The Book Thief By Marcus Zusak 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.

In Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, suffering can be seen throughout the book.”Individuals can endure great suffering if they have something to live for”. There are various types of sufferings presented in the book like physical and emotional. Max Vandenburg a Jewish man who hides in the Hubermann’s basement and the conditions and distress he had to go through to stay hidden from the Nazis. Also suffering is shown when Max had lost his family was very miserable and cruel.

War cannot exist without hatred, and hatred cannot be soothed by more hate; it can only be masked by love. World War II was a time for darkness and death, injustice and inequality. People were subjected to acts of inhumanity and hatred, simply for being who they were, having thoughts and showcasing their opinions. Markus Zusak introduces characters such as Liesel and the Hubermanns, who live in Nazi Germany, in the midst of destruction and horror. The war deeply affects their way of living, bringing unwanted conflict in their lives. In The Book Thief, love is a prominent theme which works to hide and soothe the hatred brought along by the war; Max Vandenburg, a Jewish person, finds that the love shown to him by the Hubermanns overpower the hatred he faces because of how he was born, and Liesel and the Hubermanns learn that showing love when the war comes to Molching can help create a sense of comfort and safety.

Through all of the irony and vivid coloring, The Book Thief is more easily understood after acquiring knowledge of reading literature with greater care and meticulousness. Applying chapters of How to Read Literature like a Professor can better enhance a reader’s awareness of hidden messages and symbols within certain works of literature. In Chapter Two, Foster explains how meals suggest a communion between all parties involved in it. Markus Zusak also uses meals and food to bring families together in The Book Thief. Foster also explains, in Chapter Eleven, how violence in literature usually stands for more than just violence.

There are many characters of allegorical nature in this novel, though two of the most important are Hans Hubermann, as well as Viktor Chemell. Hans Hubermann as an allegory represents the resistance against the S.S. forces. From the start of the novel, Hans clung to his morals for dear life, never wanting to let them go, even when it caused him to be drafted into the S.S. army. His is the emobdiement of the German resistance, and therefore courage and hope for all, as he did everything he could to suppose those he saw that needed help, even helping a random Jewish man that looked sickly, even close to death, so “Hans Hubermann held his hand out and presented a piece of bread, like magic” (Zusak 394). For this, Hans and the Jewish man were both punished by being whipped, and Max even left their house in order to protect the family from being caught, as Hans was already being called “a Jew love” (Zusak 395), and there was a lot of fear of the army searching their house for evidence against them, so that they could be sent to the camps as well. As for young Viktor Chemmel, he and his friends show resemblance of Hitler and his main group of followers. They knew who was poor, and therefore who did not have access to food, even if he himself was extremely rich and needed nothing else, and even acts like he deserves everything, saying “We must take what is rightfully ours!”

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

Foreshadowing is a major technique Zusak uses in The Book Thief to portray the power of words. Within the first pages of the novel, the narrator gives the audience a glimpse into the novel’s content. This not only adds intrigue and encourages the audience to continue reading; it also foreshadows central themes – ‘some words’, ‘quite a lot of thievery’, and central characters, ‘an accordionist’, ‘a Jewish fist fighter’. The meaning and importance of these small phrases are not revealed until much later in the novel. ‘A Jewish fist fighter’ refers to Max Vandenburg, and foreshadows his appearance. His presence highlights the brutality of Nazi Germany, the immediacy of war, and the kindness and compassion of humans. Max is also an instrumental

According to Napoleon Bonaparte, courage isn’t having the strength to go on … it’s going on when you don’t have strength. Liesel, Max and Hans are the main characters in “The Book Thief” that have acts of courage entirely change their lives. This novel takes place during WWII in Germany. Countless Jews are desperately looking for the courage to endure the harsh rule of the Nazis. On the other hand there are some Germans who use their courage to stand against the Nazis in their own exceptional ways. The characters in “The Book Thief’ show acts of courage and this greatly affects the course of their life and relationships with other characters.

