Mikayla King Ms. Minter American Lit, Period 1 Due 25 April, 2024 The Extreme Value Presented in The Book Thief The book, The Book Thief written by Markus Zusak has extreme value, and should be read by everyone. The Book Thief takes place in Nazi Germany during World War II. This time was difficult for everyone as there were major shortages in jobs, money, and food. Many Germans lived in constant fear of saying the wrong thing and being killed. This time was dangerous for all the non-typical Germans, as Hitler wanted to “cleanse” Germany to be only Aryans, this meant if you were a jew, or disabled, or different in any way, you were at risk of being sent to concentration camps and being killed. This book shows us daily life in Nazi Germany from …show more content…
For something to have use it must serve a purpose that is necessary for many people, an example of this would be a fork. It serves the purpose of picking up food and displays a necessary use as it is a very common utensil used in the majority of households in North America. This example is rather simple, however, it is extremely practical as the majority of people can relate to it. The example of a fork also assists in helping people understand what it means to be useful. Usefulness is also displayed in The Book Thief written by Markus Zusak, which shows its use by putting the reader in the shoes of multiple people who would have previously been difficult to understand or learn about, expanding their knowledge and showing the purpose of his writing. Zusak displays the usefulness of this book by showing the readers the perspective of Liesel, who is a young girl growing up in Nazi Germany. One portion of Liesel's perspective states, “If only she could be so oblivious again, to feel such love without knowing it, mistaking it for laughter and bread with only the scent of jam spread out on top of it. It was the best time of her life”(Zusak 358). This example shows the excitement and enjoyment that Liesel was able to have during this time in early Nazi Germany. Not yet did the fears of constant bombing and the potential of death truly dawn on her. Zusak shows how …show more content…
I have an extremely short attention span and my brain is always looking for something to keep it busy. In the past I have found it difficult to learn about important topics or historical moments as my brain doesn't find it interesting enough to continue researching, however within the last six months I have gotten back into reading and found that stimulation that my brain was desiring. Reading books on many different topics has gotten me to broaden my knowledge on important events that I wouldn’t have understood otherwise, that is what happened to me with this book. I always knew about the horrors of the Holocaust, but never truly understood what it was like to be alive during that time. “The Book Thief” has taught me extremely valuable information, shown through the interesting characters and gripping story line. This book taught me so much more about WWII and the Holocaust than I could have ever learned on my own. This shows that “The Book Thief” is right as it keeps readers engaged and shows the worth of reading this book. The Book Thief is engaging through the writing style. This book is written from the perspective of death, which is extremely intriguing right off the bat as many people have never seen a book
In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Liesel Meminger, an orphaned little girl living in Nazi Germany, evolves partly through her numerous literary thefts. At her younger brother’s gravesite, she steals her first book, The Grave Digger’s Handbook, which teaches her not only the method to physically bury her brother, but also lets her emotionally bury him and move on. The theft of her next book, The Shoulder Shrug, from a book burning marks the start of Liesel’s awareness and resistance to the Nazi regime. As a story with a Jewish protagonist “who [is] tired of letting life pass him by – what he refer[s] to as the shrugging of the shoulders to the problems and pleasures of a person’s time on earth,” this novel prepares her both for resisting the
World War II was a grave event in the twentieth century that affected millions. Two main concepts World War II is remembered for are the concentration camps and the marches. These marches and camps were deadly to many yet powerful to others. However, to most citizens near camps or marches, they were insignificant and often ignored. In The Book Thief, author Markus Zusak introduces marches and camps similar to Dachau to demonstrate how citizens of nearby communities were oblivious to the suffering in those camps during the Holocaust.
Belonging is being accepted by a group of community that relate together by a common factor. A sense of belonging is not just dictated by yourself and your own values and beliefs but also by the ideas and values held by others. I believe that people can choose not to belong to a certain community due to the fact that they may not agree to other people values and beliefs. The Book Thief follows a German girl named Liesel Meminger, abandoned by her mother, she is sent to live with foster parents. The text is set in Nazi Germany during the WWII era. Through the text we follow her living in war times and experience her realisation to the true nature of the German people. At Rainbows End follows an Aboriginal family living in racist times in Australia. We are shown the way of life these people have to endure and how it feels to have a government who doesn’t care about your existence. (Reword)
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is a very famous historical fiction book in this decade. This 550 paged book has encouraged many teens to know more about the Holocaust, a genocide that took place during World War II. Markus Zusak wrote this book based on information from his parents’ memory, not based on a modern day conflict. His parents’ experience during the war greatly influenced him. Even though many of the characters in this book are fictional, the origins, the towns, the events and the actions are historically accurate. Although The Book Thief was not written during World War II, Zusak was still around people who had been there to witness it.
