Summary Of The Book Thief By Markus Zusak

Death is a very well-known figure that is feared by many in all countries. He is suspected of being cruel, disturbing and all synonyms of horrifying. Death is inevitable and that is the most fearing aspect of his persona. In Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, Death is made to seem or resemble humans. Effectively using the narration role, Death introduces a unique description and definition of colors in which he uses as a tool to effectively engage the readers to the events occurring throughout the book. He also demonstrates him personal and different experiences as well, mostly about soul gathering and the implications of WWII that have affected him. On the contrary to Death’s dead, appalling and scary nature that many interpret him to be

The Book Thief (2013), directed by Brian Percival, is about a young old girl living in Nazi Germany (between 1939 and 1943) in the fictional town of Molching, Germany. Death narrates the story of the main protagonist, Liesel Meminger, beginning when she is nine years old and suffering from the death of her brother and separation from her mother. Liesel then goes to live with Hans and Rosa Hubermann (played by Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson). When Liesel arrives, she is illiterate and is made fun of in school by the other children. Hans, a painter and accordion player, teaches her how to read, using the book Liesel took from her brother's burial: The Grave Digger's Handbook. Over the course of the movie, Liesel develops a love for reading and decides to steal books because of the economical hardships associated with World War II. Liesel's foster parents also decide to help a young Jewish man named Max, whose father fought with Hans as in World War One as German soldiers. The Book Thief illustrates a different perspective in regards to the Nazi Regimen and its effects on the German people, specifically children.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is a story set in Germany during World War 2. This novel follows the life of Liesel Meminger, a girl who develops greatly. With Death as the all knowing narrator of the story, the reader has the ability to see various perspectives. It tells the story of oppression, portrays the power of words, and shows the human ability for kindness or cruelty. I chose to do option four, in which I have chosen important sections from the novel.

Markus Zusak’s Book Thief chronicles the life of Liesel Meminger and those who crossed her path. Through his use of Death as a narrator, a profound underlying message of the wondrous complexity of the human world is presented, balancing the ever-present forces of evil and good.

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.

There is always some kind of conflict that is happening to humankind, as is depicted in The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak. Liesel and Ilsa are both haunted by the death of their loved ones, but throughout the novel, both Liesel and Ilsa work to get over their losses and become empowered. The mentor/pupil archetype and symbolism cooperate to reveal how Ilsa and Liesel help one another confront their pasts and move on to a more positive future in spite of the tremendous losses they have experienced. Their library sessions and shared love of words empower each of them; they both conquer fears and overcome griefs during one of the darkest time in history, WWII in Nazi Germany.

The Book Thief’s main character is Liesel Meminger throughout the book she develops more and more by opening up and doing new things. At first she was very shy and would not do hardly anything for example, “It took nearly fifteen minutes to coax her from the car. It was the tall man who did it. Quietly.”(28) That is when she first got out of the car “There was the gate next, which she clung to.”(28) This shows all the more how shy she was at the beginning of the book when she first arrived on Himmel Street. Then as the book goes on she starts to adopt her foster-mother, Rosa or Mama’s style of speaking and starts cussing some when talking to her best friend, Rudy and even the mayors wife when she terminated her mothers washing and ironing

In the Novel the Book Thief by Markus Zusak and Breaking Prejudice from National Radio, we see there to be a change in perspective due to insightful personal discoveries. We see this occur for the better and the worse, on a smaller scale in the case of the Book Thief and on a larger scale in Breaking Prejudice, which serves to demonstrate to the reader the many levels on which insight can affect perspective. In the Book Thief, Liesel’s initial perspective of both her foster mother Rosa, and Hitler, change as a result of a moment of realisation caused by their actions. Similarly, we see a change of perspective in Breaking prejudice that sprung from an insightful discovery, however one that is more dramatic. Zelda Le Garange, a wealthy, white girl who grew up in the richer part of South Africa, had a conditioned perspective on black people, completely transformed through meeting the loving Nelson Mandela.

Death describes himself a little; he doesn't carry a scythe, or wear a black robe unless its cold, and he looks like any person. 1942 is a very busy year for him, and he needs a vacation. There are so many humans to collect and colors to see. War is not Death's best friend, as the saying goes, but more like a demanding boss. When he remembers that year he likes to think of a little beauty as well, though, so he returns to the book thief's story.

