The Themes Of Courage In The Book Thief By Markus Zusak

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.

Reflection: The Book Thief contains many important concepts, but three of them play major roles in developing the characters and creating themes. One key concept discusses the power and significance of words. As seen in the novel, words can be used to influence people in negative and positive ways. For example, reading and writing save the lives of Hans, Max, and Liesel in the form of letters, a copy of MKPF, and Liesel’s life story. On the other hand, Hitler uses words to encourage the German people to hunt down and kill Jewish people. This shows how words can kill people and save people’s lives. Another important concept in The Book Thief is that life is unpredictable, and it can’t be meticulously planned out. Fate and chance will make a difference. This is shown when Hans switches seats with Reinhold Zucker in the military vehicle. Neither of them knows that the bus will crash, and the person in that seat will be killed. But fate isn’t tested, so Hans’s life is spared, and Zucker’s life is taken away. The last major concept, and perhaps the most important, is used as the framework for one of the most crucial themes. It is that humanity displays its duality in extreme ways. From Hans risking his life to give a piece of bread to a frail, old man, to Hitler killing six million Jews in cold blood, humans are capable of the amazingly kind and the incredibly

Markus Zusak ended up rewriting the first 90 pages of The Book Thief 200 times before it was published. This book is about a young German girl named Liesel Meminger who has to move suddenly to Germany to live with a new family, and a new mother, Rosa. Markus Zusak's The Book Thief contains many memorable characters. However, the character that is the most memorable is Rosa Hubermann because she has a very distinct personality.

Hope and courage are two feelings that are only powerful when used together. To be courageous and not hopeful is a suicide mission; on the other hand, having hope and no courage will never give one the urge to oppose the problem. In Markus Zusak’s novel The Book Thief, the whole story is the epitome of courage and hope. During the second world war, the young Liesel Meminger is adopted by the Hubermann family, Hans and Rosa Hubermann, who teach her the power of words, as well as the importance of kindness. Moreover, one of the themes of this novel is the creation of hope from courage, and it is shown through the author’s use of symbolism, allegory, as well as irony.

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.

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage,” Lao Tzu. Courage is the choice to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Physical is when you show bravery in the face of death, pain, or threats, while mental courage is when somebody makes a right decision while opposing someone or something else. Some people do not have a choice to be courageous, and are forced to be courageous, while others have a choice to be courageous.

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.

Liesel Meminger is a main character described in “The Book Thief”. After her mother can no longer support her Liesel and her brother, although he does not make the journey, are sent to a foster home in a small town in Germany called Munich were Liesel meets Hans and Rosa Hubermann or Mama and Papa. Although the initial warming up is hard Liesel soon becomes very close to her Papa. “Over the next few weeks and into summer, the midnight class began at the end of each nightmare” (Zusak,69). Hans teaches Liesel each night how to read and write to ease her mind when all Liesel can think about is her dead brother. Hans truly becomes Papa when Liesel trusts Hans will never let her be

The Book Thief’s plot is character driven in the beginning. Characters choose to make their own decisions and consequently feel the effects of later on. For example, Liesel and Rudy intentionally make the decision to steal books from Ilsa Hermann’s library. The Hubermann and the Steiner families both make the subconscious decision to dislike the Nazis. Finally, Hans Hubermann makes the potentionally incriminating decision to harbor a Jew, Max, in his basement. These characters choose to go against their morals, yet their decisions work in their favor. Nearing the end of the book, the plot structure switches to plot driven; external forces disturbing the characters more than their own decisions and actions do. This novel is centered around the Holocaust and the war was taking place, and without this, many of the major events would not have happened, resulting in a different outcome for the characters. The bombs set off due to the war also influenced the characters by a great deal, causing their panic and fear to control their

According to Napoleon Bonaparte, courage isn’t having the strength to go on … it’s going on when you don’t have strength. Liesel, Max and Hans are the main characters in “The Book Thief” that have acts of courage entirely change their lives. This novel takes place during WWII in Germany. Countless Jews are desperately looking for the courage to endure the harsh rule of the Nazis. On the other hand there are some Germans who use their courage to stand against the Nazis in their own exceptional ways. The characters in “The Book Thief’ show acts of courage and this greatly affects the course of their life and relationships with other characters.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is a story set in Germany during World War 2. This novel follows the life of Liesel Meminger, a girl who develops greatly. With Death as the all knowing narrator of the story, the reader has the ability to see various perspectives. It tells the story of oppression, portrays the power of words, and shows the human ability for kindness or cruelty. I chose to do option four, in which I have chosen important sections from the novel.

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.

Guilt plays a very big role in “The Book Thief”. It is one of the ways in which characters suffer. Guilt is a feeling of having done wrong or failed in an obligation. The feeling of guilt is inescapable and it constantly makes you “look behind your back”. Analyzing my observations, I concluded that there were two major characters that experience guilt: Hans Hubermann and Max Vandenburg. “Imagine smiling after a slap in the face. Then, think of doing it twenty-four hours a day.” (Zusak 211). This was a description of the feeling of guilt that Hans Hubermann was experiencing. He felt guilty because hiding a Jew. In Nazi Germany, this was very wrong. In fact, it was considered a crime. This feeling of guilt was eating him. Max Vandenburg was also being

“When a Jew shows up at your place of residence in the early hours of the morning, in the very birthplace of Nazismn, you’re likely to experience extreme levels of Discomfort, Anxiety, Disbelief and Paranoia.”, The propaganda of Hitler was the most important aspect in the The Book Thief because it often set the mood that I was feeling and that feeling was sick and cringing while reading the Novel. Before the war, The Nazi’s passed laws to effectively get rid of the Jews Human Rights and basically stripping and restricting them from being “human”. Max, The “Jewish Fist Fighter”, was a victim of the Propaganda and his presence served and reminded me the vast superiority that the German’s had against the Jews during the Holocaust.This made me think so negatively on the Propaganda that was set against the Jews and completely disagreeing with the way Hitler was seeing things because of the fact that for Max to be, “lucky”, lucky meant that his home was the Hubermann’s freezing basement

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.