“This fabulous novel is rich, complicated and wise enough to satisfy a reader of any age,” says Atlanta Journal-Constitutional (Zusak, 0). In grade eleven, university level English, students may study Brave New World by Alex Huxley, but The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is a much more suitable novel to study. The Book Thief incorporates an amazing plot with excellent characters, is beautifully written, and is the perfect novel to analyze. To begin, The Book Thief’s plot and characters overshadow the plot and characters in Brave New World, making it the better option to study in class. Its plot is complete, very complex, and takes place in an interesting setting; this book will steal your heart. The Book Thief takes place in Nazi Germany during …show more content…
Its plot includes a beginning where you meet Liesel and other main characters, rising action where a Jew, Max, comes to hide in their basement, a climax, denouement, and resolution, but will not be explained to avoid spoiling the novel. The Book Thief includes all the elements of a complete and complex plot, whereas Brave New World’s plot is weak and does not include as many events. A complete and complex plot leads to students being more engaged, higher marks, and happier teachers. Additionally, The Book Thief includes numerous types and better developed characters. For example, Liesel, a dynamic character, grows from an innocent, shy girl to a courageous grown up teen. Including various well developed characters make it easier to relate, become emotionally attached, and actually read the novel, which every teacher wants. Furthermore, well developed characters create pity and fear. For instance, throughout the novel, Liesel and Max become very close as he says, “often I wish this would all be over, Liesel, but then somehow you do something like walk down the basement steps with a snowman in your hands,” (313). At one point, Max is forced to leave and that event creates more …show more content…
The Book Thief is much more clear than Brave New World. For instance, in a chapter, Zusak switches between scenes/conversations (203) more clearly than Brave New World and still manages to preserve the effect of this technique. What would you rather read? A novel you can understand or one you can not? Reading a text that is understandable engages more readers and helps students succeed. Additionally, the narrator in The Book Thief is original and perfect. Death narrates the story, making it possible to narrate in first person, but also see and hear other people’s actions or thoughts. Also, Death has a sarcastic and humorous tone, evening out the depressing parts of the novel with his puns, like “I am haunted by humans,” (540); this grim reaper of a book wears a halo, it’s sad, cute, and funny all at the same time. This helps students be more engaged with using first person, makes the novel more interesting, and leads to their success. Furthermore, Zusak’s use of figurative language ignites a spark in readers’ eyes. For instance, when he explains setting he writes, “the sky was dripping. Like a tap that a child has tried its hardest to turn off but hasn’t quite managed,” (497). Using similes enhances the picture the reader forms in their head and adds dramatic effect, making the novel more interesting. Zusak also incorporates almost every single type of figurative language taught in
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, written by an Australian author, Markus Zusak, is a devastatingly powerful historical-fiction novel that bears several re-readings. Being one of the greatest, most divinely-written epilogues in my school library, The Book Thief, is a soul-shattering, thought-provoking story that undoubtedly can be recommended to the young and old alike. This poignant, prolonged, but achingly sad book, is the pinnacle of contemporary historical-fiction, poised to become a classic. Phenomenally breathtaking, and inspiring, bringing nothing but anticipatory dread, this lyrical, surreal book, though depressingly morbid at times, was my “gateway” to historical-fiction. The tribulations and trials provided in the novel, had inevitable passion, perspective
In The Book Thief, Markus Zusak used narrative voices to convey extremes of human behavior. The characters through which he conveyed these innovated techniques are Death, the narrator, and Max Vandeburg, a central character. Death’s narrative voice was distant and provided juxtaposition on the kindness and cruelty of humans through
In the story The Book Thief, the author Markus Zusak does and amazing job of using literary devices in his story. From metaphors, to similes, to personification and even onomonopeias. It puts images in your mind that in other looks you could not even imagine. It shows and tells what the person is doing and how they are doing it. These literary devices bring excitement and engagement to the writing. It makes you want to keep reading the book. His forms of figurative language come easy to zusak.
