1. Book Summary: “Mark of the Thief ” is an exciting, action-packed fantasy book written by Jennifer A. Nielsen. It was published on February 24, 2015 and is 339 pages long. The book is about the treasonous General Radulf, who gives an order to send Nic, a slave in the mines of Rome to enter a sealed cave containing the treasures of Julius Caesar. Alone in the total darkness, he discovers more than gold and precious stones. He finds an ancient bulla that once belonged to the famous leader of Rome, Caesar. The amulet is filled with powerful magic that was restrained for the Roman Gods. In addition, he gets a mysterious mark on his back from a violent griffin, guarding the treasures. Now, with the power of the bulla, Nic is persistent to let …show more content…
him and his sister, Livia be free. In order to achieve this, he goes into hiding, where Aurelia, a plebian girl and Senator Valerius help him prepare. But instead, Nic finds himself in the middle of a battle, the Praetor War that will destroy Rome. It is up to him to be the one who saves Rome, stop the rebellion and secure his own freedom from the dangerous, powerful and savage leaders. The author’s writing style shows and means a lot to the reader of the book. Jennifer A. Nielsen uses a descriptive style whose main purpose was to describe and paint a picture of the scene in the reader’s mind. All the different people, places, actions and situations were highly-detailed. For example, the book’s description of General Radul is, “He was tall, with dark hair … olive skin, and a square face that looked carved out of stone. His silver amor covered a broad, muscular chest … he managed the sword at his side with perfect ease.” From these words, we can clearly see and visualize him as an unpleasant and obnoxious character. Nielsen’s use of vocabulary and literary terms is also very strong, powerful and creative that makes the entire text interesting and entertaining to read. An example of this is, “ The corpses of Pompeii look better than you do.” This demonstrates the physical appearance of Nic’s face after the fight between him and Radulf. She compares it to Pompeii, an old Roman city buried in volcanic ash which shows how terrible and mutilated his face was. 2. Title Analysis: The author Jennifer A. Nielsen chose the title of the book to be “Mark of the Thief ” because it fits the context very well. The words in the title describe the identity of the main character, Nicolas Calva. The title consists of two main parts, mark and thief. Nic is considered a thief after he stole the ancient bulla from Julius Caesar’s cave. He also encountered a mark similar to a tattoo that allowed magic to flow, making Nic one of the powerful people all around Rome. The presence of this mark relates and describes the mark of the thief. 3. Character Analysis: Nicolas Calva, the main character and protagonist of the book “Mark of the Thief ” is a young teenage slave boy.
As a slave his physical characteristics include being dirty, scrawny, and wearing no shoes or barely any clothing. As any other slave miner, he was covered in scrapes, bruises and cuts. He also has brown hair and eyes, wears a toga or tunic and an ancient bulla. As we get farther into the book, many more personality traits are revealed. In the beginning, he was very calm and always obeyed his master, Sal. After he found the bulla and received magical powers he became more determined and ambitious to be a free man. The leaders of Rome including General Radulf and Horatio were all in search of that bulla. After they found out that he has it they started to do everything to be in possession of it. Throughout the journey of escaping them and fighting the Praetor War Nic gained more self-confidence. He became bold, brave, courageous, a fierce fighter and a very clever leader that would eventually bring him success. All of these traits helped him make the correct decisions, choose reliable friends and prepare for the war that might, either save everyone’s life or demolish the entire empire and its …show more content…
population. He is a slave with attitude, but his character does not allow him to have any free time to think and have fun. Therefore, Nic is lacking a set of interests, but his passion is to make the world a better place, by letting the slaves be free and be equal to the rest of the population. Throughout the book, Nic meets many characters, who are a riddle for him to figure out.
