The Book Thief Essay

Markus Zusak wrote a book called The Book Thief. The narrator is death. Liesel, the main character, steals books. Her fist stolen book is at the grave of her little brother who died on the way to Molching Germany where their foster parents were waiting. She learns to read and begins to steal books, because its world war two and they have no money. That, and sometimes it feels good to steal from the people who stole from you. Liesel’s story is powerful, even in the darkness of such a power as Nazi Germany. Even though Liesel is a fictional character in a fictional book, there is value in reading literature such as this. And here’s why: Learning is what humans are made to do. And there are three main types of learning that we fall into: visual, aural, and kinesthetic. The Book Thief employs all three. In the visual aspect, the book is vivid in its colors. Colors are what death distracts himself with after all. Death really doesn’t like his job, but with skies of red, white, and black, of milk and of Jews, death is a bit eased. Rudy Steiner is the lover boy in the

One of the books Liesel steals (or is given to her, depending on how you look at it) is a dictionary. From that point on there are little words and they’re definitions interjected into the story. A major word Liesel deals with is communism. It’s a word she hears from officials and Nazi die-hards. It’s a word connected to her mother. Sometimes a word’s power is messed with, such as the curse words or Rosa Hubermann. In the beginning of the book these words are powerful, an abomination almost. But by the end of the book, they have nearly no meaning at all. Even the children are throwing them around without a care. This demonstration of word power can make us look at what our own words can mean and precipitate. The book thief is very good at presenting words, and that is why it is a good