Analysis Of The Book Thief

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak tells the story of Liesel Meminger, a girl living in Nazi Germany through perspective of death. Just nine years old when her brother dies and her mother leaves her in the care of the Hubermanns, Lisel turns to the comfort of books to ease her pain. However, as she grows up the innocent words in her books lead her to discover the immense pain words carry through the horrific doings of Hitler, a man beloved by many Germans. The portrayal of life in Nazi Germany depicted by the Book Thief is accurate due to events in the book such as the book burning, the Hitler Youth, encounters of hate shown to Jews, and Germany’s invasion of Russia.

The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, is a book told from the viewpoint of Death, set in Nazi Germany during World War II. It takes place in a poor neighborhood on Himmel Street. In the beginning, Liesel Meminger, the main character, is a young girl who travels with her mother and younger brother, to meet her new foster parents, Rosa and Hans Hubermann. On the way, Liesel’s brother became ill and died, which was very traumatic for Liesel. It is at this point when Death notices Leisel and follows her throughout the story.

Liesel Meminger is the daughter of Paula Meminger. She is also the sister of late Warren Meminger. Consequently, she steals the first book in the novel, called The Gravedigger's Handbook. Therefore, Death gave her the nickname of “ the book thief” before us knowing that she would become “the book thief”. Liesel Meminger is the hardworking, book-thieving, kind-hearted protagonist of The Book Thief. She loves books so much that she steals them, even before knowing how to read. All of this started because stealing books reminds her of Warren Meminger. This is even she bonds more with Hans Hubermann, her foster father, dedicates his time to teach her how to read. We might be asking, why hasn’t she gotten an education at the age of 10. The answer is not as clear as others, but it definitely has to do with Liesel father’s communist affiliations. He was part of the German Communist Party, that was popular when Hitler took over. This is also the reason why she had to be fostered.

The Book Thief, written by Markus Zusak, outlines the tragedies and events that take place in Liesel Meminger’s life, in Nazi Germany. Throughout this young girl’s struggle of living in the oppressive Nazi regime, she is able to learn crucial lessons about life and the art of survival- some that follow her to the grave. The most important lesson she learned and the pivotal theme of the novel is that rebellion can be and beneficial in certain situations.

One of the main characteristics of war is its ability to take away individuals’ feelings of strength. Such individuals will become unable to feel a sense of identity unless they find some source of power, no matter its form may be. The main characters in The Book Thief and Between Shades of Gray use art and literature as a means for empowering themselves within the conflict-ridden setting around them: World War II. The “testimony [of these characters is produced] to create an absolute record, to speak in a world where [their] voices have been extinguished” (Sepetys 338). Liesel, the main character in The Book Thief, and Lina, from Between Shades of Gray, create testimony of their endurances by leaving behind writing and drawings that tell their story to future generations after being forced into silence during their own lifetime.

In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Liesel Meminger discovers the power of words and how important they are in the lives of everyone. Young orphan Liesel makes a habit of stealing books before she even knows how to read. By learning to read and write she discovers a deeper understanding of herself and the world around her. Liesel uses stories to express herself and realizes how words can be used to manipulate the thoughts of others. By reading Liesel better understands herself and the writings of others. By reading books and stories Liesel helps contribute to her community and help others. Through communicating with Max and listening to his stories she starts to put together how Hitler rose to power and became so influential. Learning to read and write allows Liesel to better contribute to her community and herself. Liesel’s discovery of the influence and power words changed her life forever.

Hans, coming into the room to soothe Liesel's fear, turns a traumatic situation into a bonding experience. Another situation was when Death noticed that stealing only brought Rudy and Liesel closer together. Food was hard to get during the war, so everyone was always hungry. Liesel and Rudy were always hungry, so they decided to steal food. They bonded over the thrill stealing brought them.

In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, words can be very powerful. Words can either break a person down or build them up. There are several examples in this story where words either bring people together or tear them apart. While words prove to both heal and hurt in this story, the healing words leave a longer and lasting mark on the person that is being healed, while the damaging ones do less to hurt than the comforting ones do to help.

The Book Thief  by Markus Zusak takes place in Nazi Germany between 1939 through 1944. This book is about a little girl named Liesel Meminger. Her mother and her brother Werner are traveling on a train traveling to a town named Molching. On the way to Molching her brother dies. At his burial, Liesel steals her first book and this leads to her understanding the importance of knowing how to read. Throughout this book, Zusak uses a chaotic setting, developers interesting characters, creates an intriguing plot conflict, symbols and themes.

In the Book Thief, a novel by Markus Zusak, the consequences caused by Hans Huberman giving a piece of bread to an elderly jewish prisoner during a march through the town, were not worth the benifits created by his actions. Both Hans and the Jewish prisoner were whipped and the man wan not able to eat the bread given to him, Max had no choice but to lave the Huberman’s home and finally, Hans was drafted into the army as a punishment for giving out the bread. write in link here

Picture, you are child, in Nazi occupied Europe. You have just returned to your village, after only a short trip away, to see it burned to the ground, and the bloodied corpses of your friends, your family, your loved ones, litter the ground. Picture you are a young African child, who as you hid in the forest, just watched your village burned to the ground and its people, everyone you have ever known, slaughtered, by a rival tribe. Picture you are an Armenian child, who just snuck away from one of the infamous death marches, in which you saw men, women, and children, forced to march through the desert until they either died of exhaustion, or were shot by Turkish soldiers for being too slow. There are many things you could be feeling in these situations.

In this passage it is Liesel’s thoughts written down. Before this passage Liesel wet her bed during her daily nightmare. While Hans was removing her sheets to clean them he found The Grave Digger’s Manual, the book that Liesel had stolen when her brother died. Hans asked her if she wanted to read it and then

Death narrates the novel we’ll be reading which is The Book Thief (yeah, you heard me it’s narrated by death) which proclaims to us the story of Liesel Memingers rough life. The date was January 1939, Liesel Meminger (who was ten at the time) was traveling via train, accompanied by her mother and little brother Werner. They were being taken to a small town called Molching, right outside of Munich, Germany, to be with her foster parents Hans and Rosa Hubermann. Liesel’s brother Werner dies while riding the train from hunger, cold, poverty, and lack of medical treatment. Before Liesel had arrived in Molching, Liesel was present for her brother Werner’s funeral in a snowy graveyard. Liesel stole The Grave Diggers Handbook. The weird thing is …. Liesel can’t read.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is a very emotional and intense story. It takes place in Germany during the time of the Holocaust and portrays how hard life was for some children and adults during that time. In the story Liesel becomes friends with a Jew who her foster parents are hiding from Hitler. She loses her Papa to the military as a punishment for him giving a Jew a piece of bread and her friend Max who is sent to a concentration camp after being captured by the Nazi’s. Liesel along her hard life journey steals books during key moments in her life and it becomes a hobby of hers. I certainly believe this book should be a required reading novel for high school students, because of its important themes that relate to real life situations for people of any ages today.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is a very unique and interesting piece of literature, which shows you a different side to World War 2. This novel is especially unique in that Death is made into a real person, who narrates the whole story. You get to witness things and experience them through death’s eyes. The reader gets a clear view on Death’s surprisingly yet unforgettable human personality.