The Importance Of Life In The Book Thief

Adversities are a natural part of an individual’s journey through life, but what is it that empowers us to persist through such hardship despite feelings we have reached the end of our capacities? Perseverance. Perseverance is the foundation that enables individuals to push through challenging situations. Both the novel, Walking Home by Eric Walters and the novel The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis are two works of literature that prove how perseverance is the key foundation for individuals to pass barriers set in their way. Muchoki and Parvana are characters who both persevere through family trauma that hits their household, they are able to preserve getting over the discriminatory mental barriers within their damaged countries and additionally are able to persevere through the physical agony faced upon them in their journey.

The narrator, Death, attempts to shed some light on his form through this quote. He is usually imagined as a skeletal figure wearing a black cloak and carrying a scythe, though he shows that he is much more human that we think.

The consequences, regret, and grievance caused by Hans giving bread to the Jewish man, in Markus Zusak’s novel The Book Thief, were not worth the minimal benefits that came from his actions. The worst consequence was that the old, frail Jewish man and Hans were both whipped severely. The starving Jew didn’t even get the bread, nor did Hans get the bread back meaning that it just went to waste. Another repercussion of Hans giving the bread was that he caused Rosa and Liesel grievance, when both he and Max had to leave. All of these terrible consequences affected not only Hans but also affected Hans’ whole family and the Jewish man, too.

Hope is elusive and one needs courage to ensure it does not fly away. In The Book Thief, Markus Zusak develops the theme of courage and hope throughout the novel, showing people need both to survive. He portrays the theme effectively through the characterization of Liesel as well as the symbolism of Hans Hubermann’s accordion.

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

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.

Resilient qualities in a personality exercises one's power on how they could control their outcome in dangerous situations. This quality is overwhelmingly evident in Marcus Zusaks The Book Thief. The main character Liesel Meminger and many others shows readers how a person can endure struggles with sustaining willpower. One by encountering death, two being the more willpower a person has the braver they become, and three, having the trait of courage.

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).

The Book Thief is a historical novel written by Markus Zusak. It provides the readers a deeper understanding of the lives of Jews and Germans in Germany during the brutal Nazi regime and how they manage to survive. This includes not only the physical survival of the fittest, but also the survival of their moral beliefs. In addition to the author’s theme of inhumanity and humanity of man, he provides a background story for the characters in the book and how they are similar and different by their moral beliefs, their goals, their guilt, and their relationship with words. Two of the characters that are mentioned throughout the book to remind the readers of their struggles to survive in the Third Reich are Liesel and Max. Liesel is the foster daughter of Hans and Rosa Hubermann and “the book thief” who realizes the power of words in the Nazi community while Max is a fist fighter and German Jew who hides in Hans’s basement to escape from Nazi incarceration and eventually survives the concentration camp after he is arrested on his way to Stuttgart by the Nazis. Liesel and Max can be compared and contrasted through analyzing their struggles, includes their fear of the death, their guilt of

In Unbroken, a strong quote that demonstrates this theme is, “[Pete] told the principle that Louie craved attention but had never won it in the form of praise, so he sought it in the form of punishment. If Louie were recognized for doing something right, Pete argued, he’d turn his life around.” This quote supports the theme strongly because of all the bad situations Louie got himself into, Pete still always had unconditional support and faith in him, and in this scenario believed he was just a little lost and misguided. Constant belief and support is one reason why family is so important, so someone always has a person they can count on to help them when they need it, whether they know it or not.

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.

The father and the boy have a co-dependant relationship. The boy is dependent on his father for survival, while the father lives to ensure the survival of the boy. When the boy asks “What would you do if I died?” The father responds with, “If you died I would want to die too” (McCarthy, 11). It is clear that his love for the child is what motivates him to do everything he can to ensure the boys survival. This motivates him to teach the boy strong morals and skills to help him live as a “good guy.” After finding and humiliating the thief that stole all their belongings, the father and son

“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.” This is a quote said by Death in the novel The Book Thief. Death says this quote while witnessing a young boy named Rudy giving a stuffed teddy bear to a dying enemy fighter pilot. In this quote, Death is stating that he sees many people come and go. And through his time, Death sees that people can be both good and bad. While saying this quote, Death wonders how humans can possess two completely opposite characteristics. To me, this quote means that humans can show both positive qualities and negative qualities. Throughout the text, we see both the ugliness and beauty in characters such as Liesel, Hans, and Rudy.

The developmental stage of a young child’s life is very crucial and can be impacted by the media. In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Liesel Meminger is a young girl living in a very important part of Germany’s history, the Second World War. Liesel’s childhood unfolds and develops against the backdrop of a time when words, books specifically were used for power and control. Liesel is someone who has a love for reading and, as such, books become very important to her, not only for her education but for her rebellion and discovering her true identity. Throughout the novel, books become a crucial symbol used to convey the desires and discovery of identity for the main character as her childish ignorance changes to her mature adulthood.