In the novel The Book Thief, written by Markus Zusak, there is a strong presence surrounding words. I was amazed by this presence through Liesel’s relationship to books, the power of words, and language that is affected by the Holocaust. I was amazed by how Liesel overcomes Hitler’s suppression and teaches others about language and words.
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.
The Book Thief’s plot is character driven in the beginning. Characters choose to make their own decisions and consequently feel the effects of later on. For example, Liesel and Rudy intentionally make the decision to steal books from Ilsa Hermann’s library. The Hubermann and the Steiner families both make the subconscious decision to dislike the Nazis. Finally, Hans Hubermann makes the potentionally incriminating decision to harbor a Jew, Max, in his basement. These characters choose to go against their morals, yet their decisions work in their favor. Nearing the end of the book, the plot structure switches to plot driven; external forces disturbing the characters more than their own decisions and actions do. This novel is centered around the Holocaust and the war was taking place, and without this, many of the major events would not have happened, resulting in a different outcome for the characters. The bombs set off due to the war also influenced the characters by a great deal, causing their panic and fear to control their
The Book Thief is a historical fiction novel by Markus Zusak. Based on its title, some readers might think the story is just about a thief who steals books, but really it’s more emotional than stealing books, the story is about a young girl named Liesel Meminger who steals books when people in Germany were captivated by Adolf Hitler from book burning and other places. The interesting point is that the books are not something really important, in fact, they’re just normal reading books, and the reason she steals the books is because of her desire for reading. Even Though Liesel is the protagonist of this novel, but in this essay, the main focus point is not her, but another guy who is also loved by the readers.
The Book Thief written by Markus Zusak shows how the impact on the power of language has on Liesel Meimeger through the structure of the novel. The structure of the novel shows the development of the character Liesel, highlighting the impact of the power of language. In her development, she finds the ability to express herself as well as to connect to others. Books become a comfort to her and heal her, they help her grow strong relationships with other characters in her life. However, she also sees the damage words have caused through Nazi propaganda, understanding that Hitler 's words have been the cause of suffering of the people in her life. Despite this, the structure of the novel shows the ability of the character to understand that
Themes are inserted within literature by the author in an attempt to provoke readers to think about the topic provided. In the novel, The Book Thief, written by Markus Zusak, many topics are presents, such as, courage, suffering, and human behavior. The most prevalent, however, is the courage possessed by certain individuals. This theme, bravery, is evident throughout the entire course of the novel in Liesel Meminger, the Hubermanns, and Max Vandenburg.
Markus Zusak, the author of The Book Thief, displays several ways to help readers analyze the story. He uses diction, imagery, details, language, and syntax which allows his audience to master the content in the story.
Zusak. Zusak’s novel is about a young girl, named Liesel Meminger, who after losing her
The Book Thief is about a young, sheltered German girl learning to read. Through her relationship with other characters, particularly Max, she grows and becomes more understanding of what happens in the world and the hardships that people have to face, especially in the time period of Nazi Germany. The Book Thief explores the ideas of death and war, but above all, the good qualities of humans and their worth. Leisel and Max are two very different people. A German and a Jew, young and old, accepted and marginalised. Through her relationship with Max, Leisel demonstrates great support, trust and kindness, all examples of human worth in times of great difficulty.
The two authors demonstrate and exhibit the storyline in a way that brings the audience to their feet. In The Book Thief, Markus Zusak uses a more realistic approach through his complexity of character emotions. During the duration of the novel, the idea of emotions is conducted by the characters themselves, to inanimate objects to most importantly events. On the other hand, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, is told in more of a story perspective. Both novels express captivate qualities such as tone, voice and characters-just to name a few-to definite the similarities and differences.
If you believe in yourself and have dedication, pride, and never quit, you will be successful. Markus Zusak, the author of The Book Thief, creates a story of a young orphan named Liesel Meminger, who is living with her new foster family. She learns the wonders of reading from her foster father and grows to love books. During Liesel’s time with her new family, she shows determination through her efforts and kindness with her encounters with other people. Liesel in The Book Thief expresses her traits, such as hardworking, and bravery.