Connection: It is clear that Max resists and defies the Nazi regime and its goal by hiding from them and escaping death. In the novel, Max escapes with Walter Kugler to a hidden storeroom, despite this being very dangerous. Max, “The Jewish First Fighter,” does anything within his power to escape the Nazis, even if this means leaving behind his family. Max does not succumb to the Nazi ideology that Jews are inferior to Germans, and fights to survive in hiding. Although, the Jews and Max are surrounded by a hostile and terrorized population, Max is one of the very few to find a place to run to and hide. In essence, Max resists and defies the Nazi regime by not letting them kill him. Max’s survival is seen as a resistance to Hitler and injustice.

As a Jewish man living in Germany during the late 1930s and early 1940s, Max Vandenburg was persecuted by the Nazi regime for his religion. Since the Nazis were higher on the Great Chain of Being than Max, he had no control over the Nazis dehumanizing him and other Jews, as well as any other atrocities the Jews faced during the Holocaust. When viewing the novel through the Marxist Literary lense the reader can see that there is a separation of social classes which represent levels of power. For example, Max is experiencing a power struggle because of his default social class. By noticing the power struggle in the beginning of The Book Thief, it shows how Max has limited power within society, so he has less say. Now readers realize how Max was confined in society which reveals the theme of entrapment. For the Jews, there was no escaping authority in Nazi Germany. Max could not leave the country, let alone walk down the streets of Molching, where he was hiding in a basement. Max suffered from a power struggle until him and all the Jews were liberated. Like Death said, not everything goes your way in Nazi Germany, therefore displaying the theme of entrapment in The Book

Guilt plays a very big role in “The Book Thief”. It is one of the ways in which characters suffer. Guilt is a feeling of having done wrong or failed in an obligation. The feeling of guilt is inescapable and it constantly makes you “look behind your back”. Analyzing my observations, I concluded that there were two major characters that experience guilt: Hans Hubermann and Max Vandenburg. “Imagine smiling after a slap in the face. Then, think of doing it twenty-four hours a day.” (Zusak 211). This was a description of the feeling of guilt that Hans Hubermann was experiencing. He felt guilty because hiding a Jew. In Nazi Germany, this was very wrong. In fact, it was considered a crime. This feeling of guilt was eating him. Max Vandenburg was also being

In life, there is that one person who is ambitious enough to save someone’s life. There is only one character that plays that role in the book, The Book Thief. Hans Hubermann, a veteran who served in World War 1 and saved his country. The different examples Hans shows was when he hides Max, a Jewish man who does not want to go to the concentration camps. As a character, he reflects that anyone can help someone in this world.

“Here is a small fact: You are going to die”(Zusak 3). The Book Thief, a historical fiction book by Markus Zusak, is narrated by Death. The novel takes place during the 1930’s and 40’s in Nazi Germany and follows 9 year old Liesel Meminger, who death refers to as “The Book Thief.” After her father, mother, and then brother are killed, Liesel becomes an orphan and is taken in by Hans and Rosa Hubermann in Molching. Throughout the book, she meets many people including the Mayor’s wife, Isla Hermann, and Max Vandenburg, a Jew who is hiding from the Nazi’s in the Hubermann’s basement. Although Liesel’s life is filled with death and loss, she ends up surviving an air raid on her street and after the war, she is reunited with Max who survived

In the book, The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, the author writes about a young girl, Liesel Meminger, who was adopted by a German family because her brother died and her mother couldn't take care of her anymore. Liesel Meminger went to live with the Hubermann family on Himmel Street where she learned to read from her adoptive father, she stole books from the mayor's house, and she became good friends with Rudy Steiner and a Jew, Max Vandenburg. This book fits into the Holocaust Unit because the story takes place during World War II and the Holocaust. In the book, Hans Hubermann was summoned to fight in the war and the Hubermanns also decided to hide a Jew in their basement which was extremely risky. The Hubermanns didn't agree with everything

Max’s identity as a jew often causes him to take the blame for many of societies problems, as well as issues that appear in The Book Thief. German society at the time generally blamed lots of their problems on Jews, which lowered their ranks in German society and made it harder for them to live. An example of this in the