The Book Thief Literary Analysis

“I have hated words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.” Markus Zusak's The Book Thief conveys not only the power of words, but that there is also so much heart, even in a place where times are so dark. During the beginning of World War II, Liesel is moved to new foster parents after witnessing her brother die and her mom abandoning her. Soon she finds out that a Jew hides away in the basement. At first she is uneasy, but the man tells stories and dreams that are life changing. Once her parents begin to care for a protect the Jew, Liesel is taught that people are kind, even in the worst of times. The beauty of this message can have a huge impact on the way people see the world, and gives

Relationship to meaning: - Death, as the narrator, gives us an insight into the events surrounding Liesel that otherwise would not have been known. Also Death explains definitions, events, and other items of note.

In his book, The Book Thief, Markus Zusak uses an interesting approach to attract readers into his book that is about a girl trying to learn to read in Nazi Germany from the perspective of Death. He does this by employing many different literary devices. Some examples of these are foreshadowing, diction, and irony.

The Book Thief opens in a manner which is interesting to the reader with the storyteller who ends up being Death himself. In the Book Thief, the writer Zusak makes a magnificent story through the eyes of Death. Death is the storyteller of the Book Thief. He in a manner is at first scornful with a dorky comical inclination , yet as the novel advances and WW2 propels , he communicates exhaustion and regrets about needing to gather such a large number of souls. My first contention is that Death offers an exceptional and distinctive methodology regarding the matter of portraying the story. He is depicted as an Omniscient First-individual perspective in the story. My second contention is that Death can anticipate and indicate vital occasions of key characters in the book.

Symbolism is very important in the Book Thief because certain symbols keep the reader engaged and furthers on thematic ideas. One important symbol in The Book Thief is bread, which symbolizes humanity. When a jew parade lumbers down Himmel Street, Hans gives away a slice of bread to an old jewish man who is suffering. Hans, who is very hungry along with the rest of Germany, could have eaten the bread instead of giving it away.This shows that where there is great evil in the world, there is is also great kindness. There are multiple times when bread is used to care for someone else. Next, another meaningful symbol in The Book Thief is Liesel’s books. Over time, as she begins to learn to read and write, Liesel steals many books. Her first book, “The Gravedigger’s Handbook”, symbolizes the life that Liesel used to have because she stole

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.

Markus Zusak’s novel, The Book Thief, tells the heart-wrenching story of Liesel Meminger, a German girl, as she navigates adolescence in Nazi Germany. With his convincing depiction of the time, it could be said that Zusak worked within the conventions of realistic fiction were it not for his otherworldly narrator—Death. Death traditionally marks the end of a story, so Zusak’s decision to begin his novel with Death’s voice piqued my interest. This interest was intensified by Death’s unique characterization—he is personified, yet retains his inhuman features. This incongruity in conjunction with the aberrant choice in narrator raised the question:

“I guess humans like to watch a little destruction. Sand castles, houses of cards, that’s where they begin. Their great skill is their capacity to escalate” (109) quotes Death, right before the bonfire of banned books is lit. The novel The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, is filled with pages of destruction and mortality. Although it is unclear what Death, the narrator really is, he is mostly portrayed as an immortal human who shares the same feelings as we do. During the reign of Nazi Germany, Death is occupied picking up souls of soldiers and Jews. To distract himself, Death describes the vivid colors he sees during one’s death. He is troubled by the way humans destroy one another because in the end we all die.

A theme found in The Book Thief is words have power. The Book Thief’s main character Liesel Meminger is a symbol of words have power. Liesel symbolized a love for reading. Reading changed her outlook on life, it helped her grow as a character. Liesel’s first book, The Gravedigger’s Handbook, was a symbol

“Here’s a small fact. You are going to die.” Death deals with many deaths throughout the story, especially with World War II happening. In the novel, The Book Thief, written by Mark Zusak the narrator follows a young girl named Liesel around. She is growing up during a hard time and in a hard place; Germany during World War II. She moves into a new house on Himmel Street and meets many new people. Throughout the book Liesel faces many challenges and has to overcome them, but the one thing she always enjoys is reading. She has many deaths like her mother, brother, mama, papa and more. The author uses setting and point of view to express theme in The Book Thief by having the narrator, Death, follow Liesel who learns new words from books while dealing with the struggles of living in Germany during World War II and having deaths around her.

Tough Love In The Book Thief, a little girl named Liesel moves in with the Hubermann’s, a foster family who live in the fictional town of Molching, Germany. As soon as Liesel arrives she notices that Rosa’s face looks “like a creased- up cardboard and annoyed, as if she was merely tolerating all of it.” In the few days after she arrives Liesel says that “ it was the profanity that made an immediate impact.” The Hubermanns were always swearing at each other, and then the started to swear at her calling her a filthy pig when she would refuse to bathe.

Behind words Do you ever say something to someone that is hurtful and the person stops talking to you? They stopped talking to you because the power behind your words were powerful. People don't realize the power behind words until they see how they words affect somebody in an emotional way. In The Book Thief the power behind words is a huge part of the book.

“I am haunted by humans.”- Markus Zusak, The Book Thief. Humanity has encountered multiple occurrences of tragedies, joy, oblivious to things occurring in our world. In Markus Zusak’s novel, The Book Thief, he discusses a tale of humanity in one of the darkest moments in our history; The Holocaust. The novel is centered around a young girl, Liesel Meminger, who witnesses all the horrific events that are occurring during the Holocaust. Liesel is a victim to her own illiteracy - to her inability to read and understand what is happening in the world. The themes that Liseal encounters work together in the novel to tell a tale of humanity. The power of words affecting people, the kindness and cruelty of humanity, and the mortality of

In the Book Thief, a novel by Markus Zusak, the consequences caused by Hans Huberman giving a piece of bread to an elderly jewish prisoner during a march through the town, were not worth the benifits created by his actions. Both Hans and the Jewish prisoner were whipped and the man wan not able to eat the bread given to him, Max had no choice but to lave the Huberman’s home and finally, Hans was drafted into the army as a punishment for giving out the bread. write in link here

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.