Guilt is a prevalent theme throughout The Book Thief. Liesel endures guilt multiple times, when she steals laundry money from Rosa, gets Max sick, verbally attacks Ilsa Hermann, and experiences the guilt of surviving. All of these acts caused Liesel to experience some sort of guilt which later causes her to perform questionable tasks.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, tells the story of Liesel Meminger, a young German girl of about ten years of age, who is fostered by the Hubermanns’, in a small town in Germany between 1939 and 1943. In the prologue, the reader is informed that ‘It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist fighter, and quite a lot of thievery’. It is however, much more. Despite the immense sadness and heartache of the overarching context, Zusak employs powerful techniques including; Death’s distinctive narrative voice, the symbolism of words and the inclusion of graphic stories to encourage the reader to feel enlivened throughout the story.
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.
...ere excruciating but I had no idea the extent of it. The way this book was written gives people hope. After reading this it made me realizes that there are harder things that people go through throughout their life and are still optimistic that everything will work out, while others complain about the everyday things. The author's use of quotations and description of events painted a picture in the reader's mind of the murders of the holocaust. Viktor E. was an amazing author and wrote this book well so that all types of readers would understand the hardship of the holocaust. The book gives the reader a large quantity of important information. The interpretations and ideas do not only apply to those who suffered in a concentration camp, but for all who live trapped behind bars and walls. It helps the reader comprehend and empathize the position of these individuals.
“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”.
German citizens had to endure a challenging lifestyle, presented by Adolf Hitler, of fascism, the holocaust, Jewish laws and propaganda during World War II. From 1939-1942, Nazi Germany affected the lives of Jews, Gypsies, Slavic people, and other groups living in Germany by getting rid of the undesirables, known as the Holocaust. Only Germans with the look of blond hair and blue eyes were even considered to live, only if he or she had no defects or disabilities, anyone else was sent to and killed in concentration camps. The Book Thief takes place in a town near Munich, Germany during this time of the holocaust. The novel focuses on the lives of the people and how they cope and deal with the immediate effects of WWII. It emphasizes the danger of hiding a Jew in a family’s basement, and how they are constantly paranoid of being caught.
Everyone is obviously different, but the personal qualities of a person and external situations that are occurring in the world around them can create similarities between people who have vast differences. In The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, this idea is very clearly shown through the lives of Liesel and Max. Although they come from vastly different backgrounds, the situations around them and their personal qualities reveal similarities between their lives. In The Book Thief, Max and Liesel’s lives have much in common, such as their love of literature and the impact on their lives as a result of Nazi persecution. However, they also differ in many aspects of their lives such as the degree of freedom that they were able to exercise and their attitudes toward life.
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.
Books, sentences, paragraphs all share one thing in common. They all contain words that aren't. Words formed into sentences formed into stories full of emotion and meaning, behind what appears to be clumped up letters is a story, and in this story these words are powerful. The Book Thief, a book about the life story of Liesel Meminger before she finds a love for book-stealing, book-stealing that leads to comfort, sadness, and escape, portrays the influence of literature and affect on others. “I have hated the words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right” (Zusak 528), is the last line of The Book Thief which ties to the central theme of the power words hold in love and hatred.
Markus Zusak's The Book Thief is a Fictional story of a young girl, Liesel, growing up in Nazi Germany. The book is geared towards Young-Adults with the goal of convincing the reader that not all Germans during World War II were bad. Using a unique narrative we are guided through the story line by Death, who will often tell us his opinion of the going-ons of the story as well as giving us further context so as to allow a better understanding of the situations we are presented with. From a young age I was taught that the Germans were bad people, much like Muslims today we generalize an entire population based off of the actions of a relatively small group of the whole. After reading The Book Thief, although a fictional story, it has brought me to understand that most Germans during WWII were merely trying to get by, they were living ordinary, or as
As time evolves, so do the words that are essential for our everyday survival. The most obvious difference between humans and animals is our ability to master the art of speech. Often, people will say the “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”, a simple nursery rhyme that helps ease a bullied child from abusive words and taunts. But does that really help cure the emotional pain? Words can illuminate and motivate the minds of people but can also shadow their self-esteem through psychological trauma. In The Book Thief, we see how fundamental words were to shape the reality of millions of people caught in the fire of World War II.