Analysis Of The Book Thief

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Summary

Here is a small fact

You are going to die.

The Book Thief occurs during the Second World War. Death, our designated narrator has never been busier. Somehow through all this chaos he has managed to meet her three times. Her of course, being Liesel Meminger, the infamous thief herself.

We first meet her when she is ten years old. Liesel’s life has completely changed. Her father has ‘abandoned’ their family and her mother has to give both her and her little brother -Werner- up so that they can survive. He does not survive the journey. This is the first time Death himself sees her. Shortly after littler Werner’s funeral, she steals her first book – even though she cannot read or write.

Losing everything she knows, she is introduced to Himmel (heaven) street and to her foster family, the sharp tongued Rosa “Mama” Hubermann and her accordion playing, kind soul of a husband, Hans who she quickly calls “Papa” with no sign of discomfort. He is the one to comfort her after her nightmares and he is also the one to painstakingly slowly teach her how to read and write and he is a marvellous teacher.

We are introduced to Rudy Steiner, her best friend and the boy who loved her best; Tommy Muller, who can hardly hear out of his ears and Max Vandenberg; a Jewish fist fighter who is being hidden by a friend and keeps on fighting a battle ‘with’ Hitler in an empty basement. Max’s other talents are revealed and he writes and illustrates a book called The Standover Man.

As time passes Liesel gets away with stealing and reading her new treasures, Rudy is shown to be both intelligent, athletic, and being one of six children – constantly hungry, Max almost dies and is alm...

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...eing of pure Aryan descent was a survival tactic, he had “…Beautiful blond hair and big, safe blue eyes.” Liesel’s eyes are not just brown. She had “…dangerous eyes. Dark brown. You didn’t really want brown eyes in Germany around that time.”

Writing Style

Markus Zusak’s way of writing is slightly informal. He does not want to keep the reader an observer, rather he wants them to become involved. He is extremely descriptive as he wants the exact image portrayed in his head to be seen. He uses interesting language as a tool for this. He becomes involved with his characters’ lives and personalises things like books and words to show their importance in both the novel and in the actual world. He is factual to a point. He still lets his imagination stray once in a while. He sows most of this in his characters’ dreams or their romanticised recollections of the past.