The Book Thief Through History and Heart Markus Zusak's The Book Thief is one of those very vivid pieces of literature that capture the experiences of characters throughout such a very challenging time. Set against the background of Nazi Germany during World War II, it is portrayed as life and death, love, and loss, all contained within the individual eyes of Leisel Meminger. The book offers a very expressive look into history through the portrayal of life in Germany during the war; however, the reader response approach highlights the way readers engage with morbid stories. Death introduces himself at the beginning of the story as the narrator. He first tells the story of Leisel Meminger, her mother, and her brother on a train to Munich. Then her brother suddenly dies. This grabs readers attention by affecting …show more content…
Approximately thirty-five thousand individuals were crowded into quarters designed to accommodate eight thousand. Small-arms fire could still be heard in certain areas of the camp. The filth and abominable conditions within the area of concentration have been amply described by others.”( Pohl). This is a real account of the Dachau camp, which shows the horrors of the camp used in the book. Leisel also takes part in many Nazi activities such as the Hitler Youth. She belongs to the Hitler Youth, which was shaped by the Nazi movement in the 1920s. In the 1930s, the organization, which was predominately made up of boys, started to include girls. For kids older than ten, participation in the Hitler Youth is required. Liesel joins the Hitler Youth at the age of ten, which opens a chapter in the novel where she begins to feel angry at the Nazis despite living in a German town under their rule, propaganda, and guards. Like Liesel, Hans Humberman has a lot of difficulty figuring out who he is and where he fits