The Book Thief By Markus Zusak

The book “The Book Thief” is a story narrated by death. It is about a girl named Liesel who is nine years old and German. She was given up to Rosa and Hans Hubermann who live in Molching, Germany. The story is taken place in 1939 right after World War II. While Liesel was on the train to Molching she lost her younger brother, this event was very traumatizing for Liesel and scarred her emotionally. In Molching she meets Rudy who falls in love with her. Rosa and Hans house a Jew named Max, but then he

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,

For example, after the book burning, there were some books that were too wet to burn, and Liesel took advantage of this moment, “When she reached her hand, she was bitten, but on the second attempt, she made sure she was fast enough. She latched onto the closest of the books. It was hot” (Zusak 120). Jewish book burnings were popular across Germany during this time, as they were trying to destroy the power of the Jewish community. During the novel, Liesel is empowered by the words she reads in these books, and even shares this power with Max Vandenburg, the Jewish man living in her basement. The courage Liesel shares with Max allows him to build the hope he needs to want to fight Hitler. During his dreams, he imagines himself in a boxing ring with Hilter, and even though Hilter had the upper hand during the match, Max had hope that he would win, and therefore in his dream “he punched him [Hitler] seven times, aiming on each occasion for only one thing. The mustache” (Zusak 253). As previously mentioned, the accordian was also a very important form of symbolism in this novel. Not only does give the family hope during their

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 (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.

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.

Mama and papa and Rudy were all flat character, not undergoing any noticeable type of development. Liesel, being the protagonist, was fully developed and the readers could witness her growth from her lonely, scared nature to being fully loved by her new foster parents and her best friend. Readers also see a shift from her hating words to her having an underlying love for them. At the beginning, she hated words because Hitler was a great user of them and used them to get into power. At the story went on though, she learned to read and write and learned to love them. Words ended up, ultimately, saving her life. The author wants to demonstrate the power of words. By having everyone but Liesel die, the author illustrates the theme that words are so important they can be life saving in many

In the beginning of the book, the first huge tragedy takes place when Liesel’s brother dies and Liesel reacts in the following manner, “Perhaps ten meters to my left, the pale, empty-stomached girl was standing, frost-stricken. Her mouth jittered. Her cold arms were folded. Tears were frozen to the book thief’s face” (Zusak, 8). In this scene where Liesel loses her brother, she’s devastated and it’s one of those scenes where you just kind of get really sad reading it.

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.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is a moving, award-winning story that follows the life of a German girl, named Liesel, during World War 2.

In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, there are two different symbolic actions. The characteristic are how the germans loved to burn down things and how Liesel can hate the Germans for burning down things. The action to this, is how the germans loved to burn things down. On page 84 it mentioned “The Germans loved to burn things. Shops, synagogues, reichstags, houses, personal items, slain people, and of course, books.”

The Point of View this book is written from the third person the narrator is death, he explains in great depth the character’s thoughts, conflicts and emotions. In the matter that Death talks a lot about Liesel and her family what she is thinking, her mothers or step mother’s actions as well. Death or the Narrator is Omniscient, he knows everything that’s going to happen in the book for instance the book burning, the Hitler March or the day that Papa teaches Liesel how to read. He also knows the events and history that would take place at that time like Hitler’s birthday, the wars, Hitler had brought on, Liesel's family life her dead brother and enslaved mother. This narrator objective is effective because it allows us the readers to foreshadow the events next in the book .

Liesel shows this kind of public bravery when she steals her second book at the Nazi book burning. She spots it among the ashes of the burning pile of books. Her overwhelming love and need for books gives her the courage to defiantly snatch the book in front the whole community as well as Nazi soldiers. “Smoke lifted from the cover as she juggled it and hurried away. Her head was pulled down, and the sick beauty of nerves proved ghastly with each stride” (120). It was a huge risk for her to take the book right out in the open where anyone could have seen her. Nazi soldiers were standing near by when she grabbed it and hid it in her shirt. In addition, even when the book was hot and burning her skin, she still did not give up the chance for another beloved book. “They began to leave the scene of the crime, and the book was well and truly burning her now. The Shoulder Shrug had applied itself to her rib cage” (122). Liesel risked the chance of being beaten or even killed by taking the very book that the Nazi’s were burning. This shows that she would risk anything for her love of books and

The Book Thief has helped me overcome fear, as well as teaching me about the holocaust. It showed me how powerful Liesel and her words can go, and teaching me I can overcome anything as long as I persist through the problem. You even put death as the narrator, which shows how horrible this war was, and the amazing story of Liesel.