This means, he needs to be careful about whom he chooses to trust and decide to be open with. First, Nic has lost his mother, since the time she was sold away as a slave and his father has died. Next, Livia, his sister, is the only close relative he has on the planet, until he finds out that his biggest enemy, Radulf is somehow related to him. Now, Nic is ready to do anything for Livia to make sure she is safe and free. They are in a very friendly relationship and a beautiful bond that makes them stronger for overcoming the tough and difficult
hardships. During the search of the bulla, in Julius Caesar’s cave Nic received a scratch on his back from the griffin guarding the gold. With the power of the bulla pulsing through his veins he commanded the dangerous creature to calm down. She immediately listened, which led to them becoming close friends. Nic decided to name her Caela, since she was a beautiful creature, that has flown from heaven, from the gods. When everything settled down, they escaped the mines together. From this point on, she was his best friend. For example, during the games at the Colosseum she saved his life by taking the arrow, which signified a sign of great friendship. This continues from the beginning to the end of the book. After escaping the mines he decided to stay next to a strawberry patch to fill his stomach, since he hadn’t eaten in days. After a couple of minutes, he heard footsteps coming closer to him. They were guards, who instantly yanked Nic to the ground and captured the griffin. At that moment, an important figure, Senator Valerius ordered the guards to set him free. Following that, Nic started to trust him and told him about his ownership of the ancient bulla. Throughout the book, their relationship has improved because Valerius invited him to his home, offered him food and water, and gave him a pair of clean clothes and a new tunic that look better than his old one. He even tried to help him control the magic from the mark and bulla by preparing many difficult courses and obstacles. Unfortunately, at the end Valerius betrayed him by giving an order to arrest him and General Radulf for Horatio’s murder. This completely ended their bond, so Nic lost all the trust he had in him and was even more determined to save Rome and become free. General Radulf, Nic’s biggest enemy was mentioned in the first few pages of the first chapter. Everything started when he gave an order to Sal to send Nic to the dark cave in search of the bulla he was long waiting for. Nic is not in a good relationship with Radulf. By reading the description of his actions, and dialogue the author provides, it is known that he is one person who is not favored by the reader. We can predict and clearly see that he is an antagonist and a ruthless, powerful character who never thinks or cares about others and his surrounding. During the book, Nic believes it is his responsibility to defeat Radulf and save the world from him and his dreadful actions. Everytime when they meet, a bloody and violent fight takes place. Both of them strive to destroy each other, until they decide to combine their powers.
“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
A fantasy fiction novel by Clive Barker known as the Thief of Always is a
Mark of the Thief is a book written by Jennifer A. Nielsen. This book is the first in the “Mark of the Thief” trilogy and is set in ancient Rome around the year 400 CE. The story itself takes place primarily in the city of Rome and the mines south of Rome where the story begins.
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.
Society teaches that everyone is equal; however, between 1933 and 1945, the Nazi party deemed Jews inferior. Some people agreed with the party, other silently rebelled. Either way, in 12 years around 6 million Jews were systematically murdered. One person who silently rebelled was Hans Huberman. In “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak, Hans Huberman’s compassionate actions and beliefs are influenced by the Nazi party’s treatment of Jews.
In this essay I will talk about The Book Thief Characters. The characters are Liesel, Rudy, And Max. I Will talk about how they are Influenced by society in This Book/Movie. I am going to three Paragraphs about these three characters. This essay is going to be a Compare and Contrast Essay.
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.
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.
Human nature has many elements that reveal the growth and personality of a person. In Markus Zusak’s “The Book Thief”, the author successfully portrays various aspects of human nature through Hans’ conflicts that originate from the tough reality that he lives in. Elements of human nature can be seen as a result of Hans’ constant struggles with guilt, kindness, and love.
...ainst each other as well as to want to start lawsuits. Another theme and meaning that Egoyan talked about was how Nichole is dealing with her father molesting her and how he takes advantage of her. Atom talks about how at the end of the film Nichole gains the power to overcome her father control as well as bring the parents and community back together by stopping the lawsuit that was originally created by Banks in his novel.
Death states that, “I’m always finding humans at their best and worst. I see their ugly and their beauty, and I wonder how the same thing can be both” (Zusak 491). This book shows us human doing things that weren’t even imaginable before this point. Many people give into ideas that were lies. But, we also watch a few people go out of their way and sacrifice everything for a man they barely even know. They do everything they can to keep him safe and alive. They work harder, the get another job, and they even steal. In Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, death examines the ugliness and the beauty of humans.
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.
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?
If you were a German citizen during World War II, do you think you would be a Nazi? Most people would say no even though, in actuality, most people would be. It is because people need to succumb to societal expectations to survive in a society such as that of Germany during WWII and in the book, The Book Thief, this theme of individual versus society is explored with people complying and fighting social expectations. Sometimes people side with the Nazi Party out of fear of being targeted and other times fight against Nazi Party because of love for their family and fellow man with usually terrible consequences. In The Book Thief, the theme of the individual versus society is shown many times with characters conforming and defying social expectations.