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Markus Zusak
Markus Zusak was born on June 23rd, 1975 in Sydney, Australia. His mother is German, and his father is Austrian. When he was just a boy, his parents told him stories about what happened during world war two, and these stories would eventually inspire him to write The Book Thief. He even included specific events that he learned about from his mother, such as the parade of Jews, and when Munich was bombed. He began writing when he was but a teenager, and stated that his inspiration came from The Old Man and the Sea, and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.
Importance of Setting
The Book Thief is set in a small fictional German town called Mulching, which is said to be right outside of Munich. The story begins in the midst of the troubles of world war two, when Hitler has been in power for a decent amount of time. Zusak wanted to portray the story of the German side of things, showing how information about what Hitler was doing was not commonly known. He wanted to show the struggles that can happen in even the smallest towns, emphasizing Nazi influence throughout the book. Some Germans full of pride, others with regret, even more with fear. This is just a small town, but even what they do has consequences, and this shows how much of an actor you had to be to stay alive if you disagreed with the Gestapo.
List of Characters
Death
The introduction of death is an oddity that should be expected, as a spiritual superstition given form should always have some sort of mystery about them. Death is the narrator of The book Thief, telling the readers the tales that he finds interesting while supplanting seemingly meaningless interjections of facts and other such trivial things. In the beginning of the book, he tells us o...
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...t. She makes money by doing the laundry of the rich people in Mulching, but secretly hates it and them. Her love for her husband Hans is great, and enjoys Liesel’s company just as much, even if she doesn’t show it.
Max Vandenburg
A Jew who has been living in secret with the Hubermanns in their basement. He befriends Liesel and has been steadily learning how to read with her help. With Liesel’s inspiration, he starts to draw and write his own books, basing them off his life and his visions. He titles the two books “The Standover Man” and “The Word Shaker”. Hitler is a recurring thought for him, as he imagines himself fighting him in a fist fight, which makes sense considering that Max was always ready and willing for fighting other people when he was younger. Max is forced to leave after Hans makes a mistake and shows his compassion for people.
Rudy Steiner
Max uses Mein Kampf as a kind of cover so people wouldn’t suspect that he was a Jew and he escapes to the Hubermann’s house as Hans promised to help the Vandenburg’s if they ever needed it as he was friends with Max’s father in the war and Max’s father saved Hans’ life. Liesel is curious but also scared of Max at first but they bond over the fact that they both have nightmares, have lost their families and are both “fist-fighters” Since Max is always hiding in the basement, Liesel begins to describe the weather to him and brought him snow where they had a snowball fight and built a snowman with Hans and Rosa. Soon after, Max falls ill and she brings him 13 presents, hoping that he will wake up and reads to him every morning and night. Max also begins to share stories with Liesel and for her birthday makes her a book called “The Standover Man” which is about his life and journey. Max also begins to have daydreams where he fights Hitler and Hitler always uses his words to excite the crowd and uses them as a weapon. Liesel and Rudy also begin to steal food with a group of
In The Book Thief, author Markus Zusak tells the tragic story of Liesel Meminger and her experiences in 1939 Nazi Germany. Zuzak incorporates compelling literary devices such as toe curling foreshadowing, personification, and vivid imagery in the form of simile and metaphors to grasp the readers’ interest. Zusak’s use of various literary devices helps to deepen the text and morals of the story, and makes the dramatic historical novel nearly impossible to put down.
I had to read two books for a project these two books are about World War II.
In the novel The Book Thief, setting and point of view affect the theme and book a lot. The point of view of this novel is third person omniscient and a little bit of second and first person when the narrator talks about himself or to the reader. The setting of the story is Nazi Germany and it is based on a young girl named Liesel Meminger and what her life was like during this time. Her story is told by the narrator, death. Mark Zusak, the author, uses setting and point of view to express the theme of the novel because there was so much death happening, Liesel encountered him so many times, causing him to be able to tell her story; without this setting and the narrator, the theme story would have been different.
The Death the reader befriends in The Book Thief is far from the Death s/he previously feared to see standing over him or her in the twilight hours of life. We are haunted by him and him by us. As a group, we form the opposite ends of a spectrum: A species with the infinite ability to love and hate, create and destroy, burn and build, and the eternal metaphysical being who must witness the entire process, never truly being able to grasp what it means to live, but ever loving those who do.
