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Literary analysis of book thief
Book thief literary analysis
Literary analysis of 'The Book Thief
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Literary analysis of book thief
Book thief literary analysis
Literary analysis of 'The Book Thief
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The Book Thief- Markus Zusak Assignment: 2 Dialectical Journals, one for each of the following sections: Pages 1-266 (through chapter “The Gamblers”), Pages 267-the end! Dialectical Journal for The Book Thief From the Book Write down the 2 or 3 most important things that happen in this part of your book. An important part of the book was in the first chapter where liesel's brother dies. It start the book of by giving the point of view that the story is writing in and it also introduces one of the main characters.
He was always kind and he and Liesel formed a friendship and they would read together. He made her a book about his story and left the book for her after he left. All of these characters impacted Liesel in their own way and showed theme of take nothing for granted by the characters giving something to Liesel and she took them for granted until they were gone and she realized her mistake. Death narrated this story and the reader got to see his point of view of The Book Thief and understand how he sees the world and humans. This takes place in Nazi Germany, 1939 during WW II.
There have been thousands of books written about war, but none are like The Book Thief. In most war novels, the authors focus on either side. Markus Zusak takes a unique approach by focusing on the terror-filled childhood of a small girl named Liesel Meminger. Because the protagonist of the novel is a young girl in Nazi Germany, the portrayal of her childhood drastically shifts the focus of the work from World War II to Liesel’s growth and awakening in spite of the terrible times. As Liesel matures, she learns the power of words, confronts uncomfortable truths, and grows into a confident, brave young woman.
These two characters in the book have contrasting characteristics but when
Liesel’s experience with death altered her view on life into something that most young girls could never imagine. Firstly, many different events in The Book Thief changed Lisel. When Liesel arrived at 33 Himmel Street she was lonely and afraid. For example “Liesel would not get out of the car.”
Even death, a metaphysical entity understands the full spectrum of experiences Liesel has gone through. Death unfruitfully “[tries to tell the book thief many things] about beauty and brutality” but “he couldn’t tell her [things she already knew]” (550). Deaths inability to inform Liesel about countless struggle and resilience towards it demonstrates Liesel ’s innate understanding of hardship. Death decides not to tell Liesel anything due to the fact that she has culminated an immense understanding of her experiences on both sides of the beauty spectrum, and it is because of this understanding Liesel grows stronger in her resilience towards further hardship.
While differing in actions and beliefs, both characters highlight
In part one of the book, page 20, paragraph three it states “With one eye open, one still in a dream, the book thief--also known as Liesel Meminger--could see without question that her younger brother, Werner, was now sideways and dead.” (Zusak 20) This is the first problem that Liesel has to overcome. Her brother dying, and having to start out a new life with a new
‘That [Death] in a way was a metaphor for the idea that this book is about people doing beautiful things in a really ugly time.’ (Zusak, 2010) One of the central themes presented in The Book Thief is the idea of family. It is evident in the text that the idea of a family is not just limited to those in which we are inherently connected; it encompasses those we care for. Her arrival on Himmel Street, leaves Liesel struggling to face the abandonment she has experienced with her mother leaving her for a reason she does not understand and the devastating loss of her brother, Werner, whose ghost haunts her throughout the novel.
Growing as a Character Every event in our lives happens for a reason, whether it is to learn from our mistakes or to gain experience from them. In Markus Zusak's novel “The Book Thief,” Liesel Meminger uses her experiences with living in the 1940s to learn life lessons and experience first hand the many terrible things Hitler is doing to people around her. She learns how to deal with the many obstacles that are thrown at her. Liesel grows as a character by following her step-father’s footsteps in being a kind and generous person, going through childhood with her best friend Rudy, and being aware of what is going on around her by learning from Max.
Markus Zusak has assembled ‘The Book Thief’ using a variety of narrative conventions. These include a unique narrative viewpoint, plot structure and use of imagery, all of which provide meaning to the reader. (33 words) A narrative’s point of view refers to who is telling the story. In this case Zusak’s narrator identifies himself as Death.
In the Book Thief, Liesel’s life represents beauty in the wake of brutality in her relationship with Ilsa Hermann, in her relationship with Rudy, and in the Hubermann’s house. Ilsa Hermann is the mayor’s wife and her connection to Liesel is through books. Throughout some of the book, Liesel went to the mayor’s library and read with Ilsa Hermann. The beauty is the books and reading, and the brutality is that Ilsa fired Rosa Hubermann and Liesel ripped up the books in the library.
One of the most important recurring themes throughout The Book Thief was Liesel’s relationships with all of the people in her life. She grows close with several different people, and trusts, loves, and cares for them all differently but equally. Three of those relationships will be explored more deeply; Liesel’s relationship with her foster father, Hans Hubermann, the Jewish man her family takes in, Max Vanderburg, and her best friend, Rudy Steiner. Liesel’s relationship with Hans is one of the most important, if not the most important, relationships in the novel. Hans is the first person Liesel trusts, and the person who stays with her and loves her until the end.
He killed himself for wanting to live” (Zusak 503). While Michael deals with guilt by self destructing, Liesel, the main character, handles guilt using other methods. Liesel encounters guilt through the death of her loved ones in addition to the sadness of losing everything she had. She deals with this guilt by stealing books and reading with her Papa. By stealing books, she achieved the famous nickname, the Book Thief.
The reader can relate to both sides, and with the help of imagery based on the sense of feeling, it explains everything