Throughout time, children have read stories of brave knights, running into battle with their swords ready to defeat the invader. They have read tales of everyday girls turning into princesses by kissing a frog or wearing a glass slipper. Also, some of these stories contain accounts of historically poignant moments. For example, the novel The Book Thief written by Markus Zusak takes place during World War II. It gives a lasting impression on what this time was like for everyday people and the impacts the war had on them. The author does this through the many storytelling elements incorporated into the book. Also, Zusak displays how people respond to changes within their lives during these taxing times. For instance, the main character, Liesel …show more content…
To begin with, Chinua Achebe uses storytelling to give an insight into Nigerian culture, as well as to foreshadow future events within the book. For example, at one point in the novel, Ekwefi sits Ezinma down to tell her a common folktale in their tribe. In the tale, a greedy tortoise coaxes a group of birds to lend him some feathers so he can join their feast in the sky. After various tricks following the initial one, he then proceeds to eat all of their food and wine, making the birds extremely angry, and as a response, the birds take back their feathers so he cannot fly home. Since he cannot fly home, he asks the birds to send a message to his wife to lay all the soft things out in front of their house so he can jump from the sky. Maliciously, the birds instead ask his wife to lay out all the hard things. When the tortoise jumps, he breaks his shell. A medicine man puts it together again, explaining why tortoise’s shells look the way they do. The author describes, “Low voices, broken now and again by singing, reached Okonkwo from his wives’ huts as each woman and her children told folk stories. Ekwefi and her daughter, Ezinma, sat on a mat on the floor. It was Ekwefi’s turn to tell a story” (Achebe 73). As the book progresses, and an abundance of folktales present themselves, the readers gain an enhanced understanding …show more content…
To begin with, Chinua Achebe does a fantastic job at displaying humans natural response to change through his many highly developed characters. For example, at the end of the book, a clan meeting is interrupted by white messengers, saying it must end immediately. Preoccupied with anger, Okonkwo slaughters one of the messengers. The author writes, “He knew that Umuofia would not go to war. He knew because they had let the other messengers escape. They had broken into tumult instead of action. He discerned fright in that tumult. He heard voices asking: ‘Why did he do it?’ ” (Achebe 151). Following this incident, Okonkwo hangs himself, most likely due to the fact that he could not handle to repercussions for his actions. Also, he knows that things will never go back to how they were and people have changed too much so he has given up, and as a result, loses his will to live. Comparably, Hotel Rwanda utilizes multiple historical events to display how humans react to change. In the beginning of the film, Paul Rusesabagina is faced with the choice of either helping others or solely protecting his family. At one point, they witness a brutal beating of their neighbor by the Hutus. Later that night, Paul’s wife Tatiana Rusesabagina, asks if they could help him because he has always been a good
Markus Zusak’s novel The Book Thief depicts the life of a certain young German girl named Liesel Meminger during World War II. Her story was told through the eyes of Death, who narrates both the blessings and devastation that occurred during that era. Liesel experiences living with her new foster parents and come across a boy named Rudy Steider who will later on become her best friend. As the story unfolds, Liesel gradually discovers the horrifying truth behind the Nazi regime as her foster parents take refuge of a Jewish man. Despite being in the midst of destruction and recently coping from her traumatic background, she undertakes on a journey of self-discovery and
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.
“‘Book burning’ refers to the ritual destruction by fire of books or other written materials. Usually carried out in a public context, the burning of books represents an element of censorship and usually proceeds from a cultural, religious, or political opposition to the materials in question.” (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)
The novel The Book Thief is a book about a young girl by the name of Liesel Meminger. Observing the life of this young girl is not easy as this is the time of Hitler’s reign in Germany. In a short period of time, this girl faces many difficulties. More than any child should ever have to encounter. She has to deal with being abandoned by her mother, the death of her younger brother, and relocation to another part of Germany. Immediately when Liesel arrives to Molching, her life is forever changed. She is forced to live with two strangers, now her new mama and papa. Liesel faces much abuse both at school and at home. At school she is made fun of for her illiteracy and at home, mama speaks very rudely to her calling her a swine and other insults.
Envision a world where evil has taken over, simply because decent people are willing to do nothing to oppose the evil that is taking over. The idea is not far off from reality, because many people believe evil is prevails when decent people do nothing. Among these people was Edmund Burke, who once said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” He meant that injustice will continue to take place when good people don’t choose to fight against injustices. Many people agree with Burke, because true events have occurred that support Burke’s statement. Some people disagree, because they believe that even when righteous people intervene, evil will continue to prosper. However, Burke is correct in his statement
Words hold great power and when used correctly can influence what people believe and how they act.
