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Symbolisms in the book thief essay
The book thief summary
What is the theme of the book Thief
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The theme of this book, known as The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, is going to be the amazing, deep meanings behind words The author portrays throughout the book.
He expresses this unique usage of words and turns them into pictures or scenarios in your head it just grabs at you and dwells on you so you have no choice but to follow along and read this book because like it or not it is made to have really good cliffhanger page after page. Markus Zusak’s words had created scenarios where it made you feel for liesel when rudy died ,made you sense something bad was gonna happen. The wildest thing the author did is make the reader fond of death and picture him as a friend telling the story a “worker of villains” to be exact but keeping him fascinated by humanity.
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People are not used to stories being told by death himself because they picture someone mean ,heartless, and senseless but in this story the power of words turn this narrator into someone bearable and to someone who takes consideration of human lives and having someone’s death being described by another perspective is eye opening.
Markus uses very descriptive words to bring images to life for example the sky everytime death is ready to take another person's soul he turns it to be something beautiful and gives death emotion towards it to make his life easier, explaining the burden his job carries.
The most powerful use of words is with the one who has a million words to say but has no voice in the cruel world of being a Jew. Max Vandenburg the Jewish fighter who day dreamed about fighting Hitler and seeing how such a normal man he is just with the usage of his words is he only seen as a powerful leader. Max had no way to express how he felt about it all so he wrote about all his feelings and turned them into books which taught Liesel many things that have impacted her, that is the power of words, is the impact it has on
people. “Even death has a heart.” illustrates many things for the taker of souls, as he gets attached to everyone in that little run down town he builds some kind of emotion towards the characters in the book especially for Liesel and Rudy he feels sad when Rudy’s reign comes to an end “He does something to me, that boy. Every time. It’s his only detriment. He steps on my heart. He makes me cry.” then Liesel as she's dying he keeps her soul around for a little longer for example “I wanted to tell the book thief many things, about beauty and brutality. But what could I tell her about those things that she didn't already know? I wanted to explain that I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race-that rarely do I ever simply estimate it. I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words and stories so damning and brilliant.” He was just overwhelmed with questions and wanted to tell her things she doesn’t know. The power of the people's words of that small town of Himmel street will affect death to his core giving a meaning to his job, giving him emotions to his job, finding a beautiful thing of life the humans had,and the passion for words some of them couldn't even understand and understanding the evil and seeing good even in the evil humans. Death understood several things and made him terrified of things as well. The power of words influence people and given the talent to have a way with words can do amazing things or horrible things.
“The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak is narrated by death and begins when Liesel’s brother dies on a train with her and her mother. At her brother’s burial, she steals her first book, “The Grave Digger’s Handbook” and soon after is separated from her mother and sent to live with foster parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann, in Molching, where the majority of the book takes place. At school, Liesel is teased because she can’t read so Hans teaches her to read when she wakes up from her frequent nightmares about her brother’s death. Hans is a painter and an accordion player and also plays the accordion for her after her nightmares. Liesel grows very close with Hans and also becomes close friends with her neighbor Rudy Steiner who constantly asks her to
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.
In the novel The Book Thief by Markus Zusak the narrator is Death, who shows itself as sympathetic and sensitive towards the suffering of the world and the cruel human nature, through its eyes, we can get to know the heartbreaking story of Liesel Meminger an ordinary, but very lucky nine-year old German girl; living in the midst of World War II in Germany. In this book the author provides a different insight and observation about humanity during this time period from a German view and not an Allied perspective, as we are used to.
’’Liesel observed the strangeness of her foster father's eyes. They were made of kindness, and silver. Like soft silver…..upon seeing those eyes,she understood Hans Hubermann was worth a lot.’’ (Zusak,34) Liesel saw kindness in Hans Hubermanns eyes which made her feels more comfortable with him rather than Rosa Hubermann.
I chose this quote because as I said before, it was one that stuck with me throughout the book. Not the direct text of the quote, but what the quote means to me. I see it as, Liesel does not agree with the Nazi party and how they view and treat Jews, however, to ensure her safety she says a 'hail Hitler'. Actions like these, ones that the Germans do so that they don't angry the Nazi party and ensure they are safe. In the case of the Hubbermans, they are people that do these actions out of an obligation to fulfill their duties as Germans, the leaders of the Nazi party. They are not doing things like saying, "hail Hitler" to every German they see because they believe in Hitlers actions, but they were doing it to keep themselves and their family safe from the cruel acts of punishment. In the quote and many times in the book we can see examples of the hesitation of acting towards the German
She loves how words can fill her up, but then she also realizes that words can be ugly things, especially in the way Hitler can use words to encourage the German people to carry out horrific violence and cause so much suffering. She
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.
