Literary Analysis Of The Book Thief

It all starts with Liesel stealing The Gravedigger’s Handbook on the frigid night of Werner’s funeral. She feels somewhat remorseful for her first act of thievery, but as we get deeper into the book, we see Liesel start to become more comfortable with the idea of stealing. Even though we, as the readers, know it’s wrong to steal, the context of the novel interprets Liesel’s acts as okay. Zusak does this to show how Liesel’s theft isn’t just for the items she steals, but for a sense of empowerment. She, along with Rudy, feels powerless in her ever-changing world, so she steals to feel in control of something bigger than

Liesel, the book thief herself, steals books in times of pain. All six books Liesel steals are metaphors for the feelings of loss and pain during the time of which the book was stolen. She uses the books to grow knowledge of the situations occurring around her, one stolen book in particular is “The Gravedigger’s Handbook” This book is the first of all books Liesel steals, and it is the book that caused her to grow to love words, coincidently, she finds this book in the snow on the day of her brother’s death, which is when she was filled with grief and abandonment. This book is a symbol for Liesel’s grief and as she tries to learn how to read the book, her twisted comfort in the story shows how the words had a powerful effect on her grieving process shown by the quotation, “…Not to mention the morbidity of the subject. As for the girl, there was a sudden desire to read it that she didn't even attempt to understand” (Zusak, 66)

First, Zusak describes Liesel as a curious girl to create a metaphor for those who question

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

11 million people died during the Holocaust. In Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, Liesel Meminger loses many of her loved ones. At the beginning of the book, Liesel’s brother dies of illness on a train, and her mother is taken away by the Nazis for being a communist. After losing everyone she ever cared about, the story drags Liesel into a humble household where she discovers her passion for books, and her love for her family and friends. However, her loved ones are once again torn away from her as Himmel Street, the street she lives on, gets bombed. She loses her foster parents, her best friend, and everyone else she came to know. As a result of these adverse events, Liesel’s innocence was stolen from her. In The Book Thief, loss plays an essential role in developing characters, especially Liesel. After losing Werner, her brother, Liesel is plagued by

Liesel Meminger is the main character in Marcus Zusak's novel, "The Book Thief". She had hair that was "a close enough brand of German blond, but she had dangerous eyes. Dark brown" (Zusak 31). From the age of nine, Liesel had to overcome many hardships during Hitler's rein of power. The fact that her real parents were communists made the situation worse. However, she still managed to be a loyal, caring, courageous, understanding, strong-willed girl who loved stealing books to flourish her love of words.

future of Liesel’s stealing career with books. Liesel owned fourteen books, of the ten most

In ‘The Book Thief’, Death introduces itself as the narrator. Zusak has chosen Death as the narrator because he says that ‘Death is weary, he's fatigued, and he's haunted by what he sees humans do to each other because he's on hand for all of our great miseries.’ In this novel Death is interested by humans and the colours of the world, but he struggles to decode how humans are capable of so much beauty but at the same time ugliness. He shows an interest in Liesel’s story and describes the incidents in her life. His opinions are mostly on his understanding of humans and bold texts are used in the novel to correct humans understanding of him.

Furthermore, Nazi book burning suppresses free speech (the surest sign a society has reached the tipping point to evil is when it orders the destruction of knowledge). By way of contrast, Liesel stands up and speaks truth to power by stealing a book from the Nazi’s flames. This is displayed through the following quotation, “The book thief had struck for the first time – the beginning of an illustrious career, (Zusak 29)” The significance of this quotation is to help develop the theme of harmfulness and helpfulness of words in reference to Liesel’s rebel-like character in stealing as a result of the harmful rules put into play thus showing the power of words. Later in the story, Max paints over the hateful pages of Mein Kampf to write a story for Liesel.

Markus Zusak’s Novel The Book Thief is about a little girl whose brother died and is given to a foster family during around the time of the Holocaust/persecution of Jews. Throughout The Book Thief symbolism is shown through many objects to signify there importance and impact on the character(s). In The Book Thief symbolism is shown through many objects such as The Accordion and books that Liesel reads.

In difficult times, one must look for an outlet in order to provide themselves comfort and to distract themselves from their own thoughts. Books and stories can provide one with this joyous escape, as it did with Liesel Meminger. By personifying inanimate objects, Zusak creates a sense happiness and life that books provide Liesel in The Book Thief. When describing Liesel’s relationship with Mrs. Hermann’s shelves and books, Death uses personification to develop the intimate relationship that she has with Mrs. Hermann’s library.

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.

The Book Thief is a very intriguing book and anyone who has read it can easily say that it was a very good read, but what most people might not think about is how much planning and revision goes into making such a book. In The Book Thief, Marcus Zusak uses a variety of different literary techniques to make his book more descriptive. Two of the most prominent out of these are Zusak’s blending of different senses and switching of roles, techniques that result in a highly expressive piece of writing. These literary techniques are extremely effective in that they add lots of emotion to Zusak’s book and make it more enjoyable.

Liesel loved to read and write, her father taught her how to read from little books she stole. Being a foster child, let alone being a foster child of a poor family, she never had enough money to buy her own books. The first book she stole was “A Grave Digger's Guide” from her brothers burial site.As Liesel only stole books when she thought it was necessary, she didnt have many. Although her father did not approve of her means of getting the books, he appreciated the distraction she provided from what's really going on outside. Liesel and her father were only ever given one new book, Mein Kampf(Zusak). The books that Leisel stole were all old books that were either meant to be burned or books that sat simply in a library untouched. When Liesel and Max , a jew they were hiding, wanted to explore past the limitations of the Nazi protocol and write, they would have to take pages from other books, usually Mein Kampf, and paint over them with white paint. While Liesel was the only one unaware of the horrible deeds being done around her, she could sense the tension that hung in the air and worked to distract the adults with her

In the novel, “The Book Thief” written by Australian writer, Markus Zusak is a story about an orphan named Liesel Meminger. At the beginning of the story, Liesel’s mother gave her up to go live with Hans and Rosa Hubermann. When Hans finds out that Liesel cannot read he begins to teach her how to read which develops her love of reading. Out of the kindness of their heart, the Huberman’s decide to help a Jewish boy named Max Vandenburg hide. Overall the book is a splendid story of friendship and survival.