MAJOR WORKS REVIEW
GENERAL
1. Title- The Book Thief
2. Author- Markus Zusak
3. Date of Original Publication- 2005
4. Novel Type- Historical Fiction
STRUCTURE
1. Point of View- Death
2. Relationship to meaning: As death is a huge part of the novel, it would only make sense for death himself to narrate.
3. Plot Structure
a. Exposition- The main Protagonist, Liesel, is introduced to us. Her brother had died on the way to their foster parents, and the holocaust/ Nazi germany is revealed as the historic backdrop.
b. Inciting Incident- Liesel is adopted by the Hubermanns.
c. Events contributing to rising action- As Liesel adapts to her new life with the Hubermanns, she makes friends out of Rudy and eventually Max. As the holocaust and later
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Time period and contextual significance- World War II, a time of great strife and, especially in germany, destruction of knowledge, which allows Liesel to steal many books.
3. Time span- The bulk of the story takes place from 1939 to 1942.
CONFLICTS
1. Main conflict
a. type of conflict- character vs. society (external)
b. values embodied in conflict (expressed as opposition—something vs. something)-
Liesel vs. The Nazi Party
c. thematic significance of conflict- Liesel’s indirect conflict with the Nazi party prevents her from openly reading books, as well as having her father killed. If this conflict had not existed, she would not have met one of her best friends, Max, as he would not have been running from the Nazis.
2. Minor conflicts and thematic significance- Liesel vs. self/conscious- Several times throughout the novel, Liesel is seen haunted by the memory of her late little brother. Whenever she does something he might not approve of, he expresses disappointment in her. When she finally appeases him, it marks a turning point in Liesel’s maturity.
SYMBOLS AND MOTIFS (3-5)
Literal Symbol
Figurative Meaning
Relationship to Theme
“The Standover Man”
The makeshift book by Max is created by drawing over Mein Kampf, creating positivity out of
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THEMATIC STATEMENTS (2-3)
State in declarative sentence general truths this story reveals about life and/or human nature—be specific and no clichés.
Through the power of words, one may begin to understand the world around them, and even bend it to their will.
One should learn to love, even when everyone else is full of hatred.
Death is inevitable, and since all humans are mortal we should get used to it and learn to make the most out of life.
Even when you suffer, you have to learn to make the best of it and keep going.
CONTEXT
1. Historical- World War II
2. Biographical- The basis of the story was inspired by stories his parents told of their experiences in Munich and Venice
3. Literary/Philosophical Time Period- World Wars/Holocaust Era
5 KEY QUOTES
“She leaned down and looked at his lifeless face and Liesel kissed her best friend, Rudy Steiner, soft and true on his lips. He tasted dusty and sweet. He tasted like regret in the shadows of trees and in the glow of the anarchist's suit collection. She kissed him long and soft, and when she pulled herself away, she touched his mouth with her fingers...She did not say goodbye. She was incapable, and after a few more minutes at his side, she was able to tear herself from the ground. It amazes me what humans can do, even when streams are flowing down their faces and they stagger on...”
At the library, she was offered a book by the mayor’s wife multiple times but Liesel declined. After being removed from the job because the mayor couldn’t offered job, Liesel must leave. Though she declined the book many times, she returns to the house to steal food but instead retrieves the book. She steals it for her close friend Rudy. The book itself represents the connection between the two especially Rudy valiantly saves the book after it was almost thrown into a river.
Liesel’s first encounter with the power of words was when Hans was teaching her how to read. Liesel desperately wanted to learn how to read The Gravedigger’s Handbook. Liesel’s last memory of her brother and mother was when she had to bury his brother after he died. Her brother’s death was the first immense loss of a loved one. Liesel associates the event with the book she picked up off
Every time Liesel steals books from people, she consistently places the lives of others at risk. An example of this is when Liesel is worried about Max dying and wants to steal a book and read it to him
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 first of them happens on the Fuhrer (Adolf Hitler)’s birthday. Because of her Hitler Youth group, Liesel is forced to attend the celebration in the town center. There, the people make a large pile of books and belongings and papers, all to be burned and destroyed for entertainment. Here, Liesel is traumatized by the shouts of Communism and destruction. She sneaks away and sits on the steps to wait for Papa. This is finally where Liesel analyzes her mother’s complete disappearance. She realizes that her being gone was of Hitler’s doing, and curses Hitler’s name. The other traumatic event happens at the very end of the novel. Liesel is in her basement writing The Book Thief, which is a summary of her life since she arrived at 33 Himmel Street in her own words. During this time, a bomb is dropped on Molching. This bomb ends up killing Hans and Rosa Hubermann and Rudy Steiner. This moment is when Liesel loses almost everybody who matters to her. Max Vandenburg already had left, her foster parents and best friend are dead, and her mother and brother have long been gone. Readers can see how much this affected Liesel when she doesn’t leave her bed in the Mayor’s house for days. She lets all of this emotion she’s built up pour out when she finds Max Vandenburg in a store and just hugs
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.