...at the power of words entailed in the novel, The Book Thief, words really are very powerful. Three examples were given above as a few powers that the novel captured throughout the story. Words can manipulate and divide people, but at the same time connect people. Despite the fact that words have so many contradicting powers, one can use the words to their full extent when their intent is moral. In fact, words are meaningless if it doesn’t have an impact on an individual, society, or world. Words can do both good and bad, however, if one uses them in a proper way, it can result in a positive statement for our world. The novel gives the readers the lesson that we should comprehend the power of words and use words in a moral way. Just remember this: “I have hated the words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.” (pg. 413)
Words, so simple, yet are the most powerful ways of communication. The weight of words is one of most impactful themes in Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, and is felt throughout the entire novel. The Book Thief is a story that takes place during World War II, and follows the Hubermann family and friendships as the Narrator: Death follows them through their journey of Germany in 1939. Hans Hubermann is one of the greatest supporters of words right next to the Book Thief herself, Liesel Meminger. Words are emphasized through stolen books, spoken conversations, and thoughts of the characters. Hans Hubermann backs Liesel’s desire to read through many long nights, protects Max Vandenburg while in hiding, and consistently stands up against the dehumanization
Words have the power to affect people in many ways from empowerment or to taking upon action. Words are able to make huge changes in the lives of many and can make good or bad changes. In history, people used words in both good and bad function from making a promise to a nation or even manipulating multitudes of people within a nation. Words definitely have the ability to take situations a far distance but despite the fact that evil can manipulate the majority of people, individuals too can realize the true actions and evil buried inside the perpetrator. People can be both ugly and beautiful at sometimes with weapons along their sides. A novel called The Book Thief illustrates the power of words in a multitude of ways, showing the potential
The power of words can influence many people which results in many characters to be negatively impacted like Liesel. The negative effects of that the theme of the power of words causes Liesel to experience misery throughout her lifetime. Liesel is abandoned by her mother at a young age.
In conclusion, Markus Zusak uses Death as his narrator to prove that Death is similar and almost completely identical to humans. He uses the narration to establish the spectrum as a key description of the Book Thief. He uses his job as “soul gatherer” in the war to describe himself and explain how the events affected him as a “person”. Death uses human emotions to convey that he is just like regular, normal humans. Death is known to be cruel, disturbing and all things horrific However, in accordance to new evidence, his persona begs to differ. Death is inevitable but he is human too.
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.
The main character Liesel, known as “the book thief” is who Death is looking over. Liesel, her mother, and brother are on a train to Munich. On the train ride her brother dies. She and her mother get off the train to bury him. The first book Liesel steals is from the gravediggers. They continue the journey to a town called Molching, where Liesel will be raised by foster parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann. Liesel adjusts to her new home life. Hans teaches Liesel how to read. The war is escalating in Germany. The town holds a book-burning to celebrate Hitler’s birthday. That’s when Liesel steals another book from the flames. Liesel’s job is to deliver laundry to the Hermann family. The Hermanns’ have a library full of books. Liesel is allowed to read them in the study. Meanwhile, a German-Jew named Max needs help, so he seeks out the Hubermanns. Max hides in the basement, so he is safe from the Nazis. Liesel begins stealing books from the Hermanns. The Nazis parade the Jews through the town of Molching on their way to the concentration camp for everyone to see. Liesel is given a blank notebook to write her own story. One night the neighborhood is bombed. Hans, Rosa, and the rest of the neighborhood is killed. Rescue workers find Liesel under the rubble. She leaves behind her finished book, called The Book Thief. Death, who has been watching, rescues the book. Liesel ends up living with the mayor
The world we live in is molded by History. Every event since the dawn of time has led up to now, and every event now is leading up to tomorrow and beyond. “The Book Thief “, is a Historical Fiction novel written by Markus Zusak. In the book, a young girl named Liesel is fostered by a poor German couple, and comes of age through the Third Reich and Second World War. During the book many Historical events affected Leisel’s life. The three historical events that most promentaly impacted the course of Liesel’s life in The Book Thief, are the rise of the Nazi Party, the German invasion of Poland, and the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor.