...The Book Thief, written by Markus Zusak, is a remarkable novel that shines a new light on how death is perceived. The book tells the story of Liesl, a young girl in Germany, who loves to read. As her family keeps a Jew in their basement during World War II, she finds herself stealing books and reading them during the bombings on her home street. Death’s narration of the book is the best way to tell Liesel’s story because he is unbiased, knows everything, and connects with Liesel. Death’s narration shows the true story of a little girl on Himmel Street, without any exaggeration. Death is an unbiased narrator for The Book Thief. For starters Death is not narrating about himself, so he can be blunt and honest. Death is not human, he can’t completely relate to humans and...
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...Reading a bunch of books a month is a hobby, right? Writing books is a job, is this true? Learning to read books is a requirement in school to pass 1st grade, correct? And what about stealing books that are going to be burnt for some lunatic that leads an entire country, is that some sort of crime? Can you still be considered a protagonist? In the story of Liesel Meminger in The Book Thief, yes, you are still considered a hero, a person of amazement, and a protagonist. But why? Why are you still considered a good guy (or good girl) if you steal a book and you can’t even read? Well, it’s because in The Book Thief, the books are a symbol of knowledge, and here’s why. The main character; Liesel Meminger or the book thief as she is known as in...
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...novel The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, it is evident that books, reading, and words themselves represent power for different characters in different ways. Close analysis of Liesel Meminger and Max Vandenburg reveals that power can be achieved through literacy in a context where literacy is severely limited. Literacy plays a major role in Liesel’s adolescence. Liesel obtains power through literacy as it gives her a sense of comfort and control. The act of reading and writing gives Liesel the strength to cope with and heal from her emotional trauma. Reading and finishing the book The Gravedigger’s Handbook helps Liesel find the courage to move on from the loss of her brother. Although Liesel does not yet know how to read when she arrives at the Hubermann’s on Himmel Street, she keeps the book to comfort her, as it is the last object she has relating to her brother. When papa and Liesel finish reading the book, Liesel “trot[s] out, involuntarily” (Zusak 87) by explaining to Hans that her brother’s name “‘was Werner’” (87). The act of Liesel’s words being spoken involuntarily suggests that “she is finding some freedom in the effects of her disturbing experiences” (Lee 14). Liesel does not have to force herself to speak to Hans about her brother as she has gained emotional stability. Additionally, literacy helps Liesel recover from her distress as Hans reads to her nightly. Hans reads to Liesel “to soothe her, to love her” (Zusak 36). Hans’ spoken words from the books and his mollifying...
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...Throughout the prologue, part one, and part two of The Book Thief the author, Markus Zusak, developed/ utilized the use of colors. In the Prologue, the ‘story teller’ a.k.a Death tells of his small theory. The theory begins by claiming that “people observe the colors of a day only as it beginning and ends, but it is quite clear that a day merges through a multitude of shades and intonations, with each passing moment” (Zusak 4). The beginning of the theory helps support the use of colors by creating a image in the reader’s mind of the sun rising and setting. It also shows how in depth of how Death views the world around him, he almost seems to study the sky with every passing moment-- including when he is collecting souls. When Liesel’s...
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...Germany in the midst of world war 2. When we first meet Liesel (the protagonist) she is on a train with her younger brother to her new foster home . The first major event to occur was the death of her younger brother ,who died of hypothermia. At his grave she finds a book (A Gravedigger's Handbook”),and chooses to take it whilst not knowing how to read, landing her the name “the book thief” (which she is referred to as throughout by the narration by “death”). On arrival to her new foster home at 33 himmel street, she is greeted by her foster mother and father Rosa and Hans Hubermann,...
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...In the novel The Book Thief by Markus Zusak narrated by death. The novel is based on a nine year old german girl named Liesel Meminger. Shortly Before World War 1 Liesel’s birth mother gave her up to a German couple Hans and Rosa Hubermann in the small town of Molching in 1939. On the way to Molching Liesel experiences the death of her younger brother Werner which leads her to be traumatized and she also experiences nightmares about Werner for months. Hans helped Liesel grief her brother's death, he taught her how to read starting with a book she took from the cemetery where her brother was buried in. Liesel becomes friends with a boy in the neighborhood named Rudy Steiner, who later falls in love with her. During one of the book burnings Liesel realizes that her father was persecuted for being a communist and that her mother could have also been killed by the Nazis for the same reason....
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...Question: Choose one character and describe their actions and personality. How do they help to illustrate the key ideas of the novel? The character Rudy Steiner in The Book Thief is constructed to represent particular ideas about the dualities of Nazi-era Germany and the importance of loyalty. Rudy is kind and loyal towards his family and friends throughout the novel. This is specifically true when it comes to Liesel. His friendship with Liesel develops from a playful youthfulness to a strong bind that connects them over time and words. This is shown when Viktor Chemmel begins berating Liesel and he tosses Liesel’s book in the river, Rudy doesn’t hesitate to dive in after it, not because it holds any value to him but because he knows it’s important to Liesel, “A book floated down the Amper River. A boy jumped in, caught up to it, and held it in his right hand. He grinned” Through this action the ideas about the value of loyalty are highlighted. In several ways Rudy is also representative of a typical teenager, and he shows that even in extraordinary circumstances people will continue to have rather ordinary concerns. Although there’s a war going on, his main interest is usually soccer or winning races. His conflicts in the Hitler Youth have nothing to do with ideology; they’re simply about the fact that he and Franz Deutscher have taken a disliking to each other, “Four gold medals…It would show all those bastards who said I was crazy” Through these simple mundane tasks the...
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...In The Book Thief, Markus Zusak creates the character Hans Hubermann, who adds to Death’s conflict. Hans adds to Death’s conflict and add to the story in that he is kind, good, and loving, with those warm, silver eyes, his strength and purity of character, and his love for his friends and family. He lives in a world full of Nazis, hatred, and cruelty, and this adds to the contrast. Because he is so kind and loving, he shows Death that while humans are capable of great cruelty and hatred, that they can still be wonderful and good. The reader can see examples of Hans’s character, love, and purity of soul throughout the story. Hans is an amazing person. Hans’s silver eyes and pure soul show one how special he is, if one has not recognized it in his actions. When Liesel first meets Hans, she sees his warm silver eyes and knows he is special. They say that eyes are the windows to the soul, and his eyes showed his true nature, his strong character and pure soul. In another scene, when Death comes to collect Hans’s soul, he says that his soul was sitting up, the best kind of soul. Hans was ready to go, because he had had such a...
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...novel and the film The Book Thief. She uses words to develop relationships with her foster father, Hans Hubermann; Max Vandenburg, the illicit Jew in her basement; and her neighbours. In the novel The Book Thief by Markus Zusak there is much more relationship development compared to the film The Book Thief directed by Brian Percival. This consequently causes the theme of the power of words to be less prominent in the film. The novel The Book Thief develops the relationship between Liesel Meminger and her neighbours more than the film The Book Thief therefore minimizing the theme. First, Liesel and Rudy become best friends, “Insane or not, Rudy was always destined to be Liesel’s best friend.” (Zusak 48). Rudy introduced himself to Liesel as soon as she moved in, he developed a liking for her and they soon become best friends. Rudy used his charming, and sometimes insulting, words to win over Liesel. This develops the theme because it shows that even if one does not want to like someone, their words can change them into a likable person. Second, Liesel and Frau Hermann develop a relationship, “When she came and stood with an impossibly frail steadfastness, she was holding a tower of books against her stomach, from her navel to the beginning of her breasts. She looked so vulnerable in the monstrous doorway. Long, light eyelashes and just the slightest tinge of expression. A suggestion.” (Zusak 133). Frau Hermann, the mayor’s wife, had seen Liesel steal a book after a large burning...
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...The author of ‘The book thief’, Markus Zusak and the novel ‘Night’ by Elie Wiesel explore the theme of death. They explore the theme of death in different ways but explore it at the same time in history with Nazi Germany. The novel ‘Night’ is looking from a Jews perspective of a survivor of the holocaust. In ‘The book thief’ the narrator is Death and he follows Liesel and her German family. Both explore the theme of death, with the death of he bother being used as a turning point in ‘the book thief’ for Liesel. Death in ‘Night’ is explored where it became normal to see dead bodies but all it shows the limit people go to avoid death. Death becomes a reality and a normal occurrence in Night with thousands of dying daily in Auschwitz. The theme of death is first introduced in the beginning of ‘The book thief’ as Death narrates the story. The first turning point for Liesel, the German girl that Death follows, starts with her brother dying where she steals a book. This first book will be the start of many that she steals. “With one eye open, one still in a dream, the book thief-also known as Liesel Meminger-could see without question that her younger brother, Werner, was...