Liesel ran into conflicts on page 103 when Rosa was discussing issues with her husband, “The Huberman's couldn't find the flag. ‘They'll come for us’ mama warned her husband’ they'll come and take us away.” This flag symbolizes Nazi,Germany which was portrayed as a “pass” that they were part of Hitler's following. Without the Nazi flag, she had to understand that her family would become suspected of not being a member, thus be taken away to an unknown place, thus she must learn to stay silent. Liesel enjoyed books and on Hitler's birthday she stole two books. By doing so she learned that she is limited to certain information and she can't know everything that she is curious about. She mentions one of the books she found talks about a Jew “presented in a positive light” which is punishable by authorities(Zusak 143). She got scolded by Rosa on how she should be reading the Mein Kampf (Zusak 105). The Mein Kampf was written by Hitler based on his ideologies and views on changing Germany according to “Mein Kampf is published” by History.com.Since Germany was against Jews they did not enjoy the idea of having them in a powerful role or position. Liesel had to understand what was right and wrong especially touchy subjects revolving around Jews since it could cause trouble for not just her but her
Relationship to meaning: Death is important to the story because he provides a detailed explanation of what is going on with all characters and he isn’t bias towards any specific character.
This part of the novel resembles a point in Liesel’s character in which she was passionate about the things she was feeling - almost as if she was determined to do something about it. As this event occurred, Liesel was filled with anger about her parent’s disappearance. She had recently found out that Hitler had something to do with it, which pushed Liesel to the conclusion that Hitler was not a man to be celebrated. As her hatred for Nazi ideals grew, so did her bravery.
Her enthusiastic attitude can only be calmed down by the sound of Papa’s accordion. Nothing can come in between her and her words, not the darkness of the room, and of course not even the Nazi Germans. Furthermore, in the book A Girl Made of Darkness, it is shown that Liesel is intrigued by the smallest thing in life as she questions her parents about her Christmas present (Zusak, 89). Understand her family situation, Liesel is not expecting for any present for Christmas, however her dad has been able to trade cigarettes for some books . To most of us, when we receive presents we will just accept the present, no questions asked. On the contrary,many questions have been proliferating in Liesel’s mind when Papa gives her the gifts. Not to mention another obvious evidence is when Max first arrived at the Hubermann’s house. As can be seen, Zusak has portrayed Liesel as the book thief because her inquisitive characteristic indicate those who questions the Nazi German
The book 's importance is explained through Death where ‘“The books meaning 1. The last time she saw her brother. 2. The last time she saw her mother.” Despite Liesel being illiterate, the Gravedigger’s handbook holds significant meaning for the character. Liesel has an overwhelming feeling of loss of control and acts out in rebellion to steal the book that lay beside her brothers grave. By stealing the book, she has a reminder of her small family and it stops her feeling defeated by her ever changing life, which she has no control over. This idea is then reinforced with another action of the character. Liesel then finds out that Hitler was the cause of the suffering and loss of freedom of the people she loved and knew in her life.This second act of rebellion takes place while Liesel visits a Nazi book burning. Liesel soon understands that the Nazi’s burnt books to brainwash citizens of Germany(_____). As a result of this Lisel then understands the importance and power words have, causing her to again acts rebelliously in a protest. “And it was anger and dark hatred that had fueled her desire to steal it.” This passage from the novel shows the emotions of Liesel. As a character who is unable to express herself verbally, her actions speak for her. Liesel 's desire to understand words begins to grow, with her understanding that Nazis burn books in fear of what they may do to society.
In The Book Thief, a work of historical fiction, written by Markus Zusak introduces the main character Liesel Meminger, the reader starts to see how she keeps having many conflicts but always stays positive. Liesel has many conflicts, for example her brother dies early in the book and that shapes the way she is. Later on Liesel steals books and that makes her happy because the first book she stole was the grave digger's handbook and that is how she remembers her brother. Liesel steals and reads books this is how she finds happiness with all the bad things going on around her. In the end of the book most of the people she loves die and it is hard for her to find happiness again. The author uses the setting and point of view to express theme and to make the reader feel sympathy; He uses this because with the theme of finding light in the darkness, deaths perception, and the setting of Germany makes the theme clearer.
future of Liesel’s stealing career with books. Liesel owned fourteen books, of the ten most
The developmental stage of a young child’s life is very crucial and can be impacted by the media. In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Liesel Meminger is a young girl living in a very important part of Germany’s history, the Second World War. Liesel’s childhood unfolds and develops against the backdrop of a time when words, books specifically were used for power and control. Liesel is someone who has a love for reading and, as such, books become very important to her, not only for her education but for her rebellion and discovering her true identity. Throughout the novel, books become a crucial symbol used to convey the desires and discovery of identity for the main character as her childish ignorance changes to her mature adulthood.
Liesel’s life was difficult near the beginning of the novel. She was separated from her parents, and lost her brother. After joining her new foster family, she would have to work harder to adjust to it and it will not be easy. When Liesel was out with Rudy on their apple stealing activities, when Rudy was then caught by one of the nazis from injuring his leg. The nazi then disciplined Rudy by beating him up and they cut also his hair with a knife. After Rudy got disciplined, Liesel carries Rudy to the mayor's house. On page 251 Liesel says “I carried Rudy softly through the broken streets… with him I tried a little harder at comforting.” this shows that she was trying hard to comfort him even though she was already trying to carry Rudy. It shows that even when she’s at one hundred percent, she tries to reach one hundred and 10 percent. Near the end of the novel, on page 528, in the book written by Liesel called The Book Thief and on the last