“Here is a small fact, you are going to die” (3). The Book Thief, written by Markus Zusak, is very intriguing for readers who wondered what it would feel like to survive through World War II in Germany. The book is a work of fiction, but it is based on true events. The protagonist is Liesel Meminger, while the antagonists are the Nazis. The main conflict in the book is that during the war in Germany, Liesel’s foster family has to hide a Jew from Nazis. The setting and style of the novel are what sets the scene of this tragic tale.
The book takes place in Molching, a fictional town in a suburb of Munich, Germany, on a street named Himmel during World War II. Himmel translates into “Heaven” in English. “Whoever named Himmel Street certainly had a healthy sense of irony. Not that it was a living hell, but it sure as hell wasn’t heaven, either” (26). Although the place that this story takes place is completely made up, the feelings and actions of the characters are historically correct.
The tale revolves around the life of Liesel Meminger in her new family. The book starts off with Death talking as a narrator. Death claims that he has seen Liesel, also known as the Book Thief, several times. One time Death
…show more content…
Liesel’s father says that the father of Max did him a favor by saving Liesel’s father, but Max’s father dies in the war. In return Liesel’s father has to look after Max, protect him, and hide him from the Nazis. Max has to hide because he is a Jew. Liesel and Max soon become close friends because when Max was sick and on the verge of dying, Liesel reads books to help him get better. One day a Nazi Commander knocked on their door to do a basement check. Thankfully Liesel’s family hides Max under a Nazi flag. After the Nazi leaves Max says it's too dangerous for him to be living here because if the Nazis find Max here they are going to take the family and Max to concentration camps to
Markus Zusak’s novel The Book Thief depicts the life of a certain young German girl named Liesel Meminger during World War II. Her story was told through the eyes of Death, who narrates both the blessings and devastation that occurred during that era. Liesel experiences living with her new foster parents and come across a boy named Rudy Steider who will later on become her best friend. As the story unfolds, Liesel gradually discovers the horrifying truth behind the Nazi regime as her foster parents take refuge of a Jewish man. Despite being in the midst of destruction and recently coping from her traumatic background, she undertakes on a journey of self-discovery and
Max uses Mein Kampf as a kind of cover so people wouldn’t suspect that he was a Jew and he escapes to the Hubermann’s house as Hans promised to help the Vandenburg’s if they ever needed it as he was friends with Max’s father in the war and Max’s father saved Hans’ life. Liesel is curious but also scared of Max at first but they bond over the fact that they both have nightmares, have lost their families and are both “fist-fighters” Since Max is always hiding in the basement, Liesel begins to describe the weather to him and brought him snow where they had a snowball fight and built a snowman with Hans and Rosa. Soon after, Max falls ill and she brings him 13 presents, hoping that he will wake up and reads to him every morning and night. Max also begins to share stories with Liesel and for her birthday makes her a book called “The Standover Man” which is about his life and journey. Max also begins to have daydreams where he fights Hitler and Hitler always uses his words to excite the crowd and uses them as a weapon. Liesel and Rudy also begin to steal food with a group of
In The Book Thief, author Markus Zusak tells the tragic story of Liesel Meminger and her experiences in 1939 Nazi Germany. Zuzak incorporates compelling literary devices such as toe curling foreshadowing, personification, and vivid imagery in the form of simile and metaphors to grasp the readers’ interest. Zusak’s use of various literary devices helps to deepen the text and morals of the story, and makes the dramatic historical novel nearly impossible to put down.
Hans can’t help to offer a piece of bread to one of the prisoners and is beaten along with the prisoner for this act of nobility. He is frightened that the Nazi will search his house and discover Max. That same night Max leaves Himmel Street. Hans is sent to war as his punishment and Alex Steiner is also conscripted for not permitting Rudy be part of a special training school. With Hans and Max gone, Liesel does her best to go on. She reads to the inhabitants of Himmel Street in the bomb shelter during air raids, robs food with Rudy, and helps Rosa who is devastated by Hans’s departure. The last book she steals is called “The Last Human Stranger” at this point she is frustrated and
In this essay I will talk about The Book Thief Characters. The characters are Liesel, Rudy, And Max. I Will talk about how they are Influenced by society in This Book/Movie. I am going to three Paragraphs about these three characters. This essay is going to be a Compare and Contrast Essay.
The heavily proclaimed novel “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak is a great story that can help you understand what living in Nazi Germany was like. Throughout the story, the main character, Liesel goes through many hardships to cope with a new life in a new town and to come to the recognition of what the Nazi party is. Liesel was given up for adoption after her mother gave her away to a new family, who seemed harsh at first, but ended up being the people who taught her all the things she needed to know. Life with the new family didn’t start off good, but the came to love them and her new friend, Rudy. As the book carried along, it was revealed that the Hubermanns were not Nazi supporters, and even took in a Jew and hid him in their basement later on in the book. Liesel became great friends with the Jew living in her basement, Max, who shared many similarities which helped form their relationship. Both of
All thanks to his friend Walter kugler. Walter is Max 's best friend. Walter and Max started battling each other growing up, yet soon got to be companions. In the early phases of the Holocaust, Walter helps Max avoid the Nazis and organizes Max to stay at Hans Hubermann 's place. Even though Max is going through tough times he is able to keep a strong relationship with walter. Despite the fact that Max is experiencing extreme times he can keep a solid relationship with walter. Secondly is the relationship Max has with Liesel. In spite of the fact that Liesel is apprehensive meeting Max to begin, they soon turn out to be great companions. They share bad dreams as their first talk together. Max has left his family and Liesel has lost her sibling. Sharing their mishaps the two get to be associated through sharing their souls and the printed word. Liesel instructs Max that he can express his sketchy identity through words. "i have hated the words and i have loved them, and i hope i have made them right” (528). Max and Liesel have grown to love and learn from one another. Lastly, is the relationship Max has with Hans before leaving them. Max left since Hans has shown love for a Jew in a parade, and Max realized that Hans ' home would be hunted by the NSDAP down evidence of
Unbeknownst to Liesel, Max secretly writes two graphic stories for her, enshrining the power of words, rewarding her developing power of words and giving her strength to write her own words. The Standover Man; the first of the two complete illustrated stories, encapsulates Max’s feelings towards Liesel and their developing friendship. Within the context of the story, Max is depicted as a bird- like creature who fears ‘men standing over’ him. His fear may be associated with the events of his life that have left him vulnerable, for example, losing his father at a young age and losing a fist fight to a friend. As the story progresses, it becomes evident that Liesel’s presence provides comfort to Max, as he begins to realise that ‘the best standover man [he’s] ever known is not a man at all’, but is Liesel; a companion who is ultimately able to redefine Max’s preconceived notion of ‘the standover man’, as being someone associated with abandonment and antagonism to a compassionate figure that he need not fear. The second story, The Word Shaker, written by Max, and created with the assistance of the Hubermanns, juxtaposes a book of oppression and detestation into a story of hope and resilience, to impart optimism within the reader. The fact that the faint text of the Mein Kampf does not leak through the painted pages, as it did in The Standover Man, is symbolic of how the only way to obliterate the legacy of Hitler is through the union of Jews and Germans. This is utterly uplifting, as they elicit the realisation that even for Max, who is secluded from the world and tormented by the Nazi morals, is powerful enough to overcome his fear of Hitler’s
He lives a peaceful, meaningful life appropriate for his age. One day, his world was turned upside down by cruel and surreal events. After the Nazis invade Hungary, they ship his family to the Auschwitz concentration camp. During that ordeal, the beasts separate him from his town, then from his mother and young sisters. In similar fashion, his Jewish community, composed of loving families, is abandoned to the psychopathic designs of Adolf Hitler.
In The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, beauty and brutality is seen in many of the characters. Rudy, Liesel, and Rosa display examples of beauty and brutality often without realizing what exactly they are doing, because it is a part of their human nature. Zusak not only uses his characters, but also the setting of the novel in Nazi Germany to allude to his theme of the beauty and brutality of human nature. The time in which the novel is set, during World War II, displays great examples of beauty and brutality, such as the mistreatment of the Jews. As a result of this time period, the characters have to go through troubling times, which reveals their beautiful and brutal nature in certain circumstances. Zusak uses his characters and their experiences to demonstrate the theme of the beauty and brutality of human nature in the novel.
The book takes place in WWII, and centers around what Death sees in this time. Death’s job is to collect the souls of many found dead, but he takes an interest in Liesel, who isn’t someone he really needed to pay attention to. However, he followed her because he pitied her, and The Book Thief is the story of her life, narrated by him. Everyone always tells you to find the silver lining in the bad things that happen, but this book doesn’t just tell someone to do that but shows someone how to do that. He makes Liesel’s best friend, Rudy, smile by showing him Liesel kissing his corpse. He follows Liesel because he sees something interesting in her, showing even Death has a heart. He chose to retell signs of good that he saw in the book, specifically
Foreshadowing in The Book Thief is one literary device used that some readers love and some readers hate. There are more than a few instances when the narrator, death, uses foreshadowing to keep the reader interested in the story and to further on certain thematic ideas in the novel. For example, death says that “Hans Hubermann was not granted membership in the Nazi Party. Not yet, anyway” (183). Here, it is being foreshadowed that Hans Hubermann will be forced to join the Nazi Party at some point in his life. By giving us this piece of information, the narrator is causing the readers to be curious and wanting to know more. This foreshadowing blends in with the thematic idea of war because by joining the Nazi Party, Hans will have to go fi...
Throughout time, children have read stories of brave knights, running into battle with their swords ready to defeat the invader. They have read tales of everyday girls turning into princesses by kissing a frog or wearing a glass slipper. Also, some of these stories contain accounts of historically poignant moments. For example, the novel The Book Thief written by Markus Zusak takes place during World War II. It gives a lasting impression on what this time was like for everyday people and the impacts the war had on them. The author does this through the many storytelling elements incorporated into the book. Also, Zusak displays how people respond to changes within their lives during these taxing times. For instance, the main character, Liesel
Death states that, “I’m always finding humans at their best and worst. I see their ugly and their beauty, and I wonder how the same thing can be both” (Zusak 491). This book shows us human doing things that weren’t even imaginable before this point. Many people give into ideas that were lies. But, we also watch a few people go out of their way and sacrifice everything for a man they barely even know. They do everything they can to keep him safe and alive. They work harder, the get another job, and they even steal. In Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, death examines the ugliness and the beauty of humans.
Between 1939 and 1945, World War Two took place and greatly affected Germany. Every person who lived during this time, including Liesel, has a story, was affected in a very different way, and experienced horrifying tragedies and overwhelming joy throughout these years. The Book Thief discusses “horrible events in gorgeous and moving prose” (“The Book Thief”), which is a very good description of Liesel’s life throughout the novel. Death, the narrator, is completely curious about this intelligent, lonely girl (Zusak, Corduner, and Cresswell) even though Death knows that all of these people whom she loves will eventually die. Even the beginning of the story lets the reader know, “You are going to die” (Zusak 3). World War Two had a tumultuous effect on Liesel Meminger’s life. Her