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...The Beautiful and Brutal Beauty and Brutality can co-exist, and this is something that is very present in The Book Thief. Imagery is used to convey the beauty and brutality. Zuzak uses sight, touch, and sound most often to show what is happening, and help make the beauty and brutality visible. Everything has beauty and brutality, and this is portrayed many times throughout the book. Beauty and Brutality is shown to co-exist when bombings would happen, Hans slapped Liesel, and the bombing of Himmel street happened. Beauty and Brutality was very prominent during some of the bombings that happened. Michael was a character and he was trying to get his mother to a bomb shelter. He cried to Rosa, Liesel’s step mother, “‘Tell me, Rosa, how can she sit there ready to die while I still want to live?’ The blood thickened. ‘Why do I want to live? I shouldn’t want to, but I do.’ (Zusak 487). He was trying everything to get her to move. He had a desire for life, something his mother lacked. Zuzak was using imagery, by hearing his voice, seeing his mother, and trying to pull her to the shelter. Even though this was brutal, beautiful moments were still happening. On Page 488, we learn of the event of the bomb shelter. “The night was long with bombs and reading. Her mouth was drying, but the book thief worked through fifty-four pages. The majority of children slept and didn’t hear the sirens of renewed safety. (Zusak 488)” In the midst of chaos, there was beauty in the...
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...In The Book Thief, the hero has a simple name, “Hans.” The main character “Liesel” sees her new foster father as a hero, as do many readers of the book. There are many examples in the book that point to Hans being a hero. He was there for Liesel when she had lost everything. One might ask, “What makes someone a hero?” The answer to that question lies within the opinions of the person asking. There are many things Hans did for not only Liesel but for Rosa. For people he barely knew. Hans put his new foster daughters’ sleep ahead of his because he loved her so much. He is a hero because he would stay up with Liesel into late hours of the night, just to make sure she did not have nightmares. He sacrificed his own sleep to help Liesel (37)....
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...Chapter One - How Liesel’s Maturity is Affected by the Setting “War will change people!” -Aaron Starmer. In Markus Zusak’s, The Book Thief, the protagonist, Liesel Meminger is living in the time of World War II. She doesn’t act like a child, she is mature and sophisticated. In The Book Thief, the setting influences the maturity of the main character, Liesel Meminger. The Book Thief is set in the time of The Holocaust in Germany. Liesel’s Dad is not a Nazi. In that time, if a male figure of a family wasn’t part of the Nazis then that family didn’t have extra privileges and would most likely have issues with money. This is what happens to Liesel’s family. Because of this, Liesel must do everything she can to help her family. Liesel helps her...
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...The novel The Book Thief is based on the life of Liesel Meminger, a nine year old girl, who lives in Nazi Germany during World War II. In the story, Death narrates the experiences of Liesel’s life. These experiences brought both magnificence and devastation that effected many lives that were in this era. After Liesel’s brother's death, she arrives in an upset state at the home of her new foster parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann. While Liesel was there she saw many terrible things that the Nazi ruling has brought to Germany. As she sees these horrific things going on in Germany she struggles to find a way to defend her guilt in the disturbing surroundings. While the political situation in Germany gets worse Liesel’s foster parents decide to hide a man named max who is a Jew. While Max remains in the house it makes it dangerous for Liesel and her parents to stay in the home. Liesel’s foster dad, Hans, who has a close bond with Liesel, teaches her to read in...
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...True Nature of Courage In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, there are several important themes that are analyzed throughout the story. The themes had a tremendous impact and were well demonstrated by the most important characters. The true nature of courage is one of the most important ones because between all the characters, each one had their moments in the book where they showed acts of kindness. There will be quite a few examples on the occasions during the book where courage is shown. The character in The Book Thief that expressed the most courage was Hans. Hans Hubermann was Liesel’s father and was married to Rosa Hubermann. Hans was a German who believed on everyone staying safe and being treated equally. There were numerous occasions...
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