Meminger’s life during World War 2 told through the eyes of Death himself. All three writers portray Death as a character who has interactions with those that have or are about to die. However, unlike Zusak’s Death, Collins’ is a malicious puppeteer and Dickinson’s Death is presented as someone who is at peace with what he must do.

The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, takes place in 1940s Nazi Germany in the small town of Molching. The main character, Liesel Meminger, takes on a role as the foster child of Hans and Rosa Hubermann. She also meets a young boy named Rudy Steiner, who goes on to be her best friend and lover. In the book, Liesel faces many challenges big and small. From hiding a Jew in the basement to a thieving lifestyle, Liesel has to learn to overcome all of life's problems. Through all of this, she is supported by her foster father Hans Hubermann who is caring to people he barely knows, intelligence despite his lack of education, and generosity even when he has little for himself.

The story “The Book Thief” wouldn’t be complete without the narrator Death. It would be different if Death wasn't showing so much effort to care about so many people dying. The author did do a good job on making Death the author and no one else. He said everything in a way that he was kind of telling his story about all the humans dying. In the novel “The Book Thief” death is the narrator and I wouldn't change it because the way he tells the story is that even though it's death you know how he feels about what is happening while the war was happening. In general he was tired of hearing about humans because all everyone would talk about is that people were dying and that they would die when the people came to bomb Himmel Street. The book would be different if Liesel would be telling the story because she would just be saying it in her point of view and she wouldn't be able to see what happened to

Although Death is set in his ways, as the book progresses, the people and the events that happen around him manage to change his view. This is shown when Death tries to distract himself with the colors of the sky but always finds himself looking at the human survivors. “It’s the leftover humans … the ones I can’t stand to look at, although on many occasions I still fail” (Zusak, 5). Something about them fascinates him. How, in spite of the fact that they have been “left behind, crumbling among the jigsaw puzzle of realization, despair, and surprise” (Zusak, 5), they still manage to live their lives and move forward. As a supersensual being so used to death,

In The Book Thief, a work of historical fiction, written by Markus Zusak introduces the main character Liesel Meminger, the reader starts to see how she keeps having many conflicts but always stays positive. Liesel has many conflicts, for example her brother dies early in the book and that shapes the way she is. Later on Liesel steals books and that makes her happy because the first book she stole was the grave digger's handbook and that is how she remembers her brother. Liesel steals and reads books this is how she finds happiness with all the bad things going on around her. In the end of the book most of the people she loves die and it is hard for her to find happiness again. The author uses the setting and point of view to express theme and to make the reader feel sympathy; He uses this because with the theme of finding light in the darkness, deaths perception, and the setting of Germany makes the theme clearer.

Hans took Liesel into his home; he showed her compassion and grace from the minute she stepped out of the car. He realized that she was nervous and scared about moving, he was the only one that tried to sit down and help her. “‘Leave her alone.’ Hans Hubermann entered the fray. His gentle voice made its way in, as if slipping through a crowd. ‘Leave her to me.’” (33) Hans recognized that Liesel was having a hard time with moving, he wanted to help. Hans channeled his guilt into acceptance for a girl that was broken and just needed a home. He accepted her as one of his own and helped her through a time of need. Hans felt the need to return the favor the Erik had given him by helping others out.

After losing her mother and her brother, Liesel’s life and identity is changed drastically many times. It is through books that she discovers and becomes comfortable with this change. When she first meets Hans and Rosa Hubermann, her new foster parents, she does not wish to speak with them or get to know them. However, once Hans discovers Liesel with the book she stole when her brother was buried, The Gravedigger’s Manual, they bond over Hans teaching Liesel to read. Liesle describes the first time her and Hans have a lesson in the middle of the night: “She had done this at school, in the kindergarten class, but this time was better. … It was nice to watch Papa’s hand as he wrote the words and slowly constructed the primitive sketches” (Zusak

To be free is defined as being unrestricted in your actions and doings while, to be safe is to be kept out of harm and danger’s way. American essayist and social critic H.L. Mecken (1880-1956) wrote, “The average man does not want to be free. He simply wants to be safe.” Mecken’s observation applies to contemporary societies because as a whole, humanity desires safety over freedom as demonstrated through the policies of different countries and there social standards at various time periods. To begin, as a certified citizen of America, we are automatically given many freedoms such as the freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and more.

In this chapter Liesel goes to see Frau Holtzapfel to read to her as always and a man with bleeding hand answers the door he says to her “I'll come get you later” and when Rosa comes to the house he asks if Leisel can help him with his mother. While they are helping his Mother Michael tells them that his brother Robert tragically died and that he also told him that the Hubermanns son is still alive in Russia. When I first heard this i took me a while to make sure thats what it actually said because it is such a big break in the book. I believe that in this chapter Death is shown as not only a somewhat pitiful character but a character that only takes care of the people that he trusts and that deserves it.

In the midst of World War II the Holocaust was an event that caused the most civilian casualties. Over 6,000,000 Jews were killed throughout much of Europe. Why did this terrible event occur? Adolf Hitler wanted and believed many things. In his mind he thought that Jews caused all the problems Germany faced. He wanted to expand Germany, so during the war he invaded many countries such as, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and many more (bbc.co.uk). Many people fell victim to Hitler’s regime, one example would be the Frank family. Many stories were told or written about the Holocaust, Anne Frank and Elie Wiesel are examples of non-fiction stories. Liesel Meminger from The Book Thief is an example of fiction tellings of the Holocaust.

Unlike the Nazi’s however, Liesel realizes the pain her words caused. "Blood leaked from her nose and licked at her lips. Her eyes had blackened. Cuts had opened up and a series of wounds were rising to the surface of her skin. All from words. From Liesel's words" (Zuask 253). A child, no more than 12 years old, was telling someone not to cry, that she was being “pathetic.” It was all because of one group of people taking the lives of millions that a young girl believes crying over your loved ones deaths was ridiculous. At one point, Death even compares itself to humanity saying, "You want to know what I truly look like? I'll help you out. Find yourself a mirror while I continue" (Zuask 307).