Analyzing Themes In The Book Thief By Markus Zusak

Themes from a Bookstore Junkie

As part of our English class this semester, we were to read The Book Thief and highlight quotes that went along with themes from the book. There were many themes in The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. However, three ideas stuck with me throughout the book. The three themes written about in this essay are love, mortality, and suffering. These ideas are very inspirational and prominent in The Book Thief.

The first theme from The Book Thief was love. From early on, you could tell love was going to be a major theme in the book. Love is important because love is the greatest emotion and connection that we as humans can feel. One quote that goes with the subject of love is, “As long as both she and Rudy Steiner lived, she would never kiss that miserable, filthy Saukerl, especially not this day.” (Zusak 55). This quote goes along with the theme because Liesel promises herself that she will never kiss Rudy as long as they both shall live; she only realizes that she loves him and kisses him after he

dies. Another quote that goes along with the theme is, “Rudy Steiner was scared of the book thief’s kiss. He must have longed for it so much. He must have loved her so incredibly hard. So hard that he would never ask for her lips again and would go to his grave without them.” (Zusak 303). This quote goes along with the theme because Rudy promises himself that because he loves Liesel, he will never ask for a kiss from her. Through these two quotes, along with nearly a dozen other quotes, support the theme of love in The Book Thief.
The second topic from the book was mortality. Mortality was an important idea in The Book Thief because not only was the narrator Death but also because it is something to which everyone can relate. One quote that goes along with the theme of mortality is, “***HERE IS A SMALL FACT*** You are going to die.” (Zusak 3). This quote is significant to the theme because it is one on the first things you read in the book. Also, Death did not say it in a mean or malicious way; instead, he only said it as a fact of mortality and being human. Another quote that goes along with the theme is, ““You will know me well enough and soon enough, depending on a diverse range of variables. It suffices to say that at some point in time, I will be standing over you, as genially as possible. Your soul will be in my arms. A color will be perched on my shoulder. I will carry you gently away.” (Zusak 4). This quote goes along with the theme of mortality by telling the reader that Death isn’t scary and instead can be quite peaceful. These two quotes go along with the topic of mortality, which in my opinion is one of the most important themes in The Book Thief.
The last theme from The Book Thief was suffering.

Suffering is significant because it is one of the worst things a human can go through and there was a lot of suffering throughout the novel. One quote that goes along with the theme of suffering is, “I am haunted by humans" (Zusak 550). In The Book Thief, Death doesn't like the suffering of the deceased and those they left behind. He feels bad for humans who have lost people, especially during such a horrible time in Germany. Another quote that goes along with the theme is, “I witness the ones that are left behind, crumbled among the jigsaw puzzles of realization, despair, and surprise. They have punctured hearts. They have beaten lungs” (Zusak 5). This quote is about how Death can’t stand to look at the people who have lost loved ones because he finds the pain of losing someone worse than death. These two quotes from The Book Thief support the theme of suffering throughout the

novel.
As part of my English class, we were assigned write about three themes from The Book Thief. The three topics I chose to write about were love, mortality, and suffering. One final quote that I found significant to the novel was, “A small but noteworthy note. I've seen so many young men over the years who think they're running at other young men. They are not. They are running at me.” (Zusak 174). This quote is significant because when we fight wars, humans aren’t going to fight against each other; instead, they are going to fight against their mortality. I connected with this novel because I think that a lot of people are scared of dying. However, the thing you have to realize is that you aren’t afraid of dying; you are scared of what comes after death.