The Book Thief Plot Structure

The book becomes a foreshadowing of the future. As the story progresses we see that her town experiences their first air raid. They have to leave behind Max. As the air raid progresses Liesel fears losing Max, and begins to read out loud in the shelter. Liesel fears losing yet another close family member.

self) is Max leaving his family to go save himself from the chaos that is happening in Germany by staying with the Hubermanns. He feels guilty for leaving his family and also putting the Hubermann in danger for hiding and aiding a fugitive. Another internal conflict (Hans vs. self) is when Hans gave a Jewish man some bread and got his name written down. He feels guilty for putting his family in danger because of his compassion for Jews. One external conflict (Hans vs. society) is Hans having conflicts with Hitler’s supporters. They label him Jew-lover just because he gave a Jew some bread. He is one out of ten people who thinks differently of Jews and how they are like everyone else. Also he has respect for Jewish people because one of them saved his life. Another external conflict which is also the biggest conflict in the story is (Liesel vs. Hitler) Liesel realizing that Hitler was the source to her father and mother’s disappearance, her brother’s death, and for the reason Max is hiding. For this, she hates Hitler and all he stands for. These moments of conflict help makes the story interesting because all four of these conflicts gives the reader a perceptive of how it feels like to live in Germany at the time. The internal conflicts forms the emotion of guilt because both Max and Hans felt guilty for putting others in danger. The external conflicts form the emotion of anger seeing that Hans and Liesel both hated the environment that Hitler

Thematic or plot-oriented purpose – Rudy is in the book to display the theme of love. Rudy loves Liesel and she loves him too. They tease each other by calling each other names. Liesel is very distraught when she sees he is dead after the explosion.

With the author using a third person omniscient narrator, which is death, this improves the strength of the theme. With death being the narrator of the book it helps the reader see how death was all around Liesel. “You see, to me, for just a moment, despite all of the colors that touch and grapple with what I see in this world, I will often catch an eclipse when a human dies. I’ve seen millions of theme. I’ve seen more eclipses than I care to remember” (Zusak 11). Death darkens the story and this makes you feel their emotions. With a third person omniscient

Markus Zusak’s Book Thief chronicles the life of Liesel Meminger and those who crossed her path. Through his use of Death as a narrator, a profound underlying message of the wondrous complexity of the human world is presented, balancing the ever-present forces of evil and good.

He brings Lisel in who is very shy girl at first but teaches her the beauty of words and a dictionary. He opens her up and treats her well when her mom isn't in the greatest of moods. His accordion playing always seemed to put her in a good mood even when she was sad and lonely. Quirky and funny Hans does everything for his daughter. Teaching her that it's never too late to excel at something, he showed her how to read and made it her passion. He was just a great foster father for Lisel.

Hitler prohibits any reading of books other than the the Mein Kampf. As a result of the constant book burnings, most books are exceptionally hard to find or buy. Thus Liesel is very careful when she finds a book on the street. The consistent desire to read leads her to rebel in ways that will eventually destroy her family. Meanwhile, Liesel encourages Hans to remember his past and be truthful about the promises he made in the moments of crisis.

The Book Thief Written by Australian author Markus Zusak, The Book Thief is a widely acclaimed novel and the winner of numerous prestigious awards. Zusak’s 552 page achievement had recently been transformed into a feature film and succeeded well enough to have an Oscar nomination. Set in heinous Nazi Germany and narrated by none other than Death himself, The Book Thief takes the reader to the quiet Himmel Street of the fictional town, Molching. It is there where we are introduced to the protagonist of the story, Liesel Meminger, her foster parents, the Hubermanns, and her neighbor and best friend, Rudy Steiner, the boy with hair the color of lemons. Because Death is our narrator and guide throughout the novel, we are given his perspective on the

The Book Thief Seminar Questions- due 3/27 on Turnitin.com AND in class on 3/28 or 3/29. ***NOTE: These questions are a formal writing assignment. Your responses MUST be typed, MUST be in your hand on the day of the seminar, and MUST include full paragraphs and specific references to the text, including page numbers, in order to receive credit.

Manga artist Natsuki Takaya once said “...even the smallest of words can be the ones to hurt you, or [the ones to] save you” (Takaya). The significance of words makes up the outcome to decisions. The simple use of words creates mended relationships and protected lives. Words save and hurt people but they are used for the same reasons, these words fix emotional struggles and give answers to the brutality of the unknown. In the novel The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, words and stories become a valued equalizer. Liesel and many other characters are victims of this equitable doing. Initially, words and stories lead to complete understanding of situations and create contrasting emotions. Furthermore, emotional struggles can be

In Markus Zusak’s, “The Book Thief”, the characters are put through harsh and unfortunate events one after the other. The characters emotionally survive by creating coping strategies, through relationships with family and friends, and by building trust with other individuals.

A captivating and beautifully well written narrative; "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak follows the adolescence of a courageous young girl named Liesel Meminger, whose book thievery opens her to a world of words. This novel discusses themes of identity and belonging, and the characters struggle to finding these as the novel progresses; though set in a different time period, the struggle Liesel endures greatly imitates the struggle of adolescents today. The story's beginning made me feel somewhat perplexed as to who the narrator was and for quite some time, I desperately wanted him or her to reveal their identity; However Zusak seems to enjoy keeping his readers guessing, which I find the mystery of his writing to be quite admiring. The imagery, narration and perspectives on this detrimental time in our World’s history obliged me continue reading on Liesels journey.

Liesel does this with her acquired skill of reading, “She didn’t dare to look up, but she could feel their frightened eyes hanging on to her as she hauled the words in and breathed them out” (Zusak 381). Even though the book she is reading is about a disturbing topic, she is easing their worry by distracting them from the terrible moment all around. The literary term personification adds the feeling of desperation to the experience. When Markus wrote “their frightened eyes hanging on to her” it shows how they could not take their eyes off her because she was the only light in the dark basement. Their eyes were not hanging on to her literally.

By page three, everyone was silent but Liesel. She didn’t dare to look up, but she could feel their frightened eyes hanging on to her as she hauled the words in and breathed them out. A voice played the notes inside her. This, it said, is your accordion” (Zusak 381). This quote alone holds a ton of importance in the novel.

Sophia Kezirian Ms. Carteaux English I Honors, A Period 12 August 2014 Title: The Book Thief Author: Markus Zusak Publication Information: 2005, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY Biographical information about the author: • Zusak’s mother was originally from Germany and experienced World War II first hand. • His father, just like Hans Hubermann, was a house painter.