Book Thief Themes

The Book Thief is a historical fiction novel by Markus Zusak set in Munich, Germany during the Nazi reign from 1936-1943. The novel incorporates a main character that is, in the beginning, an innocent child who doesn't understand the world and takes her on a journey where she grows up and matures through the hardships and challenges of her life. The story is narrated by the character Death, who is a fresh take on the Grim Reaper, only wearing the black cloak when it's cold and never carries a syte. Death describes the life Liesel Meminger, an orphaned girl who witnesses her brother's death and burial and finds herself being adopted by the benevolent old couple, the Hubermanns. The rest of the story follows Liesel's journey through her incredibly challenging life with the Hubermanns and characters such as Rudy, The mayor's wife, and Max helping her along. Symbolism in The Book Thief deepens the story by conveying many different ideas and emotions that supports the reader's understanding of the story. This is especially apparent with the use of the gravediggers to help the reader remember characters, the use of color to help the reader feel the proper emotions and remember the correct events, and the use of Liesel's changing feelings about Rudy to convey how Liesel grows and matures through the book.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak follows the struggles and triumphs of a young girl growing up in Nazi Germany. The story begins when she is nine, and includes her death, so as expected, Liesel changes a lot during this time. The changes that are most important and noticeable to the reader are her discovery of words, becoming a thief, and growing up to be just like her Papa.

The Book Thief is set in the time of World War 2 where the Holocaust is present and disaster is everywhere. Throughout the story, Liesel, the main character, learns that words are extremely powerful and hold the ability for people to use them for good or for evil. Among the disaster and altercations, Liesel uses her literature to comfort her and make herself more powerful due to her knowledge, which demonstrates the theme of the story, the comfort and power of literature and words softens the pain of loss.

How do you think you would handle World War II as a child? In the novel The Book Thief by Markus Zusak involves the maturity of Liesel due to WWII. In the text, Nazis played a large role in the town affecting how the townspeople were divided and how they would rather not talk or mention anything Jewish related. Based on a historical time period individuals dealt with many issues of religious diversity and diversity in general. Hardships were faced by her family in various ways which were most commonly caused by the war occurring in Germany.

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.

“Words can light fires in the minds of men” (Patrick Rothfuss). Author, Markus Zusak, in his novel The Book Thief, narrates as Death to show the story of Liesel Meminger, a girl living in World War Two Nazi Germany. Zusak uses literary devices to depict a theme of how words can change the world in order to show their effect on people.

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 novel The book Thief, Markus Zusak explores that death and war are often more difficult for those who survive. At the center of the text is the idea that those who are left behind after tragedy suffer greatly. This is revealed through the hardship of life and experience a gentle transition. This was shown as an experience of Liesel who struggles as well as the other characters that have difficult processing their grief and guilt. Zusak’s novel acts to alert his readers the dangers of war and by the hardship of life and experience a gentle transition.

After reading and scrutinizing The Book Thief, one can see that bread, the accordion, and books, the three main symbols used in the novel, are indispensable to the merriment of the book. To add information, these three symbols all represent different things, actions, and people, but can all be compared and contrasted. Three different ways that these emblems can be compared and contrasted is by looking at what they represent, why they represent it, and the reasoning behind why the author used that specific symbol.

In the beginning of The Book Thief, the reader meets Liesel Meminger, her mother, and her brother, Werner Meminger. The father is never introduced. It is only said that he is a communist. Werner dies on the train to Himmel Street, the place that Liesel is left with a couple, Hans and Rosa Hubermann. Liesel’s mother is never seen again, but the reader assumes that she was taken away for being one of the Nazi’s targets. According to The Book Thief, “What came to her then was the dustiness of the floor, the feeling that her clothes were more next to her than on her, and the sudden realization that this would all be for nothing—that her mother would never write back and she would never see her again.” Nazis were the epitome of evil. They tore families apart and killed millions of innocent people.

1a. I think she was justified because Liesel was using the families money to make contact with the woman that left her behind.

Over the course of one’s life, it is inevitable to encounter bumps in the road. Some might be small, and some might be big. The response to these “bumps” is the development of individuals all around us. Some difficulties in our life help us realize our true hidden potential, whereas some problems help us understand life as a whole, these make us the people we are today. Living and understanding the disputes symbolises who we are. For instance, in Mark Zusak's book, The Book Thief, the reader gets an understanding of how certain conflicts create attributes in the characters and how it can symbolise an individual. The author manipulates symbolism, and conflicts to develop Liesel from a young powerless child to a woman who represents strength,

Do you like war? Do you despise war? Have you ever attempted to help someone during a war, probably not though? In The Book Thief, there is a girl named Liesel who were adopted by Hans and Rosa Hubermann and they helped harbor a Jew during WWII. In The Things They Carried, is about a soldier named Jimmy Cross who adores an English major named Martha and then one of the soldiers’ gets shot and assassinated which makes Jimmy forget about Martha and become a better leader. In The Book Thief and The Things They Carried have some similarities and differences and some of them I’ll explain with literary devices. The theme for The Book Thief is death/war/brutality and the theme for The Things They Carried is to focus on what’s more important than yourself.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak begins and ends rather abruptly. This, however, adds a sense of realism to this moving novel. At the start of The Book Thief, a young girl named Liesel, her younger brother and their mother are on a train to Munich, Germany. The mother was delivering her starved children to foster parents. The boy, however, did not survive the journey. Liesel was still given to the couple, in hopes she won’t receive the same fate of her brother. The exchange does not happen easily, as told on page 28, “ It took nearly fifteen minutes to coax her from the car...There was the gate next, which she clung to...she held on and refused to go inside,” (Zusak 28). As the novel continues Liesel grows to love Herr and Frau Hubermann. The novel continues and the tension begins to build. In the basement of 33 Himmel Street a Jew is hidden. The wrath of Hitler is marching closer and closer to Munich as Liesel learns to love the outlaw. Soon she would know her sins, as told on page 390, “Liesel was playing soccer when the noise arrived…’What is that?’...’A herd of cows?’...’The Jews’...They watched the Jews come down the road like a catalog of colors. That 's not how the book thief described them but, I can tell you that’s exactly what they were, for many of them would die” (Zusak 390). During the march Mr. Hubermann’s

In history, art has been known as a production of works for emotional power. Art is formed by artists who have a story to share. It is used to express a deep emotion they cannot quite put into words, for example, sorrow or grief. Throughout the novel, Markus Zusak shows people distracting themselves from desperate times of sorrow through art. The use of art in The Book Thief represents creative outlets used as a coping mechanism for each character. The forms of art in the midst of pain are an accordion, a sketchbook, and books. To someone who were to pick up one of these items wouldn’t see much importance but to the main characters, they are what keeps them inspired and hopeful during the catastrophic events caused by Hitler.