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The Book Thief The Power Of Love Analysis

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Immortal Love: The Power of Love in The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (ROUGH draft) “Unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality.” This is a part of a poem by Emily Dickinson about love; now to elucidate just what it means. “Unable are the loved to die…”, to many who have lost loved ones they know this is not true. It is not saying that they never die but more referring to the power that love has. In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, many tragic events take place. Starting in a pre-world war two Germany, and leading to being in the middle of war. The main character, Liesel, is brought to a foster home because her mother can not care for her, and to make matters worse her brother becomes ill and dies. Now this is not a very good start …show more content…

Most would see that word and think of dark, horrifying things; most people would not think of love or happiness, and that makes logical sense. In The Book Thief, Death is the narrator, so he tells the story from his point of view. So when reading it, and finding it is about the power of love, it is quite ironic. It is a type of situational irony, Death, who has the power to make humans souls leave the Earth, in love with one. Death expresses his love for Liesel many times throughout the novel, starting from the beginning. When Liesel’s brother is dies, he is brought to be buried and Death is there. Normally he would leave but no, “stupidly I [Death] stayed, I watched”(21), there is no explanation for this except of course, Death’s love for her, “[y]ou see? Even Death has a heart”(242). In a way, he is responsible for the absence of her brother, but he does care for her he does have a heart. From this point on he watches over her and continues telling her story, and shows up at another important moment in her life, when she has just lost almost everyone she loves due to a bombing. He sees her book that she was writing in that she dropped, and, “[j]ust before the truck left I took it [Liesel’s book] in my hand...it’s lucky I was there” Death loves Liesel, and Liesel loves words. Since he loves her he cares about what is important to her, that is why he took the book. After this incident, Liesel has a happy life until her time comes which is when Death takes her by the hand and walks with her, shows her the book, and talks about all he has seen. This is the moment when he make the most eloquent statement to her,“‘I am haunted by humans’”, this just proves how he does love Liesel and how he cares for her, in all it’s irony, it is powerful. Death loves Liesel and this is ironic because it is not what you would expect, and even though it is not expected it is very important and crucial to the

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Liesel was the last one to part from her brother’s grave and upon walking back to her mother she notice that there was a book laying in the snow. It belonged to one of the gravediggers but she didn 't know that at the time so she took it. It was the first book that she had “stolen.” Later that day she was separated from her mother and taken to her new home on 33 Himmel Street to live with Rosa and Hans Hubermann, her foster parents.

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Liesel had a very tough childhood with her mother abandoning her and her brother dying, plus everybody else she lost. Even though she suffered many terrible events during her childhood, she still prevailed through it by reading books and using her words. Her obsession with stealing books and living in the Hubermann household represented the beauty in her life in the wake of the brutality caused by the Nazi party. She spent quality time learning how to read with Hans, and was amazed how kind and patient Hans was. Liesel bonding with Mas was also a part of the beauty in her life, in spite of the brutality and the despair happening in her life.

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At the beginning of the book, Liesel and her brother are on a train to Molching, where their new parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann, will take care of her since her biological parents might have been caught by the Germans because they were communists. Right at the beginning of the book, Liesel’s mother has left her kids with the Hubermanns because she doesn't want anything to happen to them if she gets taken away by the Germans, which she does. This is a family problem because she is only nine years old and she has already lost both her mother and father and she doesn’t know if she will see them again. For their own benefit, Liesel had to go on the train ride with her brother to her new parents; however, it wasn’t as easy as it seemed. Liesel’s little brother “died in the third carriage” (Zusak 19).

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Liesel, by miracle, is in the basement writing in her journal and survives. When she emerges from the basement, she finds the bodies of those she loves — Hans, Rosa, as well as Rudy. She is taken away by air raid officers, and it is at this moment that Death finds and takes her book, The Book Thief. This is how he knows her story. Alex Steiner, Rudy’s father, is relieved of duty after he hears about the bombings and finds Liesel.

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a. "She had watched a bomber pilot die in a metal case. She had seen a Jewish man who had twice given her the most beautiful pages of her life marched to a concentration camp"(521). - Liesel has been through so many struggles. Her brother died in front of her, her mother sent her away, and she witnessed almost everyone she loved depart from the world. She had more than enough reasons to quit, but she decided to stay strong through it all.

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Evidence of Liesel’s struggle starts early on with the death of her brother, as well as her abandonment by her mother. Because of this abandonment, she is given the opportunity to find beauty within the care of the Hubermanns. Using Hans, or Papa, as a crutch, Liesel derives beauty quickly from the recent past. Liesel, though still coping is able to see her foster father as “her new papa [that] soothed and [loved her]” due to the realization that “trust was [built quickly between them] [because of his gentleness, and presence]” (36). In order to realize the blessing of Han’s presence in Liesel’s life,

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Liesel has realized she must respect the man who was the reason for her and her entire families suffering. She has realized she officially has lost her home, that she is completely isolated from the community. “It was quite a sight seeing an eleven year old girl try not to cry on church steps, saluting fuhrer”(Zusak 115). After losing all of these emotionally wrecking things Liesel learns and understands she needs to keep going forward. She refuses to give up she although times are rough manages to think, it could be worse.

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The power of words in “The Book Thief” and the endless strength they carry is a prime topic throughout the book. “The Book Thief”, a novel narrated by Death about Liesel, a young German girl who is given up for adoption to live with the Hubermann’s shortly before World War II. Liesel discovers the power that words, written or spoken, have to transform people, relationships, and lives. In the novel, Mark Zusak uses the relationship between characters to signify the power of words. Within “The Book Thief” the author suggests that words hold much power and have a major role in crafting the relationships between the characters.

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A main reason Liesel develops into the character she is by the end of the novel is due to the individuals she meets and her relationships with them. When Hans Hubermann becomes

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An important role model in Liesel’s life is Ilsa Hermann. After seeing Liesel steal a book at the book burning, she gives her the ‘window of opportunity’ (Zusak, pg. 155) inviting her into her library and sharing her own love of books with Liesel. The reader eventually learns that Ilsa is still mourning the loss of her own son many years before. Ilsa takes Liesel into her care after the tragedy of the bombing raids that results in the death of Hans and Rosa leaving Liesel traumatised and

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Liesel and her father’s relationship grows each and every day they are together. She feels comforted by his presence. “Liesel observed the strangeness of her foster father’s eyes. They were made of kindness, and silver… Upon seeing those eyes, understood that Hans Hubermann was worth a lot,” (Zusak Ch 6).

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Zusak used personification in the novel when he gave the narrator, Death, who is non-living, but has human qualities. The way the author applied this technique to ‘The Book Thief’ was so that the reader felt connected and could relate to the narrator. As Death was created as an omniscient, Zusak’s goal was for the narrator to create meaning and to give the reader an expression that he understood what it was like to be human but actually wasn’t human himself. “Even death has a heart” is an example of the use of personification, explaining that even though death is non-living he feels the same things as humans, especially when it comes to tragic moments. Zusak didn’t just use personification with the narrator but he also used it in relation to the imagery and setting of the story, as well as describing human features “As she crossed the river, a rumour of sunshine stood behind the clouds.”

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In the novel, Liesel’s behavior shows justice and love through her friendship with Max. Although her relationship with Max in the beginning of the book was rather awkward, soon her perspective towards Max soothes and their relationship bonds to a friendship. There are some times when Liesel’s actions were unbelievable, especially during the Jew parade. “ ‘ You have to let go of me Liesel.’

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At first, Liesel is illiterate, but when she steals her first book at her brother’s funeral, and is abandoned by her mother, she turns to something she

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The language and words were used as negative in The Book Thief numerous times. Using words in a negative way is useless, why use words to bring people down or to obfuscate others? Well as said in my thesis statement, Hitler used words to conquer the world and control everyone which is a negative use of words. In The Book Thief Liesel yells at Ilsa for firing her mom because they couldn't afford it

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