Thematic Essay flash draft on the book by the title of The Book Thief The Book Thief is an outstanding book by Markus Zusak. It follows the adventures of Liesel Meminger, a girl who must be given up by her only parent, her mother(Her dad left her), and who witnessed the death of her brother on the way to be given to foster parents in Nazi Germany. She is fostered by Hans and Rosa Hubermann, the former of which is a painter and accordionist and the latter of which is a person who can’t seem to stop swearing. Rosa and Hans live on a town on the outskirts of Munich called Molching, on Himmel Street. Hans and Rosa then take in a Jew by the name of Max Vandenburg, who is the son of Hans’ good friend who died in World War 1. They then must hide …show more content…
Enter Adolf Hitler. In Max’s story about Liesel and his friendship, Adolf Hitler “...decided he would rule the world with words… He planted them day and night, and cultivated them…[and] great forests of words had risen throughout Germany...It was a nation of farmed thoughts” (Zusak, 445).. In this passage, Max is writing about how Hitler took over Germany, and how he used the power of words to do it. He decided that he would use words to rule the world; in other words, convince the people that he was a good person with the nation’s best interests at heart. He was then planting them and cultivating them, or writing his speeches, and his arguments against political opponents. In the last sentence, talking about great forests of words over Germany and Germany being a nation of farmed thoughts, He shows that Hitler had convinced so many people about his ideas that these “forests” will keep renewing themselves, and so Hitler can continue to reign without growing words …show more content…
Sometimes this means that small actions can add up, or start a chain reaction of small actions to a large result. Take Hans Hubermann, for example. When “Hans Hubermann held his hand out and presented a piece of bread [to the old Jew]”(394). The Jew was essentially dying, and he was old. Hans got sent to the army. But he then inspired Liesel and Rudy to do the same, only on a larger scale. They brought a lot of bread and gave it to a lot of Jews on the way to a concentration camp, only a little bit safer. This shows that actions can inspire others just as words can. These pieces of bread may have saved lives, and a life is a priceless thing. But speaking from a purely non-human perspective, this is still great because it gave these Jews a new psychological boost. Words would have left them dying of starvation. Just as actions can do good things like words, they can also do bad things. They can ruin lives. Think back to the allied bombing raids. The allies were killings people with every bomb dropped, and potentially ruining the lives of even more, be that ruination physical or mental. In the last scenes of the book, “the book thief was truly an irretrievable mess”(537). She just lost the life of almost everyone she knows. She thought that the bomb never hit Himmel street. The action of dropping a bomb on Hummel Street ruined Liesel’s life,
Prologue: On page 4 the narrator says, “Personally, I like a chocolate- colored sky. Dark, Dark chocolate. People say it suits me.”(Zusak 4) This led me to believe the narrator is death. He sees life in color because he appreciates color more because his life is so dark and filled with death, color is in our lives and our souls will soon be filled with darkness and him and not have a colorful life.
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.
The Book Thief: A novel taken place in Germany during War World 11. Throughout this novel we meet a girl named Liesel meminger,
’’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.
The heavily proclaimed novel “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak is a great story that can help you understand what living in Nazi Germany was like. Throughout the story, the main character, Liesel goes through many hardships to cope with a new life in a new town and to come to the recognition of what the Nazi party is. Liesel was given up for adoption after her mother gave her away to a new family, who seemed harsh at first, but ended up being the people who taught her all the things she needed to know. Life with the new family didn’t start off good, but the came to love them and her new friend, Rudy. As the book carried along, it was revealed that the Hubermanns were not Nazi supporters, and even took in a Jew and hid him in their basement later on in the book. Liesel became great friends with the Jew living in her basement, Max, who shared many similarities which helped form their relationship. Both of
“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”.
One of the most unforgettable genocides to occur was the Holocaust where 6 million Jews along with gypsies, homosexuals, and communists were killed by Hitler’s Nazi regime. It was very common for authors to have their literature’s central idea be about the Holocaust. The Book Thief, written by Markus Zusak, is about a German girl, Liesel, who lives in Nazi Germany and faces the inescapable pains of growing up in a time of war. Her emotional journey is one that begins with a journey. Zusak incorporates the events that occurred during the Holocaust in the book in order to show the reality that Liesel and everyone she loved had to face.
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.
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.
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 Book Thief Short Essay: The Use of Foreshadowing, Irony, and Symbolism in The Book Thief
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.
The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak tells a story of a girl who goes through many struggles to find happiness in reading. On this journey, Liesel meets many characters that will play a huge part in her life. Without these characters Liesel finds that she would not be who she is now, a strong educated young woman. Liesel gives a lot of praise to her new found father as he has given her the gift of reading books. As WWII starts to take a toll on Germany, Liesel and her many friends seek shelter during the bombings on Molching street.
Hitler is the one who uses the power of words for the very wrong reason as to use propaganda (Information especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize particular political cause or