Symbolism In The Book Thief

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 Australian novelist Markus Zusak, follows a young girl living in Nazi Germany, and employs innovative techniques to convey the central idea of the extremes of human behavior. This central idea was explored through stylistic techniques and conventions such as Death as the narrator, juxtaposition, irony, lack of chronological order, narrative voices, and themes, namely the power of words.

There are many reasons why Liesel’s life shows beauty in the wake of brutality, but the most significant reason is that she has beautiful connections with people, so no matter how brutal things get,

"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…" (Zusak 536). Liesel learns to overcome the irresistible longing to stay

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 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, outlines the tragedies and events that take place in Liesel Meminger’s life, in Nazi Germany. Throughout this young girl’s struggle of living in the oppressive Nazi regime, she is able to learn crucial lessons about life and the art of survival- some that follow her to the grave. The most important lesson she learned and the pivotal theme of the novel is that rebellion can be and beneficial in certain situations.

Literature encapsulates the human experience, reflecting facets of our culture, traditions, and beliefs. Literature functions as a tool to develop and explore empathetic links with other individuals and can provide insight into experiences removed from our own reality. Peter Fischl’s poem ‘Little Polish Boy’ is one such text in which we can attain a unique understanding of the horrors catalysed by war. An expression of Fischl’s own Holocaust experience, this poem is set in WWII, and addressed as a letter to an innocent child of the war from a photograph Fischl found years after the war ended. We can also learn of the loss and grief children face in times of war through the picture book ‘a Soldier, a Dog and a Boy’ by Libby Hathorn. The story follows a young boy orphaned by the Battle of Somme and he’s only left to survive with his dog before an Australian soldier comes to his rescue. These texts allow us to reach a better understanding of the different effects conflict has on children.

After six years of living in a refugee camp, Salva had learned that they are closing the camps, “they are going to close the camp, Everyone will have to leave” (73). Salva had then began his walk once again. As Salva was walking he was joined by thousands of men, “crowds of other boys followed him”(80). Salva had then stepped up and been the leader. Salva had decided the decisions for the group. Throughout the journey many had lived, but also many had died. Once they had reached a new camp, they had found that it is no better than the one before. There were more

In the novel The book Thief, Markus Zusak explores that death and war are often more difficult for those who survive. At the center of the text is the idea that those who are left behind after tragedy suffer greatly. This is revealed through the hardship of life and experience a gentle transition. This was shown as an experience of Liesel who struggles as well as the other characters that have difficult processing their grief and guilt. Zusak’s novel acts to alert his readers the dangers of war and by the hardship of life and experience a gentle transition.

After reading and scrutinizing The Book Thief, one can see that bread, the accordion, and books, the three main symbols used in the novel, are indispensable to the merriment of the book. To add information, these three symbols all represent different things, actions, and people, but can all be compared and contrasted. Three different ways that these emblems can be compared and contrasted is by looking at what they represent, why they represent it, and the reasoning behind why the author used that specific symbol.

Simon Wiesenthal was a faced with a hard decision. The Sunflower is a true story of Simon as a Jewish prisoner and his journey through one of history’s most difficult and trying events, the Holocaust. As if life wasn’t already difficult enough for him, especially because he was a jew, he came across a wounded german soldier. The german soldier began confessing his guilt and asking for Simon to hear him out since he was a jew himself. The realm of human forgiveness is incomprehensible. Throughout our difficult and trying lives, we are faced with a number of situations whose full understanding goes beyond our conscious thoughts. Some people in special situations are asked to dig deeper into their hearts, souls, and minds to find solutions or answers to these situations. The act of digging deeper to find solutions begins to define what makes us human.

Salva was a “lost boy” in a big world that had many problems, but he overcomes them by helping others as a leader (91). Salva’s uncle was the leader of the group he was staying in and he shared all the food he got to the group, “but it seemed they had all forgotten that, for now Salva now had to beg for scraps, which were given grudgingly”(67). Salva was alone now because his uncle was killed in the war, so after he died, the group did not treat him with the same respect that Salva had to his uncle. Much later, after Salva became alone again and was left to fend for himself, “Salva had become the leader of a group of about fifteen hundred boys”(80). After Salva got older the group looked to him to lead them to the new refugee camps because the camps in Sudan were closing. As Salva became the leader of the boys he didn’t just walk with them, he helped them personally “Salva would talk to them, encourage them, coax and persuade them”(81). Salva was a true leader because he actually helped the group like his uncle by talking to them, sharing with them, and showing them the way to get what they need, he also showed them how to adapt to situations.

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.

The Book Thief written by Markus Zusak is a story about Liesel Meminger who has gone to live with the Huberman's in the small town of Molching shortly before World War 2. The family ends up hiding a Jewish man in their basement which leads to a number of different concerns. As a result of the unique features of this book, many students at some point in the High School years will be required to read this book. The Book Thief should be taught in schools because of its unique perspective, the historical information and the lessons taught in the book. The Book Thief teaches an abundance of different life lessons throughout the story.