First the colors. Then the humans. That’s usually how I see things. Or at least, how I try. *** HERE IS A SMALL FACT ***
In the first instance, death is portrayed as a “bear” (2) that reaches out seasonally. This is then followed by a man whom “ comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse / / to buy me…” This ever-changing persona that encapsulates death brings forth a curiosity about death and its presence in the living world. In the second stanza, “measles-pox” (6) is an illness used to portray death’s existence in a distinctive embodiment. This uncertainty creates the illusion of warmth and welcomenesss and is further demonstrated through the reproduction of death as an eminent figure. Further inspection allows the reader to understand death as a swift encounter. The quick imagery brought forth by words such as “snaps” and “shut” provoke a sense of startle in which the audience may dispel any idea of expectedness in death’s coming. This essential idea of apparent arrival transitions to a slower, foreseeable fate where one can imagine the enduring pain experienced “an iceberg between shoulder blades” (line 8). This shift characterizes the constant adaptation in appearance that death acquires. Moreover, the idea of warmth radiating from death’s presence reemerges with the introduction to a “cottage of darkness” (line 10), which to some may bring about a feeling of pleasantry and comfort. It is important to note that line 10 was the sole occurrence of a rhetorical question that the speaker
“I am haunted by humans” (Zusak 550). The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is about the horrors of World War II. Liesel and her family help out an old friend by hiding a Jew. Liesel also steals her first book when she at her brother’s funeral. Liesel Meminger’s remarkable actions like feeling good when she steals a book and her family hiding a Jew help demonstrate why Death is “haunted by humans”.
The author of The Book Thief, Markus Zusak, grew up in Australia with a German mother and an Australian father. Both of his parents experienced the effects during and after World War II and told him stories of the events during that time. Zusak’s mother grew up in Munich, Germany and told him of her experiences in Nazi Germany. Because his mother is a primary source of events that went on, he has insight on the social aspects of the war such as people’s reactions to the Nazis and the people’s thoughts of everything going on around them during World War II.
In 2005, Markus Zusak composed one of the most influential novels of modern day literature. His story is known as The Book Thief, a novel told from the perspective of Death. His role is to narrate the life of Liesel Meminger as a young girl growing up in Nazi Germany. Death begins the story at the burial of her brother in 1939, just one of many tragic events that will occur in her life, she is then given away by her mother, and has to grow up in the care of another family. For Liesel, this change catalyzes a quest to understand the power of words.
Death states that, “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” (Zusak 491). This book shows us human doing things that weren’t even imaginable before this point. Many people give into ideas that were lies. But, we also watch a few people go out of their way and sacrifice everything for a man they barely even know. They do everything they can to keep him safe and alive. They work harder, the get another job, and they even steal. In Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, death examines the ugliness and the beauty of humans.
In The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, beauty and brutality is seen in many of the characters. Rudy, Liesel, and Rosa display examples of beauty and brutality often without realizing what exactly they are doing, because it is a part of their human nature. Zusak not only uses his characters, but also the setting of the novel in Nazi Germany to allude to his theme of the beauty and brutality of human nature. The time in which the novel is set, during World War II, displays great examples of beauty and brutality, such as the mistreatment of the Jews. As a result of this time period, the characters have to go through troubling times, which reveals their beautiful and brutal nature in certain circumstances. Zusak uses his characters and their experiences to demonstrate the theme of the beauty and brutality of human nature in the novel.
Throughout life many people face difficulties. Depending on the person’s strength some will get through tough times, but some will fail to overcome them. Two books where characters have to face many challenges include: Their Eyes Were Watching God and The Book Thief. These two stories deal with people overcoming the difficulties faced throughout everyday life. Some difficulties include racism, religious discrimination, and dealing with others’ cruelness or kindness. Examples from these books prove that the characters have challenges throughout the stories to overcome. In the face of adversity what causes some individuals to fail while others prevail?
"The Book Thief" is a historical novel published in 2005 by Markus Zusak. This book was the Australian author's biggest hit.
To what extent is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak worthy of being deemed ‘Great Literature?’