The Book Thief Death Analysis

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.

Four Chinese mothers have migrated to America. Each hope for their daughter’s success and pray that they will not experience the hardships faced in China. One mother, Suyuan, imparts her knowledge on her daughter through stories. The American culture influences her daughter, Jing Mei, to such a degree that it is hard for Jing Mei to understand her mother's culture and life lessons. Yet it is not until Jing Mei realizes that the key to understanding who her

Traditions, heritage and culture are three of the most important aspects of Chinese culture. Passed down from mother to daughter, these traditions are expected to carry on for years to come. In Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club, daughters Waverly, Lena, Rose and June thoughts about their culture are congested by Americanization while on their quests towards self-actualization. Each daughter struggles to find balance between Chinese heritage and American values through marriage and professional careers.

Death’s detailing and descriptions of his soul gathering in the war and his human-like emotions further to the conclusion that is Death being or resembling humans. By Death saying “Far away, fires were burning…I had just picked up 200 murdered souls” (Zusak, 478), he discusses and implies his soul gathering and subtle emotions about what it is like to be Death. In Death saying “murdered souls”, Death shows the emotion of compassion towards the Jews being slaughtered in WWII. Death uses his experience as a gateway to express his inner feelings toward the situation with Liesel Meminger. By Death saying “I was on my way to Molching for more [souls]” (Zusak, 478), it effectively shows the connection in which is the third time Liesel and Death are united. This further depicting that Death uses his personal experiences of and with Liesel Meminger and War to express his true colors. In a final attempt to completely share his ideas,

In The Joy Luck Club, the chapter "Waiting Between the Trees" illustrates major concerns facing Chinese-American women. Chinese culture is a male dominated culture that leaves women little freedom. Their only job is to make their male spouses content. Living with their traditional culture in American society, Chinese-American

Part One: Compare and contrast this persona of Death with the familiar personification of the Grim Reaper. How is Death from The Book Thief like the Grim Reaper, and how is he significantly different?

What is the first thing you think about when you hear the word death? In most cases, people fear death but as the narrator in Markus Zusak’s novel, The Book Thief, Death is a compassionate and honorable character.

Narration is important in almost any book,  which is why it is especially important in   Mark Zusak’s: The Book Thief.  He uses foreshadowing, perspective, and interaction with the  reader to make the book so much more interesting. Zusak's selection of Death as the narrator heavily changes and alters the way the book is read. Death allows the reader to have a completely new and different perspective of Death itself, he heavily foreshadows very important events in the book, and he interacts with the reader many times throughout the book. By presenting death as the narrator, Zusak provides a more outside and impartial view of humanity’s pain and suffering (Johnson).

In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Death, the narrator is trying to understand humans. To accomplish this, he follows the life of a little girl named Liesel Meminger. Throughout the book, he learns from her and others that humans can be both beautiful and ugly. He sees both the goodness of Liesel and others, and he sees the evils brought about by Hitler and the Nazi party. Throughout the book, Death’s understanding of humans and their ways is heightened by his study of Liesel and of other people.

The theme of Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief is an ironic one. During the time of World War II, where everyone is trying to live on this novel’s main character is death himself. Death loves metaphors so much, it appears that he even thinks in them. His words have both positive and negative meanings. One of the first metaphors is found at the very beginning of the novel. He explains about what bothers him about his job. He says, “I witness the ones who are left behind, crumbling among the jigsaw puzzle of realization, despair, and surprise.” (5). Death explains that the hardest part of his job is not taking the souls who have already deceased but watching the one who barely made it. Watching the ones who are left behind in the mess, the “jigsaw puzzle”. They must cope with the loss of their loved ones. The Holocaust was a grueling time, where no one knew what to expect, almost like a puzzle.

The acts of human nature can become a very difficult concept to understand. Markus Zusak uses Death throughout the The Book Thief to express the complexity of human nature. Death illustrates how complicated beings humans are and how they hold the capacity to act in both evil and beautiful ways. Throughout the novel Death helps give readers insight to the ignorance displayed and the pain it may cause a person. In the most troublesome and discriminatory times of the Holocaust, Death will point out the beautiful acts of compassion carried out by characters involved in the novel. Sometimes beauty and pain is mixed within the sacrifice some make for those they love and are loyal to.

Markus Zusak in his novel, 'The Book Thief', explores ideas about human beauty and human brutality using the narrative voice of Death. Beauty expressed through the power of words and acts of kindness. Brutality is illustrated through the concept of Nazi leadership as well as the destruction of society. Death narrates the novel and is perplexed by humanity's attitude to beauty and brutality.

If you believe in yourself and have dedication, pride, and never quit, you will be successful. Markus Zusak, the author of The Book Thief, creates a story of a young orphan named Liesel Meminger, who is living with her new foster family. She learns the wonders of reading from her foster father and grows to love books. During Liesel’s time with her new family, she shows determination through her efforts and kindness with her encounters with other people. Liesel in The Book Thief expresses her traits, such as hardworking, and bravery.

Although the movie does a good job at outlining the novel, it does not capture all the details and emotions each character illustrates in the novel. A key component that was described in the novel but was not included in the film was the importance of the red candle that was burned during Lindo and Tyan-yu’s wedding. In Chinese cultures, red candles and the color red in general symbolize a lifetime of luck, happiness and joy. Often times, the color red may also represent fertility and help to eliminate bad spirits. It is important for readers and viewers to understand the importance of the red candle in the Joy Luck Club because it plays an important role in many Chinese women’s lives.

The book The Joy Luck Club was a novel of intertwined stories of four women and their daughters. Reading each story was like finding a puzzle piece that lead to fully understand the characters. One of the important stories used in the book was The Red Candle. The Red Candle is a the symbol of marriage in China and the marriage was considered complete if the candle remained burning through their marriage night. Lindo Jong purposely blew out the candle and decided that she