The Book Thief Literary Analysis

Relationship to meaning: Deaths point of view is important because he tells you all of his experiences he has come across people dying. The bad part about death narrating the story, is that you cannot feel the characters emotions and feelings.

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.

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.

“I [Death] am haunted by humans” (Zusak 550). This example of imagery, a literary device, in The Book Thief juxtaposed how Death was haunted by the cruelty of human action, just as how humans were haunted by Death. Literary devices were implemented by authors to create gripping stories that they wanted to share with their readers. Novelist Aldous Huxley once said that “the essay is a literary device for saying almost everything about everything”. While casual readers may not realize the intricacies of literary devices in writing, they could definitely remember how the stories went. Through literary devices, stories can metamorphose into something greater and memorable. In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, “To An Athlete Dying Young” by A.E.

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.

Liesel Meminger is the daughter of Paula Meminger. She is also the sister of late Warren Meminger. Consequently, she steals the first book in the novel, called The Gravedigger's Handbook. Therefore, Death gave her the nickname of “ the book thief” before us knowing that she would become “the book thief”. Liesel Meminger is the hardworking, book-thieving, kind-hearted protagonist of The Book Thief. She loves books so much that she steals them, even before knowing how to read. All of this started because stealing books reminds her of Warren Meminger. This is even she bonds more with Hans Hubermann, her foster father, dedicates his time to teach her how to read. We might be asking, why hasn’t she gotten an education at the age of 10. The answer is not as clear as others, but it definitely has to do with Liesel father’s communist affiliations. He was part of the German Communist Party, that was popular when Hitler took over. This is also the reason why she had to be fostered.

“The thing women have yet to learn is nobody gives you power. You just take it,” said comedian Roseanne Barr. A leader can overpower people; she can take control of what one can or cannot do, but only oneself can control how she treats others. In The Book Thief, Hitler is overpowering the Jews; Liesel, who is living with a foster family, and her family shelters Max, a Jewish man, during the Holocaust. Marcus Zusak’s characters, Liesel, Rosa, and Hans, explain their struggle of staying true to their core beliefs during Hitler’s reign in Nazi, Germany, showing the importance of making the correct decisions even when faced with a difficult situation.

2. It is ironic that Liesel steals books because the first time she steals the book she is not even able to read yet. The first time she stole a book was at her brothers funeral to keep as a memory of him and also her mother. Liesel was upset and "she started to dig" for The Gravediggers Handbook (Zusak 23).This seemed ironic also, because she dug for a book in the snow at her brothers burial. Hitler used words as a powerful tool to change the way a whole country viewed Jews. Words turn into something to use as hate from the Nazis and Hitler toward the Jews. Germans are scared of words that show how Jews really are .They have bonfires and they throw the books in the bonfire and burn them, along with the truth about Jews. Even though Germans in general have a hatred towards books, Liesel is saved by words. Max, who is a Jew is also saved by words. Max

Markus Zusak’s historical fiction novel, The Book Thief, tells the story of the Hubermanns living in Germany during World War II. The novel focuses on a young, adopted girl, Liesel, as she grows up and must survive in difficult times. Liesel keeps her morale high during the hard times she faces through her love and friendships with Max, a Jew that the Hubermanns secretly hide in their basement, and Hans, her stepdad.

The novel opens with an introduction by the novel’s narrator, Death. He explains the current state of the world, and soon we follow him to the scene of a death. On a train to Munich, we see Liesel, a little German girl, riding with her mother and brother. Liesel’s brother Werner soon dies on the ride. At the next train stop, Werner is offloaded to be buried in the village cemetery. Death, and the reader, watch the burial, and see Liesel steal her first book- The Gravedigger’s handbook. Werner’s death and burial is the first act of inhumanity in the novel.

Death plays a significant role in this book. Death introduces itself has the narrator of this book. Death meets Liesel for the first time on the train when he pick up her brother’s  soul, after the fighter pilot crashes his plane, and then again at the bombing of Himmel Street. Death has three main colors that it associates Liesel with. The colors are white, which is a rectangle, red, which is a circle, and black, which is a swastika. These colors represent the Nazi flag which was created by Adolf Hitler. Death is also infatuated with Liesel and he never forgets about

In cinematic performances, Death often exemplifies the characteristics of a malevolent character. However, contrary to this popular concept, in The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak , the character of death has a very humane personality, with his ability to feel pain, sympathy, and humor causing him to defy most stereotypes set by other portrayals. In the novel, he narrates the life of an adopted girl named Liesel, a German citizen who lost her parents and brother at an early age. Within this narration, Death reveals his compassion for humanity.

In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak the theme is Always be nice even in the darkest of times. In The Book Thief "Liesel would sit in her cold bed waiting with excitement even when her toes were cold and felt frozen." -Death. Death was explaining how when she was upset or depressed that someone was there to cheer her up, so even in the darkest of times there are still people who make it nicer and more joyful. Markus Zusa, death, the narrator of the book says, "In mid-February, when she turned ten, Liesel was given a used doll that had a missing leg and yellow hair.

However, Death also gives the reader a new approach to the novel using his omniscient knowledge. He makes minor characters become important even if they are not mentioned much in the novel. Death talks about how Ilsa lost her son in the war and understands her feelings and that might have impacted her into giving books to Liesel and that was a huge incident in the novel. Death turns something that is minor into something very important in the novel. “It’s about time you faced the fact your son is dead.” said Liesel (262).

The narrator, of the story is Death. During this passage in the novel, the narrator is observing a situation. The narrator says this passage during the bonfire of banned books in Germany, during Hitler’s reign.