“I wanted to tell the book thief many things, about beauty and brutality. But what could I tell her about those things that she didn 't already know? I wanted to explain that I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race-that rarely do I ever simply estimate it. I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words and stories so damning and brilliant.” (Zusak 550) Markus Zusak wrote “The Book Thief” which is a historical fiction novel about a young girl named Liesel Meminger growing up in Germany during World War II. Zusak has German-Austrian parents who were children during World War II. His perspective helps us to be more empathetic towards Germans in the book because he explains to us: German children didn’t understand what Hitler was doing, not all Germans hated Jews, and Germans cared about each other deeply and helped each other out.

Throughout history, humanity has had to endure many hardships. To help cope with these misfortune human nature can be observed in the many ways it has evolved in people to help them to withstand the perils that make up a war. In Markus Zusak’s novel The Book Thief, published in 2005, Liesel Meminger must survive the struggles she faces as a result of her life being in the middle of the grips of Nazi Germany. Faced with events like the loss of all her closest loved ones, the Holocaust, discrimination because of her ability to read, and her religion, Liesel’s instincts is forced to develop ways for her to survive. With some help from her new father and the power of word Liesel’s human disposition helps her live through the war. With her

Markus Zusak, the author of The Book Thief, was able to entice his readers by successfully framing the book thief 's story and giving us a better understanding of the book through the use of many color metaphors by the narrator. The prologue is my most beloved part not only because the color metaphors give captivating descriptions of every scene at the beginning of the story. Additionally, in the prologue—the author introduced us to such an “unlikely” narrator, and to the protagonist. Death, who associates the demise of others with the changing “colors of the sky,” and what those colors mean to the story; and the book thief—as a survivor.

My author was Gary Paulsen. Gary Paulsen was very interesting. He wasn’t a very bright student, he graduated with a D-average. I learned that Gary based all books about outside because he loved the outdoors. When Gary discovered writing he published his first book in 1966. Gary wrote over 175 books and over 200 articles. I wondered if writing changed Gary’s life for ever. Gary responded, “Writing has changed my life forever.”

Words can influence the mind in many ways that thought may not be able to. They are carefully placed and shared in different ways by each and every individual. Words have powerful impacts and can majorly impact how one may think, feel, or even lead others to feel. Written by Markus Zusak, “The Book Thief” describes a story of an innocent foster girl, Liesel Meminger, who resides in Munich, Germany at one of the most troubling time periods in history, Nazi Germany. A tale narrated by the one and only Death himself, shows the perspective from his point of view, as well as others, describing how Liesel had been seized away from her birth mother at a young age, and put into a foster family. Her new family, the Hubermanns. As she matures and grows into a more critical thinker, understanding and analyzing everything that carefully happens around her. Her foster-father, Hans guides her and teaches her how to read, which little does she know sparks her journey, the art of stealing books. Liesel soon discovers that words aren 't simply lines on a page, they are strong emotions packed into a form that merely is held in her delicate hands. Not only did she hold the pages of emotion, she held a power, a dangerous weapon of words, a weapon of control, and every book that she had stolen was giving her unimaginable power that made her think in ways that she would’ve never thought she could have. As with Nazi propaganda, and a gift that enabled her to broaden her worldview. Liesel evolves

“When a Jew shows up at your place of residence in the early hours of the morning, in the very birthplace of Nazismn, you’re likely to experience extreme levels of Discomfort, Anxiety, Disbelief and Paranoia.”, The propaganda of Hitler was the most important aspect in the The Book Thief because it often set the mood that I was feeling and that feeling was sick and cringing while reading the Novel. Before the war, The Nazi’s passed laws to effectively get rid of the Jews Human Rights and basically stripping and restricting them from being “human”. Max, The “Jewish Fist Fighter”, was a victim of the Propaganda and his presence served and reminded me the vast superiority that the German’s had against the Jews during the Holocaust.This made me think so negatively on the Propaganda that was set against the Jews and completely disagreeing with the way Hitler was seeing things because of the fact that for Max to be, “lucky”, lucky meant that his home was the Hubermann’s freezing basement