Emotions In The Book Thief

Literature is a beautiful thing, It is an interpretation of how people think and choose to express themselves. Literature should be enjoyed and it should be something that inspires and influences people positively. The novel The Book Thief shows the reader how literature can open a whole new view of things and the past. The Book Thief is an adequate example of how enjoyable literature can be. Therefore, according to this criteria, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is a good example of literature. This is because it makes the reader appreciate life, it causes readers to feel emotions like sadness, fear, or delight, and it deals with big topics such as love and death. Life is a gift, and it is something that should be appreciated and enjoyed.

Readers might find the book too plain and simple if the novel does not engage them by allowing them to feel emotions about what is going on in the story. Nevertheless, the novel The Book Thief can give the reader the experience of feeling the most important emotions in literature like sadness, fear, and delight. “She dropped the black book. ‘Rudy,’ she sobbed, ‘wake up….’ She grabbed him by his shirt and gave him just the slightest disbelieving shake.” (Zusak 535). This quote shows the pure sadness and disbelief that the character Liesel was feeling when she found her best friend Rudy dead after the bombing raid on Himmel Street. As a reader, they can and should be able to feel empathy for the young character while she deals with the great loss of her best friend. Fear is another prominent emotion that can be felt when reading this novel. For example, when Max Vandenburg, a Jew, was almost discovered by the Nazis. “A seven-punch knock was hammered into the door of 33 Himmel Street, and it was too late to move anyone anywhere. The voice. ‘Open up!’ Their heartbeats fought each other, a mess of rhythm. Liesel tried to eat hers down.” (Zusak 342). Here in this text, the reader can see just how scared the Hubermann family was when the Nazis came to check their basement to see if it was good enough for an air raid shelter. As a reader, fear can be felt for the

“I walked around to see her better, and from the moment I witnessed her face again, I could tell that this was who she loved the most. Her expression stroked the man on his face.” (Zusak 537). This quote shows a very sad part of the book. It was when Liesel found her beloved foster father dead after a bombing raid, and readers can see just how much Liesel loved her foster father, Hans Hubermann. As readers who are invested in the story, they would be able to feel empathy for Liesel’s character while she deals with the terrible heartbreak of losing her much-loved foster father. Death is another prominent theme in this novel, quite literally the biggest topic in this novel since The Book Thief is narrated by Death itself. Not only has the character Liesel found her much-adored foster parent’s lifeless bodies after the bombing incident, but she has also found her best friend Rudy who also lies motionless. “Rudy, please, wake up, Goddamn it, wake up, I love you, wake up, wake up, wake up….” (Zusak 535). This quote shows the very heartfelt point in the novel when Liesel found her best friend Rudy Steiner after the bombing raid that had hit Himmel Street. The reader can see how heartbroken and devastated Liesel was when her best friend was no longer full of life. These sad and devastating moments in this novel portray the biggest topics a good novel can