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The book thief book review essay
The book thief book review essay
The book thief book review essay
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In The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak there are four main subjects, Love, Survival, Grief and Death. Death was the most recurring, it struck Liesel three times. Death came to Liesel in three ways, white, black and red. Death came to people in colors because he didn 't like what he did sometimes so he tried to distract himself with all the color things. The White death was Liesel’s little brother whom died in the white snow.
The Book Thief starts off with the narrator describing different scenes of death. While going to different scenes where death occurs, the narrator comes up with death being like the Nazi flag. Also, as these scenes are being portrayed the narrator introduces us to the main character Liesel. Liesel will become the book thief after she first steals a book when her brother was buried. After this horrific event, Liesel is given to new parents where she will live a better life.
The issue of war is one that is deeply etched into the history of humanity, previously proven to bring out both the good, and bad in human nature. Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, set in Nazi Germany, and Steven Galloway’s The Cellist of Sarajevo, set in wartime Sarajevo, these aspects of humanity are explored. The theme of courage is explored by Zusak using symbolism and characterisation, with Galloway too using characterisation and the motif of water. Zusak uses the motif of books, with Galloway using the symbol of the cello to convey humanity’s ability to find beauty in times of great horror. The theme of evil in human nature is shown by both authors through setting, with each author using narrator to portray the idea of both good and bad
The Book Thief is an example of how successful a personification of such a powerful entity that generates fear among all living things can be. Something like the Holocaust can only be described by someone who has seen every face of every victim, has heard every story of every survivor and has felt every last grasp of air of every person who died in that massacre. When I first saw this book, I was instantly captivated by the idea of Death narrating the story, and I believe that such an idea, when it is developed and built the right way, is what sets the difference between good novels and brilliant
On Himmel Street, the characters of The Book Thief share the hardships of their past and current situation, along with the necessity to cope with it. In the novel The Book Thief, Marcus Zusak exemplifies beauty appearing within the wake of brutality, as well as the resilience of spirit in times of hardship with Max, Liesel, and Death Death’s use of color to cope with his dreadfully miserable job demonstrates the resilience
4. In The Book Thief, Liesel Meminger's life represents beauty in the wake of brutality through her relationship with Max and her survival after the death of her family. The Hubermanns take in Max out of kindness, and Liesel learns that morally. Max and Liesel bond through words, and while Germany falls around them, the two still share their bond in the hubermans basement.
The Book Thief takes place in Germany during the reign of Adolf Hitler. When Hitler invaded Poland, France and Britain declared war on Germany, formally starting World War II. The Holocaust occurred during World War II in Nazi Germany; it was the deliberate murder of over six million Jews, and millions of others were traumatized by unrelenting treatment in concentration camps. There are numerous types of people in the world; one group presents ferocious qualities, and another group presents exemplary qualities; however, there are also people that balance both qualities. In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Zusak demonstrates the theme of beauty and brutality in human nature through the characters of Liesel Meminger, Hans Hubermann, and Rosa Hubermann.
‘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.
Based on the circumstances that they are developed in, humans are capable of both good and evil. Markus Zusak's The Book Thief explores the complexities of human nature through his use of setting, symbols and characters. Different characters possess different qualities based on their experiences. Symbols are used to illustrate both the beauty and the ugliness in humanity. Also, in the novel, the setting in which the character is raised has either a negative or positive effect on the characters actions.
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.
A natural human instinct is to do anything in order to survive. Though a person may not necessarily want to survive, the physical body of a person does. The body naturally will try to do anything in order to protect itself and survive even when the person does not notice. Survival comes at a cost that not all people are willing to pay. To survive there are struggles and obstacles that not all are willing to face, but to get through these obstacles an individual is one step closer to survival.
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.
1. Explain the symbolism of Death as the omniscient narrator of the novel. The symbolism of Death as the omniscient narrator fits the novel perfectly. In the story, it makes sense that Death is narrator because it was set during a time of war, where thousands of lives were lost.
The characters in a story. They are hard to bring to life, yet a story would be incomplete without them. I love to write, and I often don’t have troubles creating my characters. But what makes every character stand out is that special thing about each and every one of them. That’s one thing that I loved about “The Book Thief,” by Markus Zusak.
Hello, first off I would like to introduce myself I am Kaylea, and I would like to go to UW to continue my study in psychology. I have realized while growing up that there are a lot of people who go un-helped, Labeled, and unnoticed. People who are homeless, low class income, or just missed might actually need help and aren’t getting it. I want to be the person who helps. Although my life has been ups and down quite literally I’ve managed to pull through, and I want to help others pull through also.