The Book Thief Analysis Essay

Death states that, “I’m always finding humans at their best and worst. I see their ugly and their beauty, and I wonder how the same thing can be both” (Zusak 491). This book shows us human doing things that weren’t even imaginable before this point. Many people give into ideas that were lies. But, we also watch a few people go out of their way and sacrifice everything for a man they barely even know. They do everything they can to keep him safe and alive. They work harder, the get another job, and they even steal. In Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, death examines the ugliness and the beauty of humans.

The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, takes place in 1940s Nazi Germany in the small town of Molching. The main character, Liesel Meminger, takes on a role as the foster child of Hans and Rosa Hubermann. She also meets a young boy named Rudy Steiner, who goes on to be her best friend and lover. In the book, Liesel faces many challenges big and small. From hiding a Jew in the basement to a thieving lifestyle, Liesel has to learn to overcome all of life's problems. Through all of this, she is supported by her foster father Hans Hubermann who is caring to people he barely knows, intelligence despite his lack of education, and generosity even when he has little for himself.

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.

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.

Historically, people have used literacy to obtain political power. In the novel The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, it is evident that books, reading, and words themselves represent power for different characters in different ways. Close analysis of Liesel Meminger and Max Vandenburg reveals that power can be achieved through literacy in a context where literacy is severely limited.

Crises are inevitable. However, dealing with a crisis is not always arduous due to their prevalence. However, books seem to be a popular choice, why? What makes them special and useful in times of crises? Some of the most well-known books involve a description of crisis or a character going through the crisis.

The first big idea I found relevant was that literature has loads of concepts and connections that not every reader may notice. Foster wrote that once he realized that there were mushrooms in a forest that he couldn’t initially notice, his looking became “more focused and less vague” (Foster end of chapter 5). The same goes for both his and my reading. In my future readings, I plan to apply this concept by stopping at distinct parts and taking time ask myself “what does the author mean by that?” or “what is the author alluding to?”

Markus Zusak’s novel, The Book Thief, tells the heart-wrenching story of Liesel Meminger, a German girl, as she navigates adolescence in Nazi Germany. With his convincing depiction of the time, it could be said that Zusak worked within the conventions of realistic fiction were it not for his otherworldly narrator—Death. Death traditionally marks the end of a story, so Zusak’s decision to begin his novel with Death’s voice piqued my interest. This interest was intensified by Death’s unique characterization—he is personified, yet retains his inhuman features. This incongruity in conjunction with the aberrant choice in narrator raised the question:

explores her love of books and her thrive to steal she is acquainted with a Jew, who comes to

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak shows through the midst of brutality, beauty can still be shown. The main characters Liesel Meminger, Rudy Steiner and Hans Huberman, prove this statement they are all faced with perilous situations, but still manage to show beauty throughout the situations. Liesel Meminger display beauty during the air raids, as she manages to read to people in the basement. Rudy Steiner displays beauty he jumps in the river to get Liesel’s book. Through Hans Huberman nobel character he displays beauty as he risks his life to hide a Jewish man in his basement.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak takes place during World War II. The narrator of the book doesn’t give a name, though he gives clues about who he is and he turns out to be death. The narrator is death. His job was to carry souls of humans away when their time has come. When he first encountered the book thief, it had been when her brother had died. It was winter, January 1939. Liesel Meminger, her mother and her brother, Werner, were on a train leaving Munich, Germany to Molching to move in with her foster parents, Rosa, and Hans Huberman. Of course as you know, her brother had not made it. As they held a small funeral in a near town, the guy who dug up the grave had dropped a handbook in the snow. The Grave Digger’s Handbook the title read.

I think that the place where they died and how they died is very important because it repeats items that represent time. I found this important because the author likes to repeat time and at first I didn’t realize how significant this was to the story. This shows that symbolizes in your book might mean more than just a object or a name. It can means that the book is about a certain thing or it can show you the theme.

History and especially World War Two is a testament to the duality of human nature. Jeffery Kluger in an article for Time Magazine reflects on this aspect of human nature. “The madness {lies} in the fact that the savage and the splendid can exist in one creature, one person and often in one instant.” I enjoyed reading about Liesel Meminger in the novel The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Liesel is nine years old and lives in Nazi Germany. In the early chapters of the book we learn that her younger brother has dies, her father is missing ad her communist

“Good artists copy, great artists steal” (pablo picasso). Liesel Meminger is the main character in “the Book Thief” and she stole books because you were not allowed to read books during that time and if you were caught, the books would be burned and you would get in trouble. In WW2, it was recorded that 100,000 pieces of art and books were stolen from German museums, Jewish museums, and Jewish libraries. Theft was a problem during WW2, because Nazis stole what cultural value that Jews had left.

This year there is a big decision to be made in which teachers or students should choose the books for the upcoming year. Although this decision has many opinions on both sides of the argument I only support one. This decision in which the teachers will select the books would be inimitable for several reasons. One reason is that if the teacher selected the books then this would better help the class in lessons and challenge us. In addition, this would also increase test scores and reading ability for all the students in the class. Teachers would also help students to discover advanced genres of books and learn new and innovative vocabulary words.