In The Book Theif, author Marcus Zusak uses many literary elements to write a compelling story about WWII. Leisel Meminger, along with her adopted mother and father, hide a Jew in their basement for a long period. Zusak takes the story and uses literary elements to describe in a fashionable way, what it's like in the Hubermann household during this period of hiding. Zuzak uses similes and metaphors to show imagery, takes elements from nature to provide personification, and demonstrates the ethnic culture of Nazi Germany through language to create his writing style.

To begin with, Zusak’s writing style consists of many similes and metaphors to describe life on Himmel street like, “It was raining on Himmel Street when the world ended for Liesel Meminger. The sky was dripping. Like a tap that a child has tried its hardest to turn off but hasn’t managed” (Zusak 497). When Max came into the picture it was tough on the Hubermanns, since there was another mouth to feed. Times were so tough that people had to ration their food, many had to stole food as stated by Zusak “The stealing that cemented their friendship completely” (Zusak 149). …show more content…
“Dead leaves were slumped on the road” (Zusak 209) is a quote taken from the book to show what the quality of Himmel street was like, It describes how dreary and empty the street was in the war. The goal of WWII in Nazi Germany was to execute all of the Jews. This is why the Hubbermans hid Max because they knew what would happen to him if he were in the streets. When Max was in the basement during the winter months it was cold. Zusak used his unique writing style to describe the atmosphere around max “December 24 had been hungry and cold” (Zusak 311). This describes how cold and how it was for Max with little to no food and below freezing