Within The Book Thief, Zusak presents the reader with the reality of war torn Germany. Throughout the novel Liesel shows great lengths of humanity, even through the hardest of times. Zusak strategically uses the literary techniques of using symbolism to illustrate the power of words, which engages the reader, allowing a sense of hatred towards Hitler. By further employing visual elements to explore mortality, and employing Death as the narrator to portray ideas of inhumanity. Zusak enables the reader to become disheartened by the ideas of war. The powerful way in which Zusak presents these techniques, delicately teaches viewers about such a dark time in history.
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.
This shows that the Igbo are civilized because they used civilized forms of speech to define their culture. An example of the communication used is the use of proverbs, which is highly valued in the Igbo society, “Okoye said the next half a dozen sentences in proverbs. Among the Igbo the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten”(Achebe, 7). This shows that the Igbo have a sophisticated way of communicating with each other to share ideas or to simply converse with one another. The use of proverbs also show that the Igbo have a high level of intellect in which most barbaric groups would not have. Another way in which Achebe portrays the art of communication is the use of storytelling to explain real life phenomenons. An example used in the novel is the story told by Ekwefi to her daughter. This story was about a tortoise who was to greedy with himself which caused his downfall in the end. Achebe includes this to show that the Igbo have ways to teach morals and values, unlike other primitive
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 fascination themes of desperation, unity, power of words, and hope are shown in various ways in The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Firstly, the fascinating theme of desperation is shown in the text in several interesting ways.
Both Zusak and Kimmelman try to convey to you the horrors of not just the Holocaust but WWII in general. Horrors that include the persecution of Jews, the use of showers, the war, hundreds of thousands dead from most involved countries, and countless more that they didn't describe. When you begin to read Zusak’s passage from The Book Thief you can tell that he gets very poetic and symbolic, most things from his passage are non-literal. Why do I think this? Well, when he uses phrases like these: “- that death waits for no man - and if he does, he doesn't usually wait very long.”, I think this is one of literature's best quotes. Zusak is basically saying that death is inevitable, no one is here forever. Everything will die in the end, so if you think about it nothing really matters.
In the book, Things Fall Apart, there are a couple of folktales that are extended throughout the book. These folktales contributes to and comments on the central narrative of the story. Animals and folktales were important to the Igbo people. They used animals in fables and stories to demonstrate their beliefs and rituals. With all rituals, animals and symbols play a crucial role in Igbo society. The fable of the Tortoise and the Birds has uncanny similarities with Okonkwo and his rise and fall. The tortoise’s strength and cunningness eventually gets to be too much, which ends up crushing him. And Okonkwo’s inability to adapt to change leads to his demise. Both the tortoise and Okonkwo’s seek to be strong in society and they both want to be known as important. That is why I believe that the fable, The Tortoise and the Birds, is the closest fable to the central narrative of the story.
Achebe shows us a culture that is on the verge of change. Within the story we find out how the reality of change is brought upon several characters, and what their actions follow. Just like how African’s resisted the white’s over taking their country in reality, Achebe implements the same idea with the use of several characters. Okonkwo, for example, is completely opposed to the new political and religious upbringing that has come upon his clan. He feels that a real man does not change his views and beliefs for another mans views and beliefs. He see’s it as a sign of weakness. As we see throughout the novel, Okonkwo’s fear of losing his title and status, drives him further away from the idea of changing and adapting to the new religion. Achebe shows us how there will always be those that fight against the change, but in the end the stronger religion will over take and turn the others. Unfortunately for him, Okonkwo finding out his clan is converting is heart aching and he finds complete weakness in his clan. Achebe ties both themes of change and masculinity very well, and both themes support each other in every way. In reality, many Africans resisted the colonizers trying to destroy their religion, but the colonization wasn’t as severe as Achebe presented in her novel. “Groups strongly resisted the coming of European
Throughout history, there have been many instances of people struggling to identify and cope with change and tradition, and this is no different in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. Through most of the novel, Okonkwo, his family, and the villagers all experience this struggle. As the missionaries continue to live in the Evil Forest, they repeatedly gain village converts as a result of the Igbo beliefs constantly being proven inaccurate. Okonkwo’s son, Nwoye, converts because of confusion in what his people believe, and Okonkwo changes drastically as a person because of the missionaries’ arrival and actions.