City Of Thieves: A Literary Analysis

The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak. Liesel Meminger is a nine year old girl that was living in Germany in 1939. Her mother was taken away from Liesel and her brother. When Liesel and her brother where going to go see their mother Liesel brother died. She found a book called “The Grave Diggers Handbook”. Liesel was taken to a foster home. She gets along with her foster parents. The foster parent’s names are Hans and Rosa Hubermann. The foster parents of Liesel show her how to read and write. Liesel best friend name is Rudy Steiner they have many memories together. They both are thieves, Rudy and Liesel. Rudy has a big crush on Liesel. Max Vandenburg is a Jew being hidden in the basement of Liesel basement. Liesel and Rudy stole books from

In the beginning of the novel, Ishmael beah’s village Mattru Jong was attacked and was split up from his parents then got to the village ,kamator was attacked and had run into the forest and hid from the rebels . Ishmael had lost where his friends and brother went Ishmael had to learn to live on his own , finding food for himself and shelter and trying to find his family. “I looked around the forest for one of the medicinal leaves that Grandfather had said remove poison from the body. I might need it if the fruit I had eaten was poisonous.” (beah,51).

I am reading City of Saints and Thieves by Natalie C. Anderson and I am on page 247. This book is about a thief nicknamed Tiny Girl. She is on a mission to get revenge on a man named Mr. Greyhill who she suspected killed her mother. Through five years of thievery she is finally ready to carry out her revenge. When she is carrying it out an unsuspected variable named Michael comes in.

There are many relationships throughout the small part we read, in the story ‘The Palace Thief’. The few key relationship are Mr. Hundert & Sedgwick, Mr. Hundert & Senator Bell, and Mr. Hundert & Charles Ellerby.

City of Thieves starts off with Lev Beniov sitting atop his roof, on a firefighting detail, under the German siege of Leningrad in Kirov, Russia. As he sits on top of his building’s roof with his friends Vera Osiponva, and the Antokolsky twins they listen to anti-aircraft fire, and they see a paratrooper falling to the ground. The group hops the Kirov gate, and runs towards the paratrooper’s landing sight, realizing he is drifting to the ground dead. They began looting his body, and as Lev got a German knife from the man, the GAZ turned on Voinova Street, and they had to run. While running back to Kirov, Vera slipped, and Lev had to go and get her. As he helped her over the fence, the GAZ grabbed him. Since it was after curfew, he believed execution was inevitable. He was taken to “Piter”’s prison called the Crosses with no light or sound. Soon, a Russian officer named Kolya was thrown in the cell with him. In the morning, the two prisoners were taken to a mansion with NKVD officers in it. The Colonel had a mission for the prisoners. He took their ration cards, and told Kolya and Lev they had until Thursday to get one dozen eggs. On that Saturday morning, Kolya and Lev had left their lives on the line for a dozen eggs.

The Palace Thief, a short story written by Ethan Canin, explains the bond through the narrator communications. The interactions with the characters demonstrate the character's personalities, experiences and the family shapes of individuals selfhood. The narrator of the story mainly focuses on the twist of an individual character. In this essay, I'm going to go over the relationships and correlations of characters William Hundert (Mr. Hundert), the three-year teacher at St. Benedict Academy, Charles Ellebry, who went against Mr. Hundert for teaching duties, Sedgewick Bell, who was a very clever student, and Senator Bell, who was a powerful demagogue.

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.

The setting was different from most books about the World Wars. I had never heard of Latvia or Stalin until I read this book. The flashbacks in the story helped give a better understanding of how Lina’s life was before and the difference now. The event of the mother and father dying showed the hardships that the young children and teenager had to go through. Although there were some sad parts that I disliked, such as when Jonas changed into a mean person and started to smoke, those were the reality of what had happened during the wars. This book is one of my favorite books I have ever read! I would recommend this book to everyone and

2. It is ironic that Liesel steals books because the first time she steals the book she is not even able to read yet. The first time she stole a book was at her brothers funeral to keep as a memory of him and also her mother. Liesel was upset and "she started to dig" for The Gravediggers Handbook (Zusak 23).This seemed ironic also, because she dug for a book in the snow at her brothers burial. Hitler used words as a powerful tool to change the way a whole country viewed Jews. Words turn into something to use as hate from the Nazis and Hitler toward the Jews. Germans are scared of words that show how Jews really are .They have bonfires and they throw the books in the bonfire and burn them, along with the truth about Jews. Even though Germans in general have a hatred towards books, Liesel is saved by words. Max, who is a Jew is also saved by words. Max

Good Literature is what it sounds like it’s good but nothing amazing. It is for example, the Hunger Games, where it is a fun and exciting read, but doesn’t spark a change or awakening. This distinction between good and great is vital to the gradual understanding of what makes the human mind tick. Good literature might be nice for a quick and easy read on the beach, but Great literature or nonfiction will change one’s view point and requires detail and focus to extract its full meaning.

In the end of the story, Lev reunites with Vika again because they separate after they defeat Abendroth. During the journey, Lev and Kolya endure many struggles that Russians might have experience in real life during the Siege of Leningrad such as lack of food, warmth, and motivation.

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.

Through all of the irony and vivid coloring, The Book Thief is more easily understood after acquiring knowledge of reading literature with greater care and meticulousness. Applying chapters of How to Read Literature like a Professor can better enhance a reader’s awareness of hidden messages and symbols within certain works of literature. In Chapter Two, Foster explains how meals suggest a communion between all parties involved in it. Markus Zusak also uses meals and food to bring families together in The Book Thief. Foster also explains, in Chapter Eleven, how violence in literature usually stands for more than just violence.

“I [Death] am haunted by humans” (Zusak 550). This example of imagery, a literary device, in The Book Thief juxtaposed how Death was haunted by the cruelty of human action, just as how humans were haunted by Death. Literary devices were implemented by authors to create gripping stories that they wanted to share with their readers. Novelist Aldous Huxley once said that “the essay is a literary device for saying almost everything about everything”. While casual readers may not realize the intricacies of literary devices in writing, they could definitely remember how the stories went. Through literary devices, stories can metamorphose into something greater and memorable. In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, “To An Athlete Dying Young” by A.E.

The acts of human nature can become a very difficult concept to understand. Markus Zusak uses Death throughout the The Book Thief to express the complexity of human nature. Death illustrates how complicated beings humans are and how they hold the capacity to act in both evil and beautiful ways. Throughout the novel Death helps give readers insight to the ignorance displayed and the pain it may cause a person. In the most troublesome and discriminatory times of the Holocaust, Death will point out the beautiful acts of compassion carried out by characters involved in the novel. Sometimes beauty and pain is mixed within the sacrifice some make for those they